Mike Brauckman

After years of digitizing frontline knowledge through work instructions, procedures, checklists, and skills management programs, manufacturers are entering a new era of industrial AI. Rather than simply storing information, AI is increasingly being embedded into daily operations, helping workers troubleshoot issues, access institutional knowledge, prioritize improvement actions, and make faster, more informed decisions. As organizations explore this next phase of transformation, success will depend on deploying AI that frontline teams trust, integrating it seamlessly into existing workflows, and ensuring it supports workers in a safe, practical, and scalable way.

• Understanding how industrial AI is transforming frontline operations, from knowledge management and troubleshooting to decision support and task execution
• Identifying the critical success factors for building trust in AI, including data quality, operational context, safety considerations, and workforce adoption
• Exploring how to embed AI into daily routines and frontline workflows to drive productivity, consistency, and continuous improvement
• Assessing the impact of AI-powered augmentation on workforce roles, skills development, and the future relationship between workers and technology

Pilots often deliver impressive results, yet organizations struggle to replicate that success across multiple plants, value streams and regions. This panel explores the real reasons scaling stalls, from fragmented data and inconsistent standards to capability gaps and leadership misalignment. The conversation will highlight how process mapping, cross functional workshops, data integrity frameworks and clear operating models create the foundation for enterprise wide transformation. Participants will share practical lessons on moving from theory to execution, building internal capability and creating the pull needed for sustainable digital adoption.