ROCKWELL AUTOMATION introduced FactoryTalk® Conductor^™, an AI-native orchestration platform designed to coordinate artificial intelligence-powered work across the industrial automation lifecycle, creating a foundation for AI-enabled workflows from system design through operation and maintenance.

According to Rockwell Automation's 2026 State of Smart Manufacturing Report, one-third of manufacturing operations are already AI-augmented, with adoption expected to accelerate in the years ahead. As manufacturers move from AI experimentation to broader deployment, they need practical ways to connect technology, workflows and expertise. FactoryTalk Conductor is designed to meet that need through a single platform that brings AI together across engineering environments.

"The next phase of industrial AI will be defined by orchestration rather than individual copilots," according to Craig Resnick, Vice President, ARC Advisory Group. "Manufacturers need AI technologies that can coordinate tasks across software systems, engineering tools and operational data. FactoryTalk Conductor reflects the industry's evolution toward agentic automation by bringing AI agents, workflows and industrial expertise together in a unified environment."

FactoryTalk Conductor lets users initiate engineering tasks using natural language and intelligently connects the software, AI capabilities and workflows needed to complete them. At launch, the platform will integrate with Studio 5000 Logix Designer^®, Logix Echo^™, Emulate3D^®, and FactoryTalk^® Optix^™, providing coverage across key design, development, simulation, and testing workflows. Additional integrations across Rockwell Automation's software portfolio, including FactoryTalk^® Design Studio^™, FactoryTalk^® Historian, Plex^® and Fiix®, are planned to follow, expanding AI-powered workflows across the industrial automation lifecycle.

Among the platform’s important benefits:

• Supporting enterprise AI and governance requirements, giving organizations the flexibility to leverage FactoryTalk Hub-hosted AI services or connect their preferred large or small language models, including locally hosted open-weight models that can help reduce ongoing token consumption costs.
• Accelerating engineering workflows across the automation lifecycle by coordinating activities across design, development, testing and verification environments.
• Reducing complexity across software applications by enabling AI-powered workflows that span Studio 5000 Logix Designer, Logix Echo, Emulate3D, FactoryTalk Optix and other Rockwell Automation solutions.
• Applying AI with greater confidence and reliability through Rockwell Automation-developed integrations that connect software, data and services across industrial operations.
• Extending trusted automation expertise through Rockwell Automation-verified agents and skills, helping teams accelerate work with capabilities purpose-built for industrial applications.

Learn more at www.rockwellautomation.com.