23) Finishing up 2025 with Contextere

In this episode, we catch up with Contextere co-founder Gabe Batstone for a year-end discussion about recent trips to Switzerland, Finland, the G7 and the WEF. He discusses what's new, what the company is working on, and what to watch for in 2026. We get into specific topics like:Killing the ‘Data Silo’ Crisis: How Industrial Enterprises Can Unify Disconnected Information” Nearly 47% of manufacturers view data fragmentation as a major obstacle to AI success, and workers spend 30% of their day searching for information. Building the ‘Agile Workforce’: Cross-Skilling, Upskilling, and Reskilling in an AI-Driven Industrial World” The half-life of industrial skills is approximately 5 years and falling. Organizations need continuous learning frameworks, not one-time training. This deeper conversation explores how Madison enables workers to develop new skills on-the-job, cross-skill into adjacent areas, and upskill without waiting for classroom training. What to watch for in 2026?Enterprise budgets are shifting toward measured outcomes, not experimentation. The labor market is the new competitive battleground. Workforce transformation—not just technology adoption—is where differentiation happens. Industrial AI is moving from “nice-to-have” to “baseline capability”. Vertical AI wins over horizontal AI in 2026.