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AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software, and the leading global business school, IMD have launched the inaugural Industrial Intelligence Report on Digital Ecosystems and the Future of Connected Industries at AVEVA World 2026 in Milan. In a fireside chat in the mainstage, AVEVA CEO, Caspar Herzberg spoke with IMD Professor Mike Wade about the findings from over 275 interviews with leaders across 12 different sectors worldwide. Encompassing both quantitative analysis and detailed interviews with experts from the Port of Rotterdam, Kwinana in Australia and many others, the report distils how organizations can harness their industrial intelligence to build, orchestrate and scale business ecosystems.
The report reveals that while 74% of leaders consider digital ecosystems a top strategic priority, only 27% report sharing data substantially or extensively with ecosystem partners. Several illustrative case studies also emphasize the gap between ambition and execution: integration complexity, legacy systems and weak governance.
What is industrial intelligence? The report defines it as organizational capability that integrates operational technology (OT), information technology (IT), and artificial intelligence (AI) to enable connected, data-driven decision-making across entire industrial ecosystems.
The power of industrial intelligence in action
Increasingly, organizations are seeking to construct digital ecosystems to confront higher-order business challenges, whether that is innovating faster, navigating supply volatility, or decarbonizing complex global operations.
Yet, as the research makes clear, the gap between digital ecosystem ambition and execution remains wide. Understanding why that gap persists, and how organizations are beginning to close it, has become a strategic imperative for success in today’s volatile operating environment. Where ecosystems are working, companies are realizing tangible value through harnessing their industrial intelligence. Yet the barriers to success remain challenging, spanning the areas of corporate strategy, governance, and technology.
Caspar Herzberg, CEO, AVEVA explained: “With this collaboration with IMD, our ambition is not merely to understand the motivations behind the move to digital ecosystems, but to define the frameworks, competencies and leadership practices that will concretely enable companies to transcend silos and build more adaptive, ecosystem‑driven operating models.”
“Governance, integration and learning matter more right now than algorithms
Ecosystems are already delivering operational value. The next phase is about converting that foundation into strategic advantage through better data sharing, coordination, clearer roles and more deliberate leadership… Industrial sectors have decades of experience collaborating out of operational necessity. What is changing is that data, AI and connected platforms are turning those collaborations into real‑time, intelligence‑driven systems.” said Michael Wade, Director of IMD Global Center for Digital and AI Transformation and Professor of Strategy and Digital, IMD.