Peggy’s Tech Blog:
Agentic AI Roadmap and Checklist
Much of the conversation around AI (artificial intelligence) in manufacturing and mobility has focused on the technology itself—algorithms, models, and digital capabilities. But here at Connected World and The Peggy Smedley Show, we always talk about the technology, the people, and the process. In this era of agentic AI, where intelligent systems don’t just analyze data, but begin to act, orchestrate, and autonomously execute across the enterprise, we must keep people and process top of mind.
This is precisely the conversation I had recently with John Reed, global solutions leader, manufacturing and mobility industries, Microsoft, where he suggests we are moving from islands of operation to islands of successful AI implementation. He says roughly 70% of the scaling success of agentic AI will depend on people and process.
Physical AI and Robotics have exploded—and the shift is only accelerating.
Robots are scaling again — and this time, the shift is real.
Not hype.
It’s happening on the floor, in operations, and in the decisions, leaders are making now.
When I sat down with John Reed on The Peggy Smedley Show, he didn’t dance around it. He said physical AI and robotics are accelerating faster than most organizations are prepared for.
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Peggy Smedley Show:
Episode 963|3.31.26 |Segment 1
AI and Middle Management
For decades, middle managers have been the backbone of organizations—connecting strategy to execution, translating vision into action, and keeping operations running. But AI is not just changing tasks; it's reshaping entire organizational structures and, in many cases, flattening them.
• How AI is automating administrative tasks and shifting the manager's role from supervisor to coach
• Why some organizations are using AI to flatten structures and reduce middle management positions • The "Great Flattening" and what it means for the future of work
This isn't about eliminating middle management—it's about reinventing it. Organizations that fail to evolve their middle management will create gaps in communication, development, and execution that slow down transformation instead of accelerating it.
Peggy Smedley Show:
Episode 962|3.24.26|Segment 3
Peggy Smedley Show, John Reed, General Manager, Manufacturing & Mobility, Asia, Microsoft, joins Peggy to discuss the dramatic shift happening in automotive and manufacturing—moving from digital tools to truly intelligent, connected systems. Key Topics Covered:
• Breaking out of "pilot purgatory" and scaling AI across enterprises
• The living digital thread connecting engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain • Real-time factory floor AI replacing instinct with live data
• Physical AI and robotics transformation (ABB, Kuka, Boston Dynamics partnerships)
• OTA updates, predictive service, and autonomous systems
• Customer examples: Nissan, Ford, Xiaomi, Lenovo • Building trust and governance for autonomous operations
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