Industrial companies discussed practical AI projects at IFS Unleashed 2026 after a week of sessions, with executives emphasizing business returns, limited labor supply and using AI to support workers. IFS CEO Mark Moffat said companies leave 40% of their data unused, and industrial operations run at about 60% of their potential. Frontline workers spend only a third of their time with a tool in hand; the rest goes to waiting, searching and filling in forms. These gaps can mean unplanned downtime, productivity losses and unused expertise.

Stratus CEO Bill Hayden said AI investments are judged by return on investment, complexity and change management. The company, which makes and maintains signs and interior branding for large national brands, is an early IFS Intelligence customer and plans on cycles of three months to 12 months maximum because it cannot predict what five years will look like. At the event, William Grant & Sons cut a report migration from 200 days to 30 minutes, while EightGroup reduced an electrical inspection from 25 minutes to 60 seconds. Kodiak Gas Services reported an 85% efficiency gain on transactions handled by its Material Replenisher digital worker, which identifies needed parts, checks inventory and procures them.

Covia Corp. CEO Chetan Balsara cited preventive maintenance and spare-parts planning as AI uses: shifting from reactive to predictive maintenance and getting the right part to the right site and level, since excess stock ties up working capital and shortages cause stockouts and downtime. The article says the event’s reported returns came from form-heavy work such as procurement, parts sourcing, inspections, data fixes and training; projects went live in weeks, not years. First-time fixes were one field-service measure. Social Capital | 8090 CEO Chamath Palihapitiya said expected investment returns had not yet appeared across AI spending, contrasting speculative enterprise-value building with companies trying to apply AI responsibly.

Several IFS customers said AI was intended to train incoming workers replacing retiring technicians and take over tasks that reduce productivity, amid a shortage of skilled labor. UPS aircraft engineering manager Lauren Purcell said the industry cannot keep pace with training replacements as experienced staff retire with years of knowledge. Kodiak Gas project-management director MD Akil said ease of use could improve employee satisfaction and retention, noting the company can lose workers over only a few extra dollars an hour. Boeing expects the industry to need more than 700,000 maintenance technicians over the next 20 years, with two-thirds replacing retirees. Palihapitiya said companies need to encode workers’ tribal knowledge in machine-readable form.

Executives also emphasized governance, safeguards and trust: companies remain responsible when AI agents take actions, so risks need to be ranked. Human checks may suit critical infrastructure, while checks on other processes could slow automation. Industrial AI was described as a long game: some IFS customers were not on the cloud or the latest platform version, some lacked data strategies, and most were not focused on humanoid robots. The article says companies will build industrial AI one use case at a time because capital is limited.

Industrial companies discussed practical AI projects at IFS Unleashed 2026 after a week of sessions, with executives emphasizing business returns, limited labor supply and using AI to support workers. IFS CEO Mark Moffat said companies leave 40% of their data unused, and industrial operations run at about 60% of their potential. Frontline workers spend only a third of their time with a tool in hand; the rest goes to waiting, searching and filling in forms. These gaps can mean unplanned downtime, productivity losses and unused expertise.

Stratus CEO Bill Hayden said AI investments are judged by return on investment, complexity and change management. The company, which makes and maintains signs and interior branding for large national brands, is an early IFS Intelligence customer and plans on cycles of three months to 12 months maximum because it cannot predict what five years will look like. At the event, William Grant & Sons cut a report migration from 200 days to 30 minutes, while EightGroup reduced an electrical inspection from 25 minutes to 60 seconds. Kodiak Gas Services reported an 85% efficiency gain on transactions handled by its Material Replenisher digital worker, which identifies needed parts, checks inventory and procures them.

Covia Corp. CEO Chetan Balsara cited preventive maintenance and spare-parts planning as AI uses: shifting from reactive to predictive maintenance and getting the right part to the right site and level, since excess stock ties up working capital and shortages cause stockouts and downtime. The article says the event’s reported returns came from form-heavy work such as procurement, parts sourcing, inspections, data fixes and training; projects went live in weeks, not years. First-time fixes were one field-service measure. Social Capital | 8090 CEO Chamath Palihapitiya said expected investment returns had not yet appeared across AI spending, contrasting speculative enterprise-value building with companies trying to apply AI responsibly.

Several IFS customers said AI was intended to train incoming workers replacing retiring technicians and take over tasks that reduce productivity, amid a shortage of skilled labor. UPS aircraft engineering manager Lauren Purcell said the industry cannot keep pace with training replacements as experienced staff retire with years of knowledge. Kodiak Gas project-management director MD Akil said ease of use could improve employee satisfaction and retention, noting the company can lose workers over only a few extra dollars an hour. Boeing expects the industry to need more than 700,000 maintenance technicians over the next 20 years, with two-thirds replacing retirees. Palihapitiya said companies need to encode workers’ tribal knowledge in machine-readable form.

Executives also emphasized governance, safeguards and trust: companies remain responsible when AI agents take actions, so risks need to be ranked. Human checks may suit critical infrastructure, while checks on other processes could slow automation. Industrial AI was described as a long game: some IFS customers were not on the cloud or the latest platform version, some lacked data strategies, and most were not focused on humanoid robots. The article says companies will build industrial AI one use case at a time because capital is limited.