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PLM Road Map & PDT North America 2026 | Metro Washington D.C. | 6-7 May 2026

AI in PLM: A Disruptive Opportunity and Challenge
Turning AI disruption into enterprise value: Strategic insights for the PLM professional


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Day 1 - 6 May

  1. 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. | Registration & Continental Breakfast in the Collaboration Café
  2. 8:30 a.m. – 8:40 a.m. | Welcome
    Peter Bilello, President & CEO, CIMdata & Håkan Kårdén, CEO, HKAB
  3. 8:40 a.m. – 9:20 a.m. | Opening Presentation: AI in PLM: Beyond all the Hype
    Peter Bilello, President & CEO, CIMdata [Bio]
    Artificial intelligence (AI) has been present in the PLM market for years, but the impact of newer generative AI or yet-to-be-defined applications of AI remains unclear. While practical benefits exist, companies are still working to understand, integrate, and optimize AI. CIMdata expects AI in PLM to bring both challenges and opportunities, with the potential for significant, disruptive gains if managed well. Big data within PLM, for example, can now be used to develop new AI applications that deliver actionable insights. However, like most emerging technologies, AI is often hyped before its real value is proven. The task for PLM professionals is to turn AI’s disruptive power into enterprise value. So, where are we today with AI’s support for PLM? Has AI’s enablement of PLM reached its tipping point? What is available and what is potentially next? The emergence of these topics in the context of the product lifecycle will be presented.
  4. 9:20 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. | KEYNOTE: Artificial Intelligence: From Disruptive Challenge to Strategic Advantage
    Vishwa Uddanwadiker, Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer for Engineering, Test & Technology, The Boeing Company [Bio]
    Vishwa Uddanwadiker, Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer for Engineering, Test & Technology at The Boeing Company, will present the breadth of AI at Boeing, encompassing optimization, computer vision, reinforcement learning, simulation, and embedded machine learning. Vishwa will highlight concrete product and process examples, such as an AI-driven auto-taxi, the Safe Runway hazard detection system, and computer vision tools for part verification and factory defect detection, which speed inspections and reduce rework. Vishwa will also showcase process-focused assistants augmented with Boeing data that streamline complex workflows, improve draft quality, and accelerate corrective action planning. Looking ahead, Vishwa will explain how Boeing will continue to embed AI across products, production, and support while prioritizing system-level safety assurance through rigorous verification and validation, collaboration with regulators, meaningful human oversight, and iterative validation in real operational conditions to ensure explainable, certifiable, and dependable AI.
  5. 10:00 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. | Sponsor Thought-Leadership Vignettes
    Razorleaf
    Aras
  6. 10:20 a.m. – 10:25 a.m. | Key Takeaways: What You Need to Know
  7. 10:25 a.m. – 10:55 a.m. | Networking Break & Collaboration Café
  8. 10:55 a.m. – 11:25 a.m. | If I Only Had a Brain: How Cummins Is Engineering AI for PLM & Beyond
    O. Scott Beard, Principal Technical Architect for AI Systems, Cummins Inc. [Bio]
    Industrial companies do not lack AI tools—they lack connected product knowledge to make those tools truly intelligent. At Cummins, we asked a different question: what if our AI actually had a “brain”? Rather than starting with chat interfaces or isolated pilots, we began by engineering the foundation—systematically connecting our product and engineering knowledge, including core PLM systems, into a trusted, governed knowledge layer. We approached this the same way we approach product development: with rigor, controlled experimentation, and measurable validation. What began as a structured proof-of-concept across real-world engineering workflows evolved into a production platform that provides AI with structured memory grounded in authoritative enterprise data. This session shares how we are building that brain—indexing and connecting product artifacts across PLM and adjacent systems to create a unified knowledge layer that scales across engineering. By focusing first on the foundation rather than the features, we are enabling AI to move beyond novelty toward durable capability. With this base in place, we are beginning to unlock broader digital-thread and advanced AI opportunities across the product lifecycle. We are still early on the “yellow brick road”, but by building the brain first, we are positioning AI to grow with purpose rather than hype. Attendees will gain insight into the architecture, rollout strategy, active use cases, and lessons learned from engineering a scalable AI foundation.
  9. 11:25 a.m. – 11:55 a.m. | Embracing Artificial Intelligence in Product Design & Lifecycle Management – Siloed Initiatives vs Enterprise Transformation
    Uyiosa Abusomwan, Director, Engineering Digitalization & AI, Eaton [Bio]
         Over the last three years, Large Language Models (LLMs) and other AI advances have swept through everyday human tasks, transforming creative arts, scientific research, and software development. In software development alone, AI can now write, analyze in context, and optimize 30,000+ lines of code, guide intelligent agents through complex tasks, and orchestrate near-autonomous workflows at an unprecedented pace. Yet within product design and lifecycle management, these advances remain largely in the realm of promising but siloed initiatives; generative design, ML-enhanced simulations/Physics AI, or isolated AI-driven systems engineering efforts. Is enterprise transformation through AI in product design and lifecycle management attainable today, or does it remain just beyond our reach? In the presentation, we will contrast existing scattered efforts with the true potential impact of AI in enterprise transformation. We will also examine hindrances to achieving this vision, such as persistent data silos that fragment knowledge, limited AI governance frameworks, disjointed toolchains that impede integration, and cultural resistance stemming from AI anxiety. Finally, we will explore how embedding AI into the fabric of enterprise-wide product development processes and decision-making can unlock impactful, lasting transformation.
  10. 11:55 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. | Sponsor Thought-Leadership Vignettes
    Keysight
    PROSTEP
  11. 12:15 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. | Key Takeaways: What You Need to Know
  12. 12:20 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. | Networking Lunch & Collaboration Café
  13. 1:30 p.m. – 2:10 p.m. | KEYNOTE: Engineering at the Speed of Mission: The Next Era of Defense Systems
    Daniel Hettema, Director of DEM&S, Office of the Under Secretary of War Research and Engineering, US Department of War [Bio]
    This keynote presentation will outline a strategic vision for the Department of War (DoW) to transition from its traditional acquisition processes to a modern, agile framework capable of delivering operational capabilities with "continuous acceleration." To maintain military superiority and counter systemic inefficiencies, the presentation posits that the Defense Acquisition System must be fundamentally transformed. By using Digital Standards Strategy, a foundational effort designed not only to accelerate acquisition and enhance mission capability but also to build a more robust engineering workforce. The core of this transformation lies in empowering the systems engineering discipline to lead the charge. The proposed solution advocates for a Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipeline, built on a foundation of digital threads, modern systems engineering methodologies, and a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA). Key initiatives detailed in the presentation include modernizing systems engineering practices to incorporate value engineering and agile design; evolving standards into machine-interpretable content, such as SysML v2 and the Unified Architecture Framework (UAF); and leveraging strategic collaborations with academic and industry research centers, such as SERC and AIRC. The systems engineering community is a critical opportunity to drive the department's digital transformation by prioritizing speed, integration, and mission-focused outcomes to shape future strategy and ensure the rapid delivery of solutions to the warfighter.
  14. 2:10 p.m. – 2:40 p.m. | The Business Value of Becoming Data Driven – Insights from KONGSBERG
    Pal Gunnar Conradi, Senior System Engineer, KONGSBERG [Bio]
    How do you turn decades of product knowledge, complex value chains, and demanding global customers into a true data-driven advantage? In this session, KONGSBERG shares the inside story of its long-term transformation toward a fully data-centric way of working. As a major system integrator serving clients such as the U.S. Department of Defense and NATO, KONGSBERG operates in an environment where requirements grow more complex every year. To manage this, the company has built its operations on Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) principles and international standards such as ISO 15288 and ISO 10303—while investing strategically to prepare product data for the future.
  15. 2:40 p.m. – 3:10 p.m. | The Navy’s Digital Evolution: Leveraging a Focused AI
    Robert Lamanna, Director, Model Based Enterprise, PEO IWS, US Navy [Bio]
    So, you have a Cloud filled with applications, or you have implemented a few applications across your organization. Now what? How do you get the most out of that investment? How do you convert your data from analog to digital? How do you move to digital-first operations? How do you make the most of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within your environment? This presentation from Robert Lamanna will provide insight into the US Navy’s Industrial Base Cloud Hosting Environment, the applications integrated within, and, taking the next logical step, the utilization of AI to align mission-first, optimize functions, flatten hierarchies with fiscal discipline to ensure that every dollar is tied to warfighter outcomes.
  16. 3:10 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. | Key Takeaways: What You Need to Know
  17. 3:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. | Networking Break & Collaboration Café
  18. 3:45 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. | Evaluation of SysML v2 for use in Collaborative MBSE between OEMs and Suppliers
    Darren Reiter, Systems Engineering Section Head, Moog presenting for the AD PAG
    The new SysML v2 Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) standard has been assessed by the AD PAG MBSE Collaboration working group as a potential solution to improve collaboration in engineering models and avoid tool-vendor lock. SysML v2 is a new standard approved by the Object Management Group in 2025. The AD PAG working group comprises major aerospace & defense Original Equipment Manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers who are interested in SysML v2 as a potential enabler to work together more effectively within the engineering modeling environment. This presentation will summarize the project report, highlighting the benefits of SysML v2, the gaps that hinder collaboration, and external considerations to address during the adoption and roll-out of SysML v2. SysML v2 tools were not yet available at the time of this investigation; therefore, the conclusions are based on analysis of the SysML v2 standard and engagements with major SysML v2 solution providers.
  19. 4:15 p.m. – 4:35 p.m. | Sponsor Thought-Leadership Vignettes
    ChapsVision
    AMCBridge
  20. 4:35 p.m. – 5:05 p.m. | Democratizing PLM with Low Code Extensions that Enable AI Data Readiness and Implementation
    Denise Fitzgerald, Group Leader, MIT Lincoln Laboratory [Bio]
    Many teams try to add AI to PLM while engineering and manufacturing data remain fragmented across systems. The result is slow adoption and outputs that are difficult to trust, limiting impact beyond isolated productivity gains. This session outlines an approach to AI-ready PLM that makes data readiness a design goal of the implementation: governed interoperability, strong data foundations, and a digital thread that connects engineering with manufacturing, assembly, and test. The presentation will show how low-code extensions can expand PLM beyond engineering and connect it with MES and ERP, enabling AI agents to reason across requirements, configurations, processes, and outcomes to support better decisions and cost performance. The presentation will also touch on how low-code changes delivery expectations for software providers, integrators, and client SMEs, shifting effort from heavy customization toward faster configuration, iterative feedback, and sustainable upgrades.
  21. 5:05 p.m. – 5:10 p.m. | A word from our Happy Hour sponsor, Dassault Systèmes
  22. 5:10 p.m. – 5:20 p.m. | Key Takeaways: What You Need to Know
  23. 5:20 p.m.| Conference Adjourns for the Day
  24. Happy Hour sponsored by Dassault Systèmes - avoid the traffic and join us for drinks and snacks in the Collaboration Café (5:20 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.)

Day 2 - 7 May

  1. 7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. | Registration & Continental Breakfast in the Collaboration Café
  2. 8:00 a.m. – 8:05 a.m. | Welcome
    Peter Bilello, President & CEO, CIMdata & Håkan Kårdén, CEO, HKAB
  3. 8:05 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. | Keynote: Strategic PLM Implementation – How to Avoid the Typical Ten Mistakes
    Professor Dr. Martin Eigner, Founder, Eigner Consult [Bio]
    The presentation outlines the strategic imperatives for successful Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) implementation, emphasizing that project failure is rarely due to software limitations but rather to a lack of strategic alignment and organizational readiness. PLM is not merely an IT tool; it is a fundamental business transformation. To avoid the common pitfalls of "digitizing chaos" and budget overruns, leadership must pivot from a technology-centric view to a process-driven strategy. The value of PLM is realized through eliminating media breaks and creating a "Single Source of Truth" alongside other legacy Systems across the Product Lifecycle (CRM, ALM, ERP, MES, SCM). Management must prioritize cultural change, acceptance management, and process integration over technical features to ensure a sustainable competitive advantage.
  4. 8:45 a.m. – 9:05 a.m. | Sponsor Thought-Leadership Vignettes
    Configit
    SBE Vision
  5. 9:05 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. | Keynote: NASA Digital Engineering’s Approach to Incorporation of AI: All that Glitters is Not Gold
    Terry Hill, Digital Engineering Program Manager for the Office of Chief Engineer, NASA [Bio]
    NASA’s Engineering domain continues the digital transformation journey to lay the foundational elements necessary to reduce costs and enable future digital engineering capabilities. Terry Hill will speak to NASA’s Digital Engineering Program’s strategic vision, near-term activities and plans, and offer thoughts on advanced digital engineering capabilities such as digital twins and the incorporation of machine learning and artificial intelligence, as well as how to practically deploy them in an environment of flat budgetary forecasts.
  6. 9:45 a.m. – 10:05 a.m. | Sponsor Thought-Leadership Vignettes
    PTC
    Revalize
  7. 10:05 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. | Key Takeaways: What You Need to Know
  8. 10:10 a.m. – 10:35 a.m. | Networking Break & Collaboration Café
  9. 10:35 a.m. – 11:05 a.m. | Supporting the Digital Transformation of the Mobility Industry
    Leslie McKay, Vice-Chair of the Digital Standards Alliance, SAE International [Bio]
    With the recent publication of the Digital Standards Strategy and the Acquisition Transformation Strategy, the Department of War is raising expectations for its suppliers to support digital engineering methodologies fully. This call to action has resonated with the industry and is currently being adopted by companies in the mobility sector. Given that standards can make up 40% of a product's design, traditional PDF standards pose a significant barrier for organizations striving to meet these digital expectations. Join Leslie McKay as she explains how SAE International is working to support our customers' digital transformation journeys better. Between SAE's initiatives and its participation in the Digital Standards Alliance, great strides are being made to make digital standards a reality.
  10. 11:05 a.m. – 11:35 a.m. | AI Adoption in PLM: Results from CIMdata's Global Study of Industrial Companies and Solution Providers
    Dr. Diego Tamburini, Director AI in PLM Practice, CIMdata [Bio]
    CIMdata conducted what may be the first global benchmark study on AI in PLM, surveying industrial companies and solution providers on their AI adoption efforts. This presentation shares the results of that research, covering how organizations are approaching AI in product development and engineering, where they are focusing their efforts, what early results look like, and what challenges they are encountering. Beyond presenting the data, the session offers CIMdata's commentary on the findings, highlighting interesting trends and patterns that emerged from the research. The presentation will give attendees a grounded, fact-based picture of where the industry stands with AI in PLM, helping them make more informed decisions about their own AI investments and priorities.
  11. 11:35 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. | Panel Discussion: AI and PLM: Synergies and Critical Dependencies
    Moderated by Peter Bilello, President & CEO, CIMdata
    This panel discussion will bring together industry leaders and the strategic consultants who advise them on AI and enterprise PLM strategy. Together, we’ll examine the symbiotic relationship between AI and PLM through the lens of those transforming strategy into reality. Questions will come from multiple sources, including submissions from early conference registrants. The discussion with experienced practitioners and thought leaders promises to deliver invaluable guidance to PLM professionals seeking to secure executive recognition that their PLM program is aligned with the enterprise AI strategy.
  12. 12:20 p.m. – 12:25 p.m. | Key Takeaways: What You Need to Know
  13. 12:25 p.m. – 1:35 p.m. | Networking Lunch & Collaboration Café
  14. 1:35 p.m. – 2:05 p.m. | AI in PLM: The Role of SAE EIA649 CM and Meta-Governance
    Larry Gurule, President, CMPIC [Bio]
    A deeper look at today’s business landscape reveals systemic incompetence as the core issue to AI effectiveness. What is systemic incompetence? It is a system, not a particular part, that is unable to do something successfully. Systemic incompetence is rampant today, almost becoming a normalized fabric of company culture that employees have just been battered into dealing with. Today’s leaders fail to see that AI is an employee just like the employees it is replacing, only more efficient and less likely to complain. Replacing humans with AI won’t fix dysfunction. It will just automate it, then amplify it. In fact, it might just propel companies more quickly along the tragic trajectory set by their incompetence. Sound business systems, including our PLM platforms, are built upon productivity, accountability, and traceability. Every member of the team needs to know what is expected of them and how they will be held accountable. Lack of clarity, transparency, and traceability leads to confusion, leading to wasted time and lost profits. This presentation will show how, with an appropriate foundation of SAE EIA649 CM and the meta-governance it enables, an enterprise can enhance the effectiveness of its PLM platform, as well as any AI that enables it.
  15. 2:05 p.m. – 2:35 p.m. | The Value Potential of Digital Twins and Digital Threads – Results of Recent Industry Research
    Dr. Robert Rencher, Senior Systems Engineer, Associate Technical Fellow, The Boeing Company for the AD PAG [Bio]
    Digital thread and digital twin are inspiring in their simplicity and implied power to render accessible all desired information about a product at any stage of its lifecycle. While there are examples of digital threads and digital twins, the knowledge of what is possible today and how to build them is not well understood. The Aerospace & Defense PLM Action Group (AD PAG) partnered with AIAA, OMG, Prostep iViP, and SAE International and engaged with seven digital twin-digital thread solution providers to address three research objectives: the broad assessment of commercially available solutions, the mutual education and alignment of thought leaders, and the advancement of industry’s understanding of the what, why, and how of digital twin-digital thread investment. This presentation summarizes this groundbreaking effort to engage a wide range of experts in curating their knowledge and making it generally available. The presentation will conclude with a view to the future and recommendations for the path forward.
  16. 2:35 p.m. – 2:40 p.m. | Key Takeaways: What You Need to Know
  17. 2:40 p.m. – 2:55 p.m.  | Short Break & Collaboration Café
  18. 2:55 p.m. – 3:25 p.m.  | Analog Documents to Executable Compliance: Building an AI-Ready Digital Thread in Aerospace
    Darwin W. Petersen, Associate Technical Fellow in Operations Engineering, The Boeing Company [Bio]
    Manufacturers still demonstrate compliance through a brittle chain of PDFs, spreadsheets, and manual interpretation, creating gaps among policy, planning, execution, and reporting. This case study shows how Spirit AeroSystems/Boeing-Wichita reduced those gaps by transforming high-value portions of external and internal specifications into reusable, parameterized “proxy policy” models while keeping the authoritative sources in their native PDF form. A practical, production-oriented workflow is presented - modularize, classify, parameterize, model, orchestrate & deploy - and highlight where AI adds leverage at each stage: accelerating discovery of reusable requirement modules, improving classification consistency, extracting candidate parameters and conditional logic from dense text and tables, and supporting change-impact analysis when specifications evolve. The result is a governed, human-in-the-loop approach that converts static requirements into executable compliance assets, instantiated per job to produce a persistent data footprint for audit-ready proof of compliance. The deployment spans roughly 20 specifications, with diverse table structures and recurring decisions (e.g., torque requirements and aluminum heat-treat processing). Attendees will leave with a pragmatic blueprint for selecting initial use cases, setting governance and traceability guardrails, integrating with PLM/ERP/MES, and building AI-ready digital thread foundations that scale.
  19. 3:25 p.m. – 3:55 p.m.  | Immediate ROI for PLM Managers Learning AI
    Christopher M. McDermott, PE, PMP, Engineering Manager, Denso [Bio]
    Are you a manager getting started with AI? Many PLM managers feel pressure to “do something with AI” but do not know where to start, how to keep it safe, or how to prove value. Chris McDermott shares how he achieved quick, measurable ROI before leading a corporate AI initiative, and how those early wins shaped an “AI agents for everyone” approach as his organization prepared to expand our PLM ecosystem. This session walks through three years of getting started with AI, culminating in four PLM manager-ready business use cases. Attendees will learn how to choose the right first workflow, establish a baseline, quantify time saved and decision latency, and apply practical guardrails to enable responsible adoption.
  20. 3:55 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. | Conference Wrap Up
  21. 4:00 p.m. | Conference Adjourns
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