To do so, you'll need to be like Spider-Man, always keeping in mind: "With great power comes great responsibility." In the automation world, you are not talking to services or apps that work as an end in themselves. You won't just cause someone a headache; you can destroy equipment, harm people, or even worse. People must know that it's a tool to boost productivity, not something to replace good engineers with something entirely computer-made. And this is only the first layer of the onion.

Will we write less PLC code ourselves in the future? I tested the new Siemens AI assistant in TIA Portal, the Engineering Agent. And honestly: this felt like much more than just a nice demo feature. I asked it to create a complex SCL block: 🧩 interfaces using UDTs ⚙️ call from another block 🔗 automatic connection to the correct variables The result was surprisingly good. But one thing became very clear: right now, it works especially well with SCL. And that raises an interesting question: Will AI tools lead to significantly more SCL code in future PLC projects? LAD and FBD will not disappear. But SCL could get a real boost through AI. What do you think? Will SCL become more important because of AI? #TIAportal #SCL #PLCProgramming #Industry40 #Siemens

Apologies for the heavily masked screenshot, but this is to protect the privacy of our partner. However, the mission was clear, the customer of our partner had the clear mission having to migrate an old SCADA project to EnvisionSCADA. We feeded "Claude-San" with the old project files, and connected it to EnvisionSCADA's MCP Server running on the local network. 5 min of work. Another 5 min later, it spits out a completely analysis for a migration plan, and explicitly states "A large portion of the heavy config work (device creation, 974 variable imports, 568 alarm definitions, all 59 pages) can be automated directly via the MCP connector.". I know, we have to take AI's analysis with a grain of salt, don't cheer on its overly positive tone, however, it saved our integrator WEEKS, or even Months of work... AI did the bulk of the engineering, and the SCADA programmer has more time to focus focus on Validation, Design, Quality Control, UX, etc... Side note: This is was with Sonnet on low, imagine with Opus... Also getting same amazing results with Github Cowork and Codex. Available now at https://lnkd.in/eHnd8tnZ European made | On-premise | 100% Web-based | Free Development Download at: www.envisionscada.com #OmniconAutomation #EnvisionSCADA #SCADA #IndustrialAutomation #Industry40 #Automation #OT #IIoT #DigitalTransformation #PLC #HMI #OPCUA #Modbus #SmartManufacturing #FactoryAutomation #Engineering #AI #GenerativeAI #LLM #IndustrialAI #SoftwareDevelopment

Fresh off Automate Show 2026 in Chicago — and my mind is still processing everything I saw. As someone deep in controls and automation, here’s what genuinely caught my attention: ⚙️ Open vs. Proprietary: The Battle Is On The competition between open PLC platforms — like WAGO with its Codesys-based environment — and traditional proprietary ecosystems like Rockwell Automation and Siemens is intensifying. Open platforms are no longer a niche alternative; they’re a legitimate contender. It’ll be fascinating to watch how the legacy players respond over the next 10–20 years. 🤖 AI as an Engineering Accelerator: I didn’t see a single major software platform without some form of AI integration — whether built-in or through tools like Claude AI and GitHub Copilot. With a great prompt, not only you can generate a clean code but a stunning graphical interface. The narrative has shifted: AI isn’t the threat to engineering jobs. Inefficiency is. And AI is the answer to that. 💻 The Future of Programming Languages: I am not ready to write Ladder Logic will become irrelevant, but AI is pushing Structured Text (ST) to the forefront. ST is generatable, readable, and maintainable by AI tools in a way Ladder Logic simply isn’t. The shift is gradual — but it’s happening. For engineers not yet comfortable with ST, now is the time to invest in that skill. Great show overall. Happy to connect with others working at the intersection of controls and emerging tech #Automate2026 #IndustrialAutomation #Codesys #PLCProgramming #ControlsEngineering #AI #StructuredText #WAGO #Rockwell #Siemens

As AI becomes increasingly capable of generating code, the real competitive advantage will not be who can write the most code, but who has the strongest engineering standards, reusable frameworks, and proven methodologies behind it. There is an important difference between an engineering solution and an engineering system. An engineering solution solves today’s problem An engineering system creates value for every future project Solutions solve individual problems. Systems allow organizations to solve problems repeatedly, faster, more reliably, and with greater consistency. #Automation #PLC #Siemens #TIAPortal #IndustrialAutomation #ControlsEngineering #Industry40 #Manufacturing #Engineering

Next-Level AI with New Eigen Engineering Agent Capabilities https://lnkd.in/eCRHPgmn ECAD integration and standards-compliant project generation are designed to connect electrical designs with software development and turn plain-language machine descriptions into ready-to-use, standards-compliant projects. #siemens #physicalai #aiagents #industrialai

Most engineers don't realize how hard implementing industrial protocols actually is until they're already in it. I sat down with Chuck Ridgeway, who has spent 36 years at Horner Automation & Solutions Group. He's been creating some amazing videos on Industrial Protocols and is sharing his knowledge, including the fieldbus wars of the '90 sand asked him to paint the real picture of how someone builds hardware. Here's what you have to choose between in the 90's. 🔵 Writing from the spec (no libraries, just the standard and a prayer) 🔵Open source stacks (available, but "should you?" is a real question) 🔵 Licensed stacks from protocol specialists (expensive, but they've done the conformance work) Chuck lived this firsthand; DeviceNet, PROFIBUS, InterBus S, CANOpen back when nobody knew which would survive. His job was to make all of them work. If you've ever underestimated what it takes to get a protocol certified and shipping in hardware, this one's worth 5 minutes. Join Dave Griffith and Vladimir Romanov of Manufacturing Hub Network at the Horner Booth at the A3 - Association for Advancing Automation for #Automate2026 June 24th! ****** Follow Dave Griffith and 🔔.  Follow Manufacturing Hub Network for new episodes.  #automation #manufacturing #ai 

A generative AI assistant directly connected to TIA* Portal that boosts engineering efficiency, reduces repetitive work, and brings AI‑powered automation into everyday workflows. •Intelligent engineering support: It generates PLC code, JavaScript for WinCC Unified, and streamlines drive, hardware, and network configuration. •Context‑aware guidance: It understands your TIA Portal project and acts as a true pair programmer, following your standards.

TwinCAT CoAgent Accelerates Automation Programming with Built-In AI Tools https://lnkd.in/ekb_D-ST Open, model-independent AI assistance for automation programming and controls engineering from Beckhoff Automation. #beckhoff #industrialai #IndustrialAutomation