Nov 17, 2025

We met in a conference room at an office in Barrington, IL. A place where sometime later a couple guys thought they’d screw me in a business deal. I came out ahead in the end, but the place has mixed memories.

This meeting involved thinking about the future of asset data and systems interoperability. We had a system...

Oct 25, 2025

An early essay by Karl Marx writing at the beginning of the industrial revolution argued that humans who were formerly craftspeople were now just cogs in the industrial machine alienated from the products they made and their work.

Today's podcast is sponsored by Inductive Automation, makers of Ignition — the world's...

Oct 14, 2025

Why pursue AI? As a tool to help entrepreneurs add value to their companies. The appropriate roll out entails organizing small "pirate ships" empowered to experiment and implement with a budget and air cover. Many concerns about AI's impact on employment and organization are over blown. History shows that new...

Sep 18, 2025

ICC 2025 Recap

I recorded this as I was leaving Inductive Automation's Ignition Community Conference 2025 in Sacramento. The event team performed wonderfully moving ICC from the smaller Harris Center in Folsom to the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento with double the attendance. Lots of energy, many...

Aug 21, 2025

When I set initial editorial direction for Automation World, I was focused on exploring the Intelligent Application of Automation emphasizing the teams that made it happen. Recently I interviewed Mike Payne, co-owner and president of Hill Manufacturing. His story of using intelligent applications of technology both for...