Ignited: Striking Industrial Automation Conversations

For decades, industrial automation was dominated by proprietary, vendor-locked control systems — but that's changing. In this episode, we sit down with Don Bartusiak to explore the journey of Open Process Automation (OPA), from its origins as an industry response to vendor lock-in to its current state as a real, deployable standard reshaping process control.

Guest: Don Bartusiak - President at Collaborative Systems Integration

The industrial automation industry has a talent challenge. The question is who is doing something about it — and how.

Travis and Tom sit down with David Grussenmeyer, Director of Strategic Alliances, and Annabelle Haley, Educational Engagement Program Manager at Inductive Automation, to explore the company's commitment to building the next generation of industrial automation professionals. From donated Ignition licenses and free Inductive University training to a purpose-built OT curriculum and the beloved Build-a-Thon at ICC, Inductive Automation has built one of the most comprehensive academic engagement programs in the industry.

David and Annabelle share how the program evolved — including a pivot away from direct university outreach toward a more effective model built through integrators and ecosystem partners — how institutions like Clemson are doing remarkable things with the platform, and what it means to certify not just students but faculty. The call to action here is not passive: whether you are an end user, integrator, or vendor, you have a role to play in connecting students to this industry, and this episode will show you where to start.

Guests:

David Grussenmeyer — Director of Strategic Alliances, Inductive Automation 

Annabelle Haley — Educational Engagement Program Manager, Inductive Automation 

What happens when a small automation team at a legendary guitar manufacturer decides to build something extraordinary? You get a story that will inspire every engineer in industrial automation.

Travis and Tom welcome Tyler Robertson, Automation Manager at Taylor Guitars, for one of the most unique and compelling conversations in Ignited's first season. Taylor Guitars is not just a manufacturer — it is an ESOP, a sustainability leader, and an organization deeply committed to the craft behind every instrument. Tyler walks through how a lean engineering team used Ignition to say yes to nearly every production request that came their way, from automating neck pressing and quality scanning to enabling smarter, data-driven decision making across the factory floor.

The conversation also explores how Taylor is navigating the very real challenges of an aging workforce and the preservation of institutional knowledge, and what their builders-first mentality means for how they approach enterprise technology. Travis had the privilege of visiting Taylor's facility in January as part of Inductive Automation's Industry Immersion program — and the story he found there was too good not to share.

Guest:

Tyler Robertson — Automation Manager, Taylor Guitars

AI in industrial automation has generated more hype than almost any technology in recent memory. But what is actually happening on the plant floor — and what does it take to move from data collection to genuine intelligence?

Travis and Tom welcome Jeff Winter, VP of Commercial Strategy at Belden and one of the most recognized voices in smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0. Jeff serves on the boards of ISA and MESA and as an advisor to CESMII, bringing an unusually clear-eyed perspective on where the industry actually stands versus where the conversation says it is. The discussion covers the real state of AI adoption in OT, why so many organizations are sitting on mountains of data they still cannot act on, and what data contextualization actually unlocks.

The conversation also gets into the security implications of a more connected plant floor, the human side of automation and what AI means for the operators and technicians who have built careers around these systems, and how Belden's own journey from a cable company to a digital infrastructure powerhouse mirrors the transformation the broader industry is navigating.

Guest:

Jeff Winter — VP Commercial Strategy, Belden

Good software doesn't just solve today's problems — it anticipates tomorrow's. In this episode, we explore how the architectural decisions made in industrial automation today will determine how flexible, scalable, and resilient systems are for years to come.

Hosts Travis and Tom sit down with Kevin McClusky, Chief Technology Architect at Inductive Automation, for a wide-ranging conversation about how OT architectures have shifted over the past decade and where they need to go next. Kevin draws on years of co-leading Inductive Automation's Sales Engineering division, helping create the iconic Build-a-Thon, and working closely with the Distributed Architecture Working Group (DAWG) to unpack what's driving the biggest changes in SCADA — and how Inductive Automation builds its product roadmap around the real challenges integrators and end users face.

The conversation spans big-picture industry trends and ground-level practicality: What has caused the most significant architectural shifts in SCADA? What is the current state of industry standards, and why does DAWG matter? And what does Kevin see on the horizon that has him most excited about the future of industrial systems?

Guest:

Kevin McClusky — Chief Technology Architect, Inductive Automation

Most people know Ignition as a powerful platform for manufacturing and infrastructure — but this episode reveals something far bigger. Travis and Tom sit down with David Grussenmeyer and the remarkable Liliya Valihun to explore how Inductive Automation's Community Impact program is enabling people to use Ignition as a tool for solving deeply human problems.

The conversation covers how Inductive Automation is supporting mission-driven organizations creating real-world change — and how Hebron Soft has been at the forefront of that work. Liliya and her team built a comprehensive system to help manage homeless services, then made it open source — not as a business strategy, but as a moral decision. They also developed a prosthetic arm using the Ignition platform, a project that earned them the prestigious Firebrand Award at ICC.

From there, the discussion turns to the Hebron IT Academy — a bold initiative training the next generation of technology builders in Liliya's community — and URI, a new and ambitious project from Hebron Soft that signals just how high the ceiling can go when purpose-driven people get access to the right tools.

Guests:

David Grussenmeyer – Director of Strategic Alliances, Inductive Automation 

Liliya Valihun – Director of Global Programs & AI Localization, Hebron Soft 

Data centers are no longer just IT infrastructure — they're becoming some of the most complex, process-controlled facilities in the world. In this episode, we explore how explosive growth in data center demand is reshaping what it means to be an OT engineer, and why the tools of modern software development are now essential on the plant floor.

Hosts Travis and Tom sit down with Jason and Keith to unpack how the surging demand for data center capacity is driving a fundamental shift in OT architecture. What was once the exclusive domain of IT — DevOps practices, containerization, and Kubernetes — is rapidly becoming standard equipment for industrial software engineers.

The conversation moves from big-picture trends to ground-level practicality: What does a DevOps approach actually look like in an OT context? Why is Kubernetes the natural evolution after virtualization? And how do these technologies apply even if you're not operating at hyperscale?

BW Design Group is a premier Ignition integrator with deep expertise in the data center space.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/barry-wehmiller-design-group/

https://github.com/design-group

Guests:

Jason Rhodewalt — Managing Partner, Control System Integration 

Keith Gamble — Director of Software Engineering, BW Design Group

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Data in Motion — MQTT, Sparkplug B, and Why the Edge Changes Everything

What happens when you need to move data across an entire enterprise — reliably, efficiently, and at scale — without drowning in network traffic or proprietary middleware? That's where MQTT and Sparkplug B come in.

Travis and Tom sit down with Benson Houghland, VP of Products at Opto 22, and Arlen Nipper, co-inventor of MQTT, to trace the protocol's origins in satellite telemetry all the way to its role as the backbone of modern industrial data infrastructure. The conversation covers event-driven vs. polling architectures, what a real MQTT/Sparkplug deployment looks like, and why edge compute changes everything.

IN THIS EPISODE

MQTT + Sparkplug B is the architecture for scalable industrial data movement. Data moves when it changes, not on a timer — and Sparkplug B gives that data a standardized structure enterprise systems can actually use.

The Unified Namespace becomes real with MQTT and Sparkplug B. Together they provide the event-driven backbone for a true single source of truth across your operation, with Ignition at the center.

Edge compute is now an architectural requirement. Resilience, millisecond decisions, and offline operation — Ignition Edge, MQTT, and Sparkplug B make it all possible without vendor lock-in.

GUESTS

Arlen Nipper — Co-inventor of MQTT; Sparkplug B specification contributor

Benson Houghland — VP of Products, Opto 22