Ep. 241 - Manufacturing in 2026 AI Reality Cybersecurity Data Careers and What Comes Next

Welcome to Manufacturing Hub and welcome to 2026. In this kickoff episode, Vlad Romanov and Dave Griffith reset the table for the year and share what the show is really about: practical conversations with people who build, run, secure, and modernize manufacturing systems. If you are new here, this is the perfect starting point because we explain the format, the monthly themes, and the reason we keep coming back to the same hard truth: manufacturing improvement is never just about technology. It is also about people, process, incentives, and change.

From there, we get into the big question everyone is asking right now: what actually changes in 2026 for manufacturing and industrial automation. We talk about why AI stopped being a novelty and started becoming a permanent part of the landscape, and we separate the hype from the applications that are starting to look real. We discuss where AI helps today, where it still struggles, and why most teams will not get value until they build stronger fundamentals in data collection, context, and operational ownership. We also connect the dots between AI and the pressure it puts on infrastructure, security posture, and decision making, especially when the plant floor reality is still paper logs, tribal knowledge, and inconsistent system documentation.

We also cover what we expect to see across the core pillars of the industrial stack: plant floor data and operations, engineering and commissioning workflows, back office analytics, OT cybersecurity, industrial data platforms, and how the systems integration market is evolving as more work moves upward into analytics, architecture, and long term modernization programs. Finally, we zoom out into careers, acquisitions, private equity activity, and what these shifts mean for engineers, leaders, and teams trying to build durable capability instead of chasing the next shiny tool.

If you are planning your year, come meet us in person. We will be at ProveIt in Dallas, Texas February 16 to 20. We will also be at Automate in Chicago, Illinois June 22 to 26. And we are expecting to be back at the Ignition Community Conference in Sacramento, California September 22 to 26.

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome to 2026 and why we are back
 01:00 What Manufacturing Hub covers and how the show is structured
 02:35 Meet the hosts Dave Griffith and Vlad Romanov
 04:55 Where to meet us in 2026 ProveIt Automate ICC
 07:45 The state of manufacturing and what is changing this year
 08:35 AI in manufacturing from curiosity to permanence
 12:20 Plant floor data reality and why fundamentals still block progress
 18:10 AI in engineering and commissioning where it helps and where it can hurt
 24:30 Back office work and the real adoption patterns
 31:00 OT cybersecurity pressure and why posture work is accelerating
 38:10 Industrial data priorities and what to fix before you scale
 44:40 Systems integration shifts careers and the ripple effects of acquisitions
 1:03:00 Our plans for 2026
 1:10:45 Book recommendation and closing thoughts

Hosts

Vlad Romanov is an electrical engineer and manufacturing consultant focused on industrial automation, modernization, OT data, and IT OT alignment. He runs Joltek and builds educational content for engineers and technical leaders.

Dave Griffith has 17 plus years in industrial automation and manufacturing and leads Kaplan Solutions, focused on operational excellence, data systems, and delivering projects that make plant performance visible and actionable.

References mentioned

How to tackle the AI skills gap, Boston Consulting Group
 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-tackle-ai-skills-gap-boston-consulting-group-ufzge

What’s Next for AI in 2026, MIT Technology Review
 https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/01/05/1130662/whats-next-for-ai-in-2026/

Getting Naked, Patrick Lencioni
 https://www.tablegroup.com/product/getting-naked/