The OT–IT Bridge: How MQTT Actually Connects the Factory, with Kudzai Manditereza

In this episode of The Zeroed-In Podcast by Thing-Zero, we sit down with Kudzai Manditereza from HiveMQ and founder of Industry40tv, to get practical about data in manufacturing. We dig into MQTT’s real job in the stack, how to bridge OT and IT without breaking culture, and why a Unified Namespace is the backbone for reliable analytics and AI at scale.We talk with Kudzai about:• MQTT vs OPC UA vs field-bus protocols, and where each fits• The OT and IT priorities problem, and how to decouple with MQTT• UNS as an event-driven backbone for orchestration, not a silver bullet• Edge-first thinking: push rules to the edge, send only what matters• Governance that scales: RBAC, validation, and killing the “wild west” broker• Standardizing KPIs like OEE across plants without slowing teams downMake sure to subscribe for more real-world OT, data, and AI conversations.⏱ Chapters:00:00 Intro01:00 MQTT’s lane vs OPC UA and field buses06:45 OT-IT culture and security priorities12:40 MQTT in the DMZ as a data diode17:10 Governance, RBAC, and broker hygiene20:40 Edge intelligence and pushing rules down26:30 Standardizing OEE and data models across sites33:10 UNS today and where it’s going next39:20 Wrap up🎧 Brought to you by Thing-Zero: Secure. Predict. Augment. Automate.📌 Follow Kudzai Manditereza on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kudzaimanditereza/📌 Follow Olivier Bloch on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivierbloch/📌 Follow Ryan Kershaw on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryankershaw/Follow Thing-Zero on:- YouTube: YouTube.com/@thing-zero - Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/company/thing-zero - 𝕏: https://x.com/ThingZ96954- Web: https://www.Thing-Zero.com#IndustrialAutomation #SmartFactory #IntelligentManufacturing #AI #OT