Augmented Ops is a podcast for industrial leaders, innovators, and operators shaping the future of frontline operations.
Manufacturing is evolving faster than ever — driven by new technologies, shifting markets, and a growing demand for systems that can adapt in real time. In this environment, success isn’t about predicting the future. It’s about building organizations that can keep up with it.
Season 5 of The Augmented Ops Podcast brought together 24 episodes featuring leaders, engineers, and visionaries from across manufacturing — all wrestling with the same challenge: how to build more adaptable, intelligent operations in a time of rapid change.
In the season finale, Tulip CEO Natan Linder and Chief Business Officer Erik Mirandette looked back on those conversations to uncover what the past year revealed about the state of AI, agility, and the future of manufacturing.
Two letters dominated nearly every conversation this season: AI. But as Erik and Natan discussed, most of what’s being marketed as “AI transformation” still hasn’t made its way into production environments.
“There’s a huge gap between where AI marketing is at and where productivity is,” Natan said.
While artificial intelligence has transformed digital workflows, the physical world of manufacturing presents harder problems. It’s one thing to automate emails or generate reports — it’s another to make AI reliable in safety-critical, context-rich environments.
For both leaders, that gap between promise and practicality is where the next wave of innovation is happening. Across the season, they saw a growing focus on AI for operations — systems that enhance human judgment, connect directly to data, and solve real problems on the shop floor.
Erik put it simply: progress is happening, but not evenly.
“AI is going to happen faster than the last wave of digital change, but it’s not there yet.”
Looking back on a year of conversations, one topic stood out for its endurance — and overuse.
“If there was a competition, like for the most beat up buzzwords, digital transformation would definitely be first or second place.”
Natan’s joke captured a larger truth: digital transformation is no longer a project. It’s a continuous process.
What manufacturers are pursuing now isn’t one-time modernization — it’s the ability to evolve constantly. The companies thriving today, Erik and Natan agreed, are those that treat adaptability as standard work.
In that sense, AI isn’t replacing the era of digital transformation. It’s maturing it. Intelligent, composable systems are helping teams respond faster, standardize learning, and scale improvement without waiting for the next big overhaul.
One of the most insightful moments in the conversation came when Erik described how manufacturers are adapting to volatility that no longer feels temporary.
“One of the shifts that I've seen is like people aren't saying, let me wait and see, wait for the dust to settle and then I'll start my planning. They're increasingly planning with this kind of volatility in mind.”
It’s a simple observation with massive implications. The leaders driving real progress aren’t waiting for stability — they’re designing for unpredictability.
AI is playing a key role in that mindset shift. From dynamic scheduling and predictive quality to AI-assisted decision-making, the tools emerging today are helping organizations plan in motion. They’re no longer using data to document the past but to anticipate what comes next.
As Natan noted, that shift toward adaptability isn’t optional — it’s essential.
“The world is not going to get less complex, what organizations really need. Is to remain adaptable and agile. Yeah. So they can invest in their most important asset that is so scarce at the end of the day in operation, which is their people.”
If Season 5 revealed one theme, it’s that manufacturing is entering a new era of practical intelligence — where AI, data, and human expertise work together to drive continuous improvement.
The technologies discussed throughout the season — from machine learning to modular architectures — aren’t abstract anymore. They’re becoming the connective tissue that allows operations to adapt at scale.
Progress isn’t about adopting more technology; it’s about using it more intelligently. The future of operations will belong to organizations that plan with complexity in mind, stay flexible in the face of change, and empower their people to lead transformation from within.
🎧 Listen to the full episode below and explore more conversations with industry leaders at AugmentedOps.com — where you can subscribe for future episodes and catch up on past seasons.
