reight rail moves 40% of long-distance goods in the U.S., but the industry's biggest challenge isn't infrastructure, it's intelligence. In this episode of The Peggy Smedley Show, host Peggy Smedley sits down with V. Krishnan, industry advisor for Microsoft manufacturing & mobility, to explore how AI agents and realtime decision tools are reshaping the future of rail.
They discuss:
Why railroads are drowning in data but struggling to act on it
How CSX used AI to transform customer experience
The Rumo case study: cutting lookup times from 4 minutes to 3 seconds
Fuel optimization and how AI can cut costs 3–7% without new infrastructure
Weather analytics, workforce challenges, and the retiring knowledge crisis
Why the next 10% of performance won't come from more track — it'll come from smarter decisions
Whether you're in logistics, supply chain, or enterprise tech, this conversation is a must-listen.
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What does it take to make AI reliable enough to design a bridge? Peggy Smedley sits down with Francois Valois, senior vice president of Bentley Open Applications at Bentley Systems, to unpack the MCP (model context protocol — an open, agnostic standard that connects AI agents to deterministic engineering tools like STAAD and MicroStation ensuring trust, validation, and accountability in engineering workflows.
They explore why generative AI alone needs to be more trustworthy for infrastructure design, how MCP bridges the gap between non-deterministic LLMs (large language models) and precise calculation engines, and what Bentley's open-source strategy means for the future of connected-infrastructure data.
Topics covered:
What MCP is and why Anthropic invented it
Why "90% accurate" isn't acceptable in engineering
How STAAD and MicroStation are now AI-accessible via MCP
The role of structured data (and dark data) in AI workflows
How to start experimenting with AI agents in your firm
The future of the engineer in an AI-augmented world
See what enterprise-ready AI support looks like
How are leading teams getting AI support to work? We're breaking down the playbook, live July 9.
Looking to sponsor an upcoming segment of The Peggy Smedley Show? Check out the exciting topics planned for the coming months and send your ideas to [email protected].