Council Post: From Strategy To Shop Floor: A Practical Road Map For Manufacturing AI

Fabio Caversan, global CTO de Stefanini Group, argues that manufacturers don’t need “another reminder” about AI’s promise; they need a practical route from pilots to plant-wide impact. Citing the 2026 Industrial AI Readiness Survey, he says 64% of industrial organizations are using AI for predictive maintenance, but only 7% have AI embedded in core processes. He points to data and integration as the real bottlenecks, using Rockwell’s State of Smart Manufacturing 2026 finding that only 43% of manufacturing data is used effectively. The piece frames scaling AI as an operating model captured in five verbs: modernize, connect, execute with context, act with AI and physical AI, and protect. It highlights legacy modernization, governed data models such as ISA-95, and the need to standardize plant context.