YouTube Description

In this episode of the Energy Tech Podcast, recorded live at Inductive Automation’s Data Center Discovery Day 2026 in Tysons, Virginia, Jeff Perry and Mike Flores sit down with Travis Cox, Chief Technology Evangelist at Inductive Automation.

The conversation dives deep into the future of industrial automation, Unified Namespace (UNS), edge architectures, AI-ready data, MQTT, Sparkplug B, and where Ignition is headed next with AI, orchestration, and agentic workflows.

Travis shares insights into:

Ignition 8.3 and modern deployment architectures

Why AI readiness starts at the edge

The rise of Unified Namespace in industrial systems

OT and IT convergence

Kubernetes, containers, REST APIs & GitHub workflows

Data orchestration and digital infrastructure

AI copilots and agentic workflows for operations

Historical data usability and context modeling

What to expect at ICC 2026

If you're involved in SCADA, industrial automation, data centers, manufacturing, OT infrastructure, or AI-enabled operations, this episode provides a high-level look at where the industry is rapidly heading.

🎙️ Presented by OpSite Energy

🎧 Subscribe for more conversations on industrial automation, SCADA, MQTT, AI, and operational technology.

#IgnitionSCADA #InductiveAutomation #UnifiedNamespace #MQTT #SparkplugB #IndustrialAI #SCADA #EdgeComputing #IndustrialAutomation #DataCenters #OTIT #AIInfrastructure #EnergyTechPodcast

Chapters

00:00 – Intro from Data Center Discovery Day 2026

00:20 – Meet Travis Cox of Inductive Automation

01:08 – What changed from last year’s message

02:09 – The rise of Unified Namespace (UNS)

03:25 – Why AI readiness starts at the edge

04:08 – Centralized SCADA vs edge architectures

05:08 – MQTT, Sparkplug B & edge translation layers

05:21 – Ignition 8.3 and data orchestration

06:09 – Blending OT and IT technologies

06:58 – GitHub, REST APIs & Kubernetes deployments

07:43 – OT/IT convergence and collaboration

08:07 – Biggest mistakes companies are making

09:21 – When AI becomes operationally useful

10:18 – AI-assisted Ignition development

10:43 – Natural language interfaces for operations

11:06 – Agentic workflows and predictive operations

11:41 – MCP and industrial AI platforms

12:18 – AI roadmap leading into ICC

13:06 – Industry-specific agents vs flexible platforms

14:15 – Building customizable AI agent platforms

15:15 – Travis Cox’s vision for digital infrastructure

16:35 – Personal takeaways from Discovery Day

17:44 – “Don’t worry about data anymore” philosophy

18:25 – Sneak peek at ICC 2026 announcements

19:11 – Closing thoughts

Presented by Opsite Energy: www.opsitenergy.com Music: Uygar Duzgun / “Fast Life” courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com