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Software-defined automation could help industrial organizations modernize control systems without being limited by traditional hardware life cycles.
Industrial automation has long been built around dedicated hardware. Controllers, I/O modules, gateways, and other components have typically been tied to specific functions, making upgrades and expansions dependent on hardware life cycles. As industrial organizations look for more flexibility, stronger cybersecurity, greater compute capacity, and easier access to emerging technologies such as AI, this model is beginning to change.
At the 30th annual ARC Advisory Group Orlando Forum, Craig Resnik, VP at ARC Advisory Group, spoke with Michael Martinez, Open Automation Director at Schneider Electric, and Stan Woody, Business Development Manager at Intel, about Foxboro SDA, or software-defined automation. The discussion focused on how Schneider Electric and Intel are collaborating to support a more open, flexible, and future-ready automation architecture.
Moving Beyond Hardware-Centric Automation
Martinez explained that traditional automation systems have historically been hardware focused. A specific piece of hardware was used for control, another for I/O, and another for gateway functions. This meant that when customers wanted to upgrade or expand their systems, they often had to purchase additional hardware and invest in supporting infrastructure.
Foxboro SDA changes this by decoupling automation functionality from dedicated hardware. The value that once sat inside specific controllers, gateways, and I/O modules can now be carried forward through software and deployed across different types of devices.
As Martinez said, “Foxboro SDA is all about saying let’s take the value that’s in the control system, in the software, in the applications, and in the operator interfaces that we develop and allow customers to carry that forward.”
This shift allows customers to think differently about modernization. Instead of replacing hardware simply because a component reaches the end of its life cycle, they can preserve existing value while adding new capabilities through software-defined infrastructure.
EcoStruxure Automation Expert as the Engine
A key part of the discussion centered on EcoStruxure Automation Expert, which Martinez described as the engine behind Foxboro SDA. It enables applications to be developed and deployed across different infrastructure environments, including hardware from Schneider Electric and other vendors.
This is important because high availability in industrial environments has traditionally depended on duplicated hardware. Maintaining that redundancy often required keeping identical spare components on hand. If a controller failed, restoring full redundancy could require an urgent replacement.
With Foxboro SDA and Intel’s orchestration capabilities, the system can monitor health and availability, identify spare capacity on the network, and restore high availability without requiring immediate hardware replacement.
This approach supports several important outcomes:
Reduced dependence on identical spare hardware.
Faster restoration of high availability.
Better use of available compute resources.
Lower risk of disruption during component failure.
More flexibility in how automation workloads are deployed.
Intel’s Role in the Architecture
Woody highlighted Intel’s collaboration with Schneider Electric and discussed how Intel’s Panther Lake product supports manufacturing automation use cases. He pointed to the flexibility provided by performance cores, efficiency cores, AI capabilities, GPU, CPU, and NPU resources.
For industrial automation, this matters because software-defined systems require flexible compute platforms that can support different workloads at different times. These workloads may include control, AI, security, analytics, and real-time applications.
Woody noted that the collaboration allows customers to move beyond a fixed appliance model and toward an architecture that can support new use cases more quickly.
As he put it, “Whatever your use case needs, we can now provide it… the sky’s the limit of where we can go with this.”
Openness and Interoperability
A major theme of the conversation was openness. Resnik noted that industrial automation has sometimes used the term “open” to describe systems that are open only within a vendor’s own ecosystem. Martinez emphasized that Foxboro SDA is intended to support a broader model.
Through collaboration with Intel, UniversalAutomation.org, and other partners, Schneider Electric is positioning Foxboro SDA as an open environment that can work with control hardware, I/O hardware, software applications, and advanced applications from multiple manufacturers.
Woody added that this interoperability gives end users more choice. Customers can select hardware from different manufacturers and continue to upgrade based on the best available technology, rather than being locked into a single hardware path.
For industrial organizations, this could help:
Avoid unnecessary rip-and-replace modernization.
Add new compute platforms where needed.
Use fit-for-purpose hardware for specific applications.
Extend the useful life of existing automation investments.
Cybersecurity Designed from the Ground Up
The conversation also addressed a common concern: whether more open systems are harder to secure. Martinez argued that software-defined automation can improve cybersecurity because it allows security to be designed into the architecture from the beginning.
Many existing DCS and control systems were designed decades ago, before cybersecurity became a central requirement. As regulations and security expectations evolved, cybersecurity had to be added to systems that were not originally built with those needs in mind.
With Foxboro SDA, Schneider Electric is designing cybersecurity into the core of the system. This includes secure hardware design, encrypted communication protocols, and architecture choices intended to meet rising cybersecurity requirements.
Woody also emphasized Intel’s hardware-level security capabilities, noting that security is designed into the chip itself. This allows Schneider Electric to take advantage of embedded security features as part of the broader solution.
Enabling AI at the Edge
AI was another major topic in the discussion. While AI is often treated as a buzzword, Martinez and Woody focused on the practical implications for industrial automation.
In a software-defined environment, the automation platform can become both a control and compute platform. This means AI applications, co-pilot-style tools, and advanced analytics can run closer to the process, potentially on the same edge infrastructure that supports control workloads.
This changes how customers can think about automation systems. Instead of treating the DCS or PLC as a fixed appliance, the automation platform can become an active part of process optimization.
Martinez noted that this can help organizations optimize not only the industrial process itself, but also the resources consumed to execute that process. This includes compute capacity, control capacity, energy usage, and overall system utilization.
A More Flexible Path for Automation
Foxboro SDA reflects a broader shift in industrial automation: from fixed, hardware-defined systems toward more open, software-defined architectures. The goal is not to discard existing infrastructure unnecessarily, but to create a path that allows customers to add new capabilities while preserving what already works.
For end users, the potential value lies in flexibility. Systems can be modernized incrementally. New compute platforms can be added as needed. AI and cybersecurity capabilities can be incorporated more easily. Hardware no longer needs to define the pace of innovation.
The discussion also made clear that this transition depends on collaboration. Schneider Electric and Intel both emphasized that the future of automation will require partnerships across hardware, software, cybersecurity, and industrial domain expertise.
Watch the full discussion YouTube or here: