Machine builders are at a strategic inflection point. The convergence of digitalization, regulation, and shifting customer expectations is fundamentally changing how machines are designed, delivered, and monetized.

In 2025 data centers used 4.4 percent of US power. This is expected to grow to as much as 12 percent by 2030. While the macrogrid provides power today, hypergrids are planned to provide a significant fraction of data center power in the future.

Velotic unites long established platforms—Proficy®, Kepware®, and ThingWorx®—into a single industrial software portfolio with meaningful scale. With over $300 million in revenue, decades of deployment history, and a stated commitment to accelerating manufacturing performance through data and AI, the new company aims to help manufacturers modernize operations while maintaining reliability and control.

LoRaWAN’s open standard ensures interoperability, leveraging “Firmware Update Over the Air” and global regulatory frameworks for scalable, safe industrial operations.

As industry experiences increasing pressure to enhance efficiency, reduce downtime, and address limited availability of skilled labor, manufacturers are seeking methods to improve plant productivity. Forward-looking manufacturers are adopting a wide variety of advanced asset performance management (APM) solutions to improve maintenance productivity. This research report highlights customer expectations and adoption trends around some of these advanced APM technologies, such as predictive maintenance solutions, robotics, and automatic lubrication systems.

EC4P replaces rigid, hardware‑centric models with a future‑proof foundation that supports continuous improvement, digital twins, and AI‑driven manufacturing.

The 2026 ARC Industry Forum’s focus on industrial cybersecurity featured real-world end user insights and practical workshops. Major topics included the impact of AI on industrial cybersecurity, the importance of secure remote access and assessments, new strategies for industrial patching, changes in the industrial threat landscape, and more.

Leading organizations like PepsiCo and Jabil are redefining Industrial AI by focusing on practical execution and scalable governance rather than isolated experiments. Jabil shared how their use of centralized data platforms and generative AI can empower "Synapse Workers" for complex tasks. Robust data infrastructure and cross-functional governance are critical for achieving operational agility and business value in the industrial sector.

The 30th Annual ARC Industry Leadership Forum highlighted how leading industrial organizations, like PepsiCo, are leveraging AI as a core operational capability to drive transformation across manufacturing and supply chains. This shift is fueled by unified data foundations and specialized talent, enabling tangible results such as operational optimization and capital reduction.

Audi’s Edge Cloud for Production (EC4P) is a transformative initiative aimed at modernizing manufacturing through the integration of edge computing and cloud technologies. By virtualizing essential shop floor assets—such as HMIs, industrial PCs, and PLCs—EC4P streamlines operations, reduces hardware complexity and costs, and ensures security, while enabling easy and timely upgrades. This new architecture empowers Audi to deploy advanced AI solutions for predictive maintenance and quality control, paving the way for software-defined factories and data-driven decision making.

Data‑driven manufacturing empowers companies to generate actionable insights from assets and operations data to improve decision making for continuous production improvement.

Chemical manufacturers are increasing AI budgets to compete on process expertise, formulation know how, and the ability to scale reliably and safely.

“The way we harness autonomous operations today will define the world we live in tomorrow. We’re placing a bet on our home field and our capabilities—investing $2 billion over the next five years and building a one-million-square-foot greenfield plant in Wisconsin—to show that with the thoughtful application of technology and talent, we can compete and win globally.” - Blake Moret, Chairman and CEO, Rockwell Automation