From AI Lab to Shopfloor: What It Really Takes to Deploy Industrial AI - with Christian Zillner

Welcome to the Trend Detection podcast, brought to you by Senseye Predictive Maintenance – which gives you visibility and insights into all your assets, from single machines to full plants to help you reduce downtime, increase knowledge sharing and accelerate digital transformation across your organization.In this episode of the Trend Detection podcast, we’re joined by Christian Zillner, who leads global AI deployment for Digital Industries Automation at Siemens, to explore what it really takes to scale industrial AI from experiments to real shop‑floor impact.Drawing on hands‑on experience across industries, Christian shares practical lessons on what works, what doesn’t, and why many AI initiatives struggle to move beyond pilots, including:What industrial AI deployment really means—going beyond algorithms to include business cases, ownership, services, and organisational changeWhy many AI pilots fail to scale, from unrealistic expectations to non‑serviceable, custom architecturesThe human side of IT/OT convergence, and how unclear roles and ownership can derail progressHow to choose between cloud, edge, or hybrid AI based on latency, security, cost, and operational constraintsThe role of partners and ecosystems in taking AI from the lab to productionWhere AI delivers real value today—and where expectations still need groundingWhy standardising the deployment platform early is critical to long‑term scalabilityPractical advice for moving from experimentation to production with a small set of repeatable, high‑value use casesA refreshingly realistic discussion on industrial AI for anyone responsible for digitalisation, automation, or AI strategy in manufacturing.You can find out more about how Senseye Predictive Maintenance can reduce unplanned downtime and contribute towards improved sustainability within your manufacturing plants, by visiting: www.siemens.com/senseye-predictive-maintenanceConnect with Christian on LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-zillner/