When it comes to AI, I’ve seen a lot of teams get tripped up by the same thing: trying to push new tools from the top down — without talking to the people who actually do the work.

This month I joined our product lead, Roshan Satish, on a recent episode of “Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast” to talk about what we’re seeing work on the ground. The most effective AI rollouts don’t start with dashboards or pilots. They start with conversations, and when leaders get out on the floor and ask their teams:

What slows you down?
What tasks feel like busywork?
What problems keep coming back?

The goal isn’t to have technicians invent their own AI solutions. It’s to surface the pain points from the people who live and breathe the work so solutions can fit into their day — not add more work to it.

Here’s our full conversation if you want to check it out: https://www.plantservices.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/podcast/55281366/podcast-empowering-frontline-workers-with-industrial-ai-tools-that-actually-work

We also discussed our approach to building AI for the frontline, including how we designed MaintainX CoPilot to show up in small, useful ways — like helping technicians find answers faster, record resolutions more easily, and build better work history over time.

Now, I’d love to hear from you.

Discussion: What’s one small, real-world pain point you wish AI could solve in your operation today?

— Nick