Why Industrial AI Is Moving Closer to the Edge in Energy Operations (Plant Services)

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Plant Services chief editor Thomas Wilk speaks with Andy Foster, Chief Product Officer at IOTech, about the growing use of edge AI across discrete manufacturing, process manufacturing, and energy operations. The conversation explores how manufacturers are using AI for predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, production optimization, and distributed energy resource management. They also discuss why organizations are moving AI closer to the edge to improve latency, reliability, and data security in mission-critical environments. In addition, the episode examines the evolving governance, lifecycle management, and workforce responsibilities required to safely scale industrial AI systems.