Automation Ladies

Hosted by Automation Ladies

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Episodes

130

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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EN-US

About the show

The podcast where girls talk industrial automation! We interview people from all walks of life in the Industrial Automation industry. Through a personal narrative/conversational framework we talk about PLCs, HMIs, SCADA, IIoT, Machine Vision, Industrial Robots, Pneumatics, Control Systems, Process Automation, Factory Automation, Systems Integration, Entrepreneurship, Career Stories, Personal Journeys, Company Culture, and any other interesting and timely topic we want to discuss. Co-Hosted by Nikki Gonzales, Ali G & Courtney Fernandez - find them on LinkedIn!

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60 recent

October 22, 2026Episode 246 min

From Computer Science To Manufacturing Software With Ignition with Mia Skertich

A lot of people think you need a perfect plan to get into industrial automation. Mia Skertich proves the opposite. She started college unsure of her direction, discovered programming for the first time in an intro engineering rotation, and later landed in the Ignition ecosystem almost by accident, then never looked back. We dig into what it’s really like to grow inside the manufacturing world as a computer science major: building MES solutions as a systems integrator, connecting Ignition to ERP systems, and learning why the database layer often carries the “real” business logic. Mia also gives a clear, practical breakdown of Perspective vs Vision and MES vs SCADA, including how OEE, traceability, and process orchestration change the conversation beyond simple real-time machine visibility. Then we zoom out to the skills that make automation engineers dangerous in the best way: reading the manual, using the forums, learning by doing, and leaning on a community that actually shows up. We also talk AI as a lightweight troubleshooting partner, why vibe coding can make debugging harder, and the future trend Mia wants to see everywhere in OT: better software engineering practices like Git version control and repeatable deployments. We wrap with a reminder that you don’t have to be “a math genius” to build a great career, plus why Ignition Maker Edition is a legit way to learn through personal projects. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with a friend in controls or software, and leave a review so more people can find Automation Ladies. 👾 A huge thank you to our sponsor Inductive Automation Support the show _________________________________________________________________ 🎙 About Automation Ladies Automation Ladies is an industrial automation podcast spotlighting the engineers, integrators, innovators, and leaders shaping the future of manufacturing. __________________________________________________________________ 🎤 Want to be a guest on the show? https://www.automationladies.io/guests/intake/ __________________________________________________________________ 👩‍🏭 Connect with the Hosts Nikki Gonzales Courtney Fernandez Ali G __________________________________________________________________ 🎟 The Automation Ladies Community Conference: https://otscada.com Learn more about the hosts’ industrial automation conference OT SCADA CON attended by 100+ automation professionals, engineers, integrators, and technology leaders for hands-on learning, real-world case studies, and meaningful industry connections. 🎬 Credits Produced by: Veronica Espinoza Music by: Sam Janes P.S. - Help our podcast grow with ...

October 15, 2026Episode 158 min

Building Ignition: Colby Clegg on Innovation, AI, and the Future of Industrial Automation

🫆 Thank you to our amazing sponsor Inductive Automation ______________________________________________________________ Industrial automation doesn’t need more hype. It needs tools that solve real plant problems, survive real uptime demands, and still play nicely with modern IT. We sit down with Colby Clegg, CEO of Inductive Automation, to unpack how Ignition grew out of a systems integrator’s breaking point: the cost and pain of getting PLC data into SQL databases and into the hands of people who could actually use it. From there, we zoom out on OT IT convergence and why the divide persists. We talk about OPC UA, open platforms, and the very different risk tolerances that shape engineering decisions on the plant floor versus the enterprise. Colby shares how Inductive hires a lot of software and computer science talent, then teaches the industrial context, and why that approach can challenge the “this is how we’ve always done it” mindset without ignoring the reality of downtime, compliance, and safety. Finally, we get specific about what’s new: the arc from Ignition 8.3 toward Ignition 2027, the push for infrastructure independence with containerization, orchestration, and source control friendly configuration, and how that openness intersects with AI in manufacturing. We’re candid about the distance between impressive generative AI output and a production ready control system, why guardrails matter, and why legacy upgrades are becoming a cybersecurity issue, not just a maintenance task. If you enjoy the conversation, subscribe, share it with a friend in OT or IT, and leave a review so more automation folks can find the show. ______________________________________________________________ Support the show _________________________________________________________________ 🎙 About Automation Ladies Automation Ladies is an industrial automation podcast spotlighting the engineers, integrators, innovators, and leaders shaping the future of manufacturing. __________________________________________________________________ 🎤 Want to be a guest on the show? https://www.automationladies.io/guests/intake/ __________________________________________________________________ 👩‍🏭 Connect with the Hosts Nikki Gonzales Courtney Fernandez Ali G __________________________________________________________________ 🎟 The Automation Ladies Community Conference: https://otscada.com Learn more about the hosts’ industrial automation conference OT SCADA CON attended by 100+ automation professionals, engineers, integrators, and technology leaders for hands-on learning, real-world case studies, and meaningful industry connections. 🎬 Credits Produced by: Veronica Espinoza Music by: Sam Janes P.S. - Help our podcast grow with ...

September 25, 2026Episode 161 hr 13 min

Season 7 Finale: Bridging the IT & OT Divide with David Ariens and Willem van Lammeren

Your digital transformation plan is probably not failing because you picked the wrong protocol. It’s failing because IT and OT are solving different problems with different timelines, different risk tolerance, and zero shared language. We sit down with David Ariens and Willem van Lammeren from the ITOT Insider podcast to get honest about what it really takes to make IT/OT convergence work inside real manufacturing and critical infrastructure. We trace how they went from plant roles at BASF to building IT/OT Insider as a “therapy session” that turned into a blog, a podcast, a live online academy, and now a new book, The IT/OT Handbook. Along the way, we talk industrial cybersecurity after Stuxnet, why vendors struggle to position products, and why most teams are not limited by technology as much as cooperation, politics, ownership, and decision-making. We also dig into scaling, because proofs of concept are cheap and production is brutal. From “pilot purgatory” to the bus factor (or lottery problem), we unpack what it takes to move from a clever demo to something secure, supportable, and sustainable. If you care about DataOps, unified namespace thinking, industrial data platforms, or AI in manufacturing, this conversation keeps the focus where it belongs: the operating model around the tech. Bonus: we’re giving away free copies of The IT/OT Handbook. Post on LinkedIn, link to this episode, tag Automation Ladies and IT/OT Insider, share what you liked (or didn’t), and say you want the book. First 10 people get a copy. Subscribe, share this with one OT or IT friend who needs it, and leave a review so more automation folks can find the show. Support the show _________________________________________________________________ 🎙 About Automation Ladies Automation Ladies is an industrial automation podcast spotlighting the engineers, integrators, innovators, and leaders shaping the future of manufacturing. __________________________________________________________________ 🎤 Want to be a guest on the show? https://www.automationladies.io/guests/intake/ __________________________________________________________________ 👩‍🏭 Connect with the Hosts Nikki Gonzales Courtney Fernandez Ali G __________________________________________________________________ 🎟 The Automation Ladies Community Conference: https://otscada.com Learn more about the hosts’ industrial automation conference OT SCADA CON attended by 100+ automation professionals, engineers, integrators, and technology leaders for hands-on learning, real-world case studies, and meaningful industry connections. 🎬 Credits Produced by: Veronica Espinoza Music by: Sam Janes P.S. - Help our podcast grow with ...

September 18, 2026Episode 1536 min

When Trust Matters More Than Your Spec Sheet with Zoie Rittling

Edge computing sounds clean on a slide deck, but the factory floor is where the definition gets real fast. We talk with Zoie Rittling, an edge computing specialist at TEGUAR, about what “compute close to the data” actually means when you’re dealing with heat, dust, vibration, uptime pressure, and constant change. If you have ever wondered why a normal laptop dies on a production line, or what makes an industrial box PC, panel PC, or edge server the right fit for OT workloads, we break it down in plain language with concrete examples like machine vision and quality inspection. From there, we shift into the human side of industrial automation: how consultative B2B hardware sales works when you cannot manufacture demand and budget cycles run the show. Zoie shares why cold outbound is really a relationship game, why patience pays dividends over nine to eighteen month deal cycles, and how trade shows succeed or fail based on the planning and the post-show follow-up. We also talk about building a collaborative inside sales culture that protects customer experience instead of letting reps compete over the same account. We wrap by busting two expensive myths: industrial computers can be powerful, and edge AI does not automatically require a massive GPU. The goal is right-sizing hardware to the workload so performance is solid and ROI is real. Along the way we get into mentorship, imposter syndrome, and the value of being humble enough to ask questions, whether you are a new account executive or an engineer leaning on vendors and applications teams for expertise. Subscribe for more conversations on industrial automation, edge computing, OT hardware, and the people who make it work, then share this episode with a coworker and leave a review with your biggest edge deployment lesson. Support the show _________________________________________________________________ 🎙 About Automation Ladies Automation Ladies is an industrial automation podcast spotlighting the engineers, integrators, innovators, and leaders shaping the future of manufacturing. __________________________________________________________________ 🎤 Want to be a guest on the show? https://www.automationladies.io/guests/intake/ __________________________________________________________________ 👩‍🏭 Connect with the Hosts Nikki Gonzales Courtney Fernandez Ali G __________________________________________________________________ 🎟 The Automation Ladies Community Conference: https://otscada.com Learn more about the hosts’ industrial automation conference OT SCADA CON attended by 100+ automation professionals, engineers, integrators, and technology leaders for hands-on learning, real-world case studies, and meaningful industry connections. 🎬 Credits Produced by: Veronica Espinoza Music by: Sam Janes P.S. - Help our podcast grow with ...

September 10, 2026Episode 554 min

Automate mini series: Whitney Sales

“We do it with AI” is easy to say. Making robots work through contact, uncertainty, and variation on a real factory floor is the hard part. We sit down with Whitney Dills from Thought Forge AI to unpack an approach to industrial robotics control that flips a common assumption: more data does not automatically mean better performance. Whitney explains active inference, a neuroscience rooted framework that treats robot control as continuous prediction and correction using real time sensory feedback. Instead of bloated backpropagation models that demand huge datasets and retraining for every edge case, Thought Forge trains quickly on small amounts of data and adapts after deployment. We talk about why that matters for insertion and complex manipulation, where torque, joint state, and haptics decide success or failure. If you have ever watched a slick picking demo fall apart the moment parts vary, lighting shifts, or fixtures drift, this conversation connects the dots. We also get practical about adoption: edge AI that can run on a CPU, the risks of GPU dependence, and how data ownership and IP concerns shape buyer trust. Whitney shares why their models stay on premise, why off the shelf robots and sensors often win over novel vertically integrated stacks, and how to think about cobots versus humanoids when reliability and cycle time are non negotiable. Subscribe for more conversations that cut through robotics hype, share this with someone evaluating “physical AI” for manufacturing, and leave a review with the one automation task you most want AI to finally handle. Support the show _________________________________________________________________ 🎙 About Automation Ladies Automation Ladies is an industrial automation podcast spotlighting the engineers, integrators, innovators, and leaders shaping the future of manufacturing. __________________________________________________________________ 🎤 Want to be a guest on the show? https://www.automationladies.io/guests/intake/ __________________________________________________________________ 👩‍🏭 Connect with the Hosts Nikki Gonzales Courtney Fernandez Ali G __________________________________________________________________ 🎟 The Automation Ladies Community Conference: https://otscada.com Learn more about the hosts’ industrial automation conference OT SCADA CON attended by 100+ automation professionals, engineers, integrators, and technology leaders for hands-on learning, real-world case studies, and meaningful industry connections. 🎬 Credits Produced by: Veronica Espinoza Music by: Sam Janes P.S. - Help our podcast grow with ...

September 3, 2026Episode 452 min

Automate mini series: Dylan Caufrier

Paper schematics feel “reliable” until they are the reason a shutdown drags on, a cabinet print is wrong, or a tech makes a split-second mistake under pressure. We sit down with Dylan from Lightstream, a Belgian family-owned industrial automation company, to get brutally practical about what it takes to move maintenance from binders and drawers to a digital workflow that technicians will actually use. We unpack Cabinet Manager, which Dylan calls the digital Swiss pocket knife for technicians. The promise is simple: scan a code at the machine and instantly pull up the right electrical schematics, manuals, procedures, and diagrams in one place, tailored to who you are (electrician, mechanic, PLC programmer). From there, updates and annotations are captured as the work happens, so “as-built” documentation stops being a fantasy and starts becoming a habit. Then we go deep on augmented reality in manufacturing. Dylan shares real demo data comparing troubleshooting by paper, tablet, and AR, and why AR can slash time because the information is in your field of view and your hands stay free. We also challenge the easy narrative around AI: manuals are not the same as experience, and the real win is capturing tribal knowledge from veteran technicians before it retires out the door. Along the way, we talk safety and lockout tagout, labor shortages, retention pressure from data centers, and why humanoid robots may be more PR than practical in today’s plants. If you care about digital transformation in industrial maintenance, OT reliability, and safer troubleshooting, this one is for you. Subscribe, share it with a maintenance leader, and leave a review with your take: what is the biggest barrier to going paperless where you work? _________________________________________________________________ 👾 Connect with Dylan Linkedin Lightstream BE Linkedin Lightstream BE website Support the show _________________________________________________________________ 🎙 About Automation Ladies Automation Ladies is an industrial automation podcast spotlighting the engineers, integrators, innovators, and leaders shaping the future of manufacturing. __________________________________________________________________ 🎤 Want to be a guest on the show? https://www.automationladies.io/guests/intake/ __________________________________________________________________ 👩‍🏭 Connect with the Hosts Nikki Gonzales Courtney Fernandez Ali G __________________________________________________________________ 🎟 The Automation Ladies Community Conference: https://otscada.com Learn more about the hosts’ industrial automation conference OT SCADA CON attended by 100+ automation professionals, engineers, integrators, and technology leaders for hands-on learning, real-world case studies, and meaningful industry connections. 🎬 Credits Produced by: Veronica Espinoza Music by: Sam Janes P.S. - Help our podcast grow with ...

August 27, 2026Episode 1348 min

You Can Learn People Skills Like You Learn PLCs with Alice Rystov and Cassy Gardner

Your engineering degree taught you equations. Then your first job asks you to troubleshoot a VFD, commission a skid, and explain the problem to five different people without melting down. That jump is real, and it’s exactly what we dig into with Alice Ristoff and Cassie Gardner from eTech Group. We talk about the many on-ramps into controls engineering and industrial automation and why there isn’t one “correct” major. Chemical engineering, bioengineering, mechanical, electrical, and even biology backgrounds can thrive when you bring curiosity, solid problem solving, and the willingness to learn PLC programming and SCADA basics. Alice and Cassie share concrete ways to break in, including finding mentors, running informational interviews, and building marketable skills like Ignition SCADA credentials that can help you get your foot in the door. From there, we move to what makes technical teams actually work: active listening versus presuming, validating what you heard, asking clarifying questions, and naming the feelings behind the facts. We also challenge the idea that management is the only path to career growth, talk about handling conflict directly, and share how to support engineers across different generations. You’ll also hear honest stories about commissioning, making expensive mistakes, and why ownership plus documentation beats panic every time. If you’re trying to enter industrial automation, level up as a controls engineer, or lead better on projects without scope creep, this one is for you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s breaking into automation, and leave a review so more engineers can find the show. Support the show _________________________________________________________________ 🎙 About Automation Ladies Automation Ladies is an industrial automation podcast spotlighting the engineers, integrators, innovators, and leaders shaping the future of manufacturing. __________________________________________________________________ 🎤 Want to be a guest on the show? https://www.automationladies.io/guests/intake/ __________________________________________________________________ 👩‍🏭 Connect with the Hosts Nikki Gonzales Courtney Fernandez Ali G __________________________________________________________________ 🎟 The Automation Ladies Community Conference: https://otscada.com Learn more about the hosts’ industrial automation conference OT SCADA CON attended by 100+ automation professionals, engineers, integrators, and technology leaders for hands-on learning, real-world case studies, and meaningful industry connections. 🎬 Credits Produced by: Veronica Espinoza Music by: Sam Janes P.S. - Help our podcast grow with ...

August 20, 2026Episode 322 min

Automate mini series: Amanda Beaton

Most people in industrial automation agree we have a skills gap, but we keep aiming the message at ourselves. We sat down with Amanda Beaton from Siemens to talk about the side of Automate that deserves a bigger spotlight: Education Day, student tours, and the educators building the next wave of automation and robotics talent long before anyone applies for a job. Amanda runs Siemens Cooperates with Education in the US, bridging industry and academia by helping instructors get access to real Siemens automation technologies, training, curriculum, and micro-credentials. We dig into the A3 Educator of the Year Award and the story behind this year’s winner, Jim Dever Prasad from Lake Superior State University, whose decades in robotics education created a chain reaction of graduates who now lead, mentor, and teach across manufacturing and automation. We also get practical about outreach. Students are not scrolling LinkedIn, and parents often do not know that high-paying automation careers can start without a four-year degree. We explore why short-form video can close the awareness gap, how immersive demos like the Siemens Mobile Experience make modern manufacturing feel tangible, and why badges and industry-recognized micro-credentials are gaining real weight in workforce development and hiring. If this conversation helps you rethink how we grow automation talent, subscribe, share the episode with a teammate or an educator, and leave a quick review so more people can find the show. Support the show _________________________________________________________________ 🎙 About Automation Ladies Automation Ladies is an industrial automation podcast spotlighting the engineers, integrators, innovators, and leaders shaping the future of manufacturing. __________________________________________________________________ 🎤 Want to be a guest on the show? https://www.automationladies.io/guests/intake/ __________________________________________________________________ 👩‍🏭 Connect with the Hosts Nikki Gonzales Courtney Fernandez Ali G __________________________________________________________________ 🎟 The Automation Ladies Community Conference: https://otscada.com Learn more about the hosts’ industrial automation conference OT SCADA CON attended by 100+ automation professionals, engineers, integrators, and technology leaders for hands-on learning, real-world case studies, and meaningful industry connections. 🎬 Credits Produced by: Veronica Espinoza Music by: Sam Janes P.S. - Help our podcast grow with ...

August 13, 2026Episode 131 hr 1 min

The Future of Automation: Physical AI, Robotics, and What’s Next with Dennis Gansen

AI isn’t just a software story, it’s a power story, a controls story, and a “how do we actually build this stuff” story. After the EPC show in Houston, I sit down with Dennis Ganson from Schneider Electric to unpack what’s changing in industrial automation and energy, and how you can stay useful as the pace picks up. Dennis shares his career path from West Point and the US Army into GE Energy, field service, project leadership, and strategic sales, eventually landing in process automation. We talk about what he leads at Schneider Electric across the Foxboro and Triconex world, and why process automation and discrete automation are different in practice even when customers need both. If you’ve ever felt boxed into one niche, this conversation makes the case for learning laterally and building a strong technical network. We also dig into what we heard at EPC: data center buildouts, utility constraints, gas turbine bottlenecks, and the craft labor shortage that no spreadsheet can wish away. Then we bring it back to technology, how modern control systems unlock more plant data, why that changes predictive maintenance and optimization, and what “software-defined automation” and truly open architecture can mean when supply chains get messy. If you’re navigating DCS vs PLC decisions, tracking AI infrastructure demand, or just trying to understand where automation is headed next, you’ll leave with clearer mental models and better questions to ask. Subscribe, share this with a friend in controls or energy, and leave a review telling us what topic you want us to chase next. Support the show _________________________________________________________________ 🎙 About Automation Ladies Automation Ladies is an industrial automation podcast spotlighting the engineers, integrators, innovators, and leaders shaping the future of manufacturing. __________________________________________________________________ 🎤 Want to be a guest on the show? https://www.automationladies.io/guests/intake/ __________________________________________________________________ 👩‍🏭 Connect with the Hosts Nikki Gonzales Courtney Fernandez Ali G __________________________________________________________________ 🎟 The Automation Ladies Community Conference: https://otscada.com Learn more about the hosts’ industrial automation conference OT SCADA CON attended by 100+ automation professionals, engineers, integrators, and technology leaders for hands-on learning, real-world case studies, and meaningful industry connections. 🎬 Credits Produced by: Veronica Espinoza Music by: Sam Janes P.S. - Help our podcast grow with ...

July 30, 2026Episode 224 min

Automate mini series: Christine Bush

ROI math can be brutally simple, and that’s exactly why it often fails in industrial automation. If your spreadsheet only asks “how many heads are we replacing,” you might get a clean payback number, but you also risk approving the wrong projects and rejecting the right ones. We’re joined by Christine Busch, who leads Schneider Electric’s Robotic Center of Excellence, to talk about what return on investment should look like when you’re trying to make robotics deployments truly successful. We dig into the payback expectations Christine sees most often, typically 18 to 24 months, and why finance teams still push for 12. Then we widen the lens to the costs and constraints plants routinely overlook: turnover in high-churn roles, recruiting and training spend, performance instability, and the cultural damage that happens when automation is framed as “replacing humans.” Christine argues that many of the best robotics wins come from automating the dirty, dull, and dangerous work no one wants to keep, then empowering operators to run the line better through upskilling and clearer ownership. From there, we introduce a practical way to rethink the business case with what Christine calls a plant vitality index: reliability, downtime, maintenance burden, aging equipment and spare parts risk, KPIs like OEE, digital transformation readiness, and how well you use data for productivity, energy management, and sustainability goals. We also get real about cobots, why the space is more mature now, and why safety depends on whether the application is actually collaborative. To wrap, we touch on Schneider’s bigger vision, including software-defined automation, EcoStruxure Automation Expert, and the Universal Automation ecosystem. Subscribe for more conversations on industrial automation and robotics, share this with a teammate building ROI cases, and leave a review if you want more practical frameworks like this. _________________________________________________________________ 👾 Connect with the guest _________________________________________________________________ 🏢 Connect with Schneider Robotics _________________________________________________________________ Support the show _________________________________________________________________ 🎙 About Automation Ladies Automation Ladies is an industrial automation podcast spotlighting the engineers, integrators, innovators, and leaders shaping the future of manufacturing. __________________________________________________________________ 🎤 Want to be a guest on the show? https://www.automationladies.io/guests/intake/ __________________________________________________________________ 👩‍🏭 Connect with the Hosts Nikki Gonzales Courtney Fernandez Ali G __________________________________________________________________ 🎟 The Automation Ladies Community Conference: https://otscada.com Learn more about the hosts’ industrial automation conference OT SCADA CON attended by 100+ automation professionals, engineers, integrators, and technology leaders for hands-on learning, real-world case studies, and meaningful industry connections. 🎬 Credits Produced by: Veronica Espinoza Music by: Sam Janes P.S. - Help our podcast grow with ...