The manufacturing sector stands at an inflection point—facing both a deepening labor shortage and the promise and perils of agentic AI. Gartner warns more than 40% of agentic AI (artificial intelligence) projects will be scrapped by the end of 2027, largely due to high costs, unclear ROI (return on investment), hype-driven “agent washing,” and immature technology. Now if I replace the two letters AI with the IoT letters I think this is what we talked about almost a decade ago on the plant floor with the IoT. I am sure more companies do not want to look back and admit they made some costly investments, which they would consider expensive hard lessons—others simply might even call them failures—which has led them to understand the importance of good, clean data.
Thus, this begs the question, if this is less a failure of innovation, rather a call for strategic realignment. Manufacturing must embrace AI thoughtfully, aligning implementations with clear value and carefully redesigned workflows. Think back to the lessons learned from the past. While not the same, much of the optimization and validating were following similar paths to achieve scalable solutions based on key outcomes.
It you haven’t been following the discussion as of late, I have been taking a closer look at the future of work in the manufacturing industry. Today, let’s talk about what technology will enable the future of work to continue to hum along in manufacturing in the years ahead.
What Tech Will Enable the Future of Work?
Agentic AI—autonomous systems that perceive, decide, and act with limited human oversight—is becoming the new frontier on the factory floor. Sounds a lot like what we once called M2M (machine-to-machine), doesn’t it, but I digress?
Gartner predicts by 2028, 15% of daily decisions will be autonomously made via agentic AI (up from 0% today). Some 33% of enterprise software in manufacturing will be powered by agentic capabilities. That shift isn’t hypothetical, it’s already underway.
The factory of the future won’t look—or operate—anything like the one we’ve known for the last 50 years. It’ll be smart, connected, and adaptive—where machines talk to each other, workers collaborate with AI agents, and decisions are made in realtime using live data.
This factory won’t just be efficient—it’ll be resilient, capable of shifting production on the fly, responding to supply-chain disruptions, and continuously learning through automation and analytics. It’s what happens when we pair innovation with intention.
The benefits of such technologies are clear. Heightened productivity will lead to faster decisionmaking and more uptime. Improved quality means fewer defects and robotics means less risks and greater safety for humans. All in all, workers will gain meaningful, tech-enriched roles instead of routine labor.
Manufacturing’s next chapter isn’t just automated—it’s agentic. Powerful AI agents, combined with a prepared, flexible workforce, will enable factories to operate smarter, safer, and with greater precision. But success depends on strategic adoption—not chasing every shiny AI trend. This is a moment to lean in, invest in people and processes, and anticipate where technology and workers will co-create tomorrow’s factories.
Are you ready to pilot the smart factory? What’s your first AI-powered move?
Stick around. Next week we will wrap up this discussion with a look at how to best prepare for this future of work in the manufacturing industry.
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