The convergence of IoT, AI and cloud platforms is empowering companies to respond dynamically to shocks, improve supply-chain reliability and meet workforce challenges ROB MCGREEVY: AVEVA Building resilience with industrial software Every organisation wants to make the most of its data in ways that work to their advantage, but the ongoing, interconnected challenges they face make this difficult. The global economy is relatively resilient – Caxia Bank indicates that growth is around three per cent – but, as the International Monetary Fund says, uncertainty is the new normal. Geopolitical shocks, tariff changes and unpredictable policies are here to stay. Therefore, the best way to predict the future is to create it. In practice, that means using existing technologies – data, cloud and industrial AI – to support industrial growth and competitiveness. Each of these technologies is evolving: internet of things (IoT) devices are increasingly being pushed to the edge, even as operational value chains shift to hybrid clouds. This is setting the stage for AI analytics to also be delivered at the edge. What’s changed is how these technologies are coming together and helping industrial workers to do their jobs better. An example is CONNECT, AVEVA’s industrial intelligence platform, which is built on Microsoft Azure. It incorporates our Industrial AI Assistant and will soon be integrated with Microsoft Fabric, bridging operational technology data with IT analytics to deliver advanced, AI-driven industrial intelligence in real time. Industrial teams, whether local or remote, are able to access and act on contextualised industrial insights in near-real time. Over time, this access enables the radical collaboration needed to unlock mutual value for the entire business ecosystem, whether internally within an organisation’s network or externally across the ecosystem. This trend will support five key technology shifts this year. The first is that connected ecosystems will drive innovation at scale. Perhaps unsurprisingly, hyperconnectivity could soon be the new standard. Silos still exist but the integration of technologies like edgeto-cloud systems, industrial AI and DevOps are bringing teams closer, enabling them to collaborate in radical new ways. Ecosystem approaches – orchestrating networks across organisational boundaries – are now a strategic necessity for enabling value networks to tackle complex business problems no single organisation could handle alone. AVEVA’s research shows 43 per cent of executives at industrial companies are prioritising secure collaboration platforms, which means companies can share valuable operational data – like delivery schedules or asset performance – while protecting proprietary information. AI will remain a key focus this year. In fact, data from McKinsey indicates most companies (88 per cent) already use AI in at least one business function. Companies note its real-world impact: generative AI alone delivers up to 30 per cent productivity improvements for early integrators, says PwC. As AI evolves, agentic applications now use operations data and analytics to observe, plan and execute tasks autonomously in real time, although success depends on the underlying data integration platforms. Gartner INDUSTRIALS & MANUFACTURING 83 VIEWPOINT
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