Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 5 March 2026—CIMdata, Inc., the leading global research, consulting, and education firm specializing in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and the Digital Transformation it enables, is pleased to highlight the contributions of Dr. Diego Tamburini, CIMdata’s Executive Consultant and AI in PLM Practice Director, to an elite panel of manufacturing visionaries that took place at the 67th TCS Forum Reimagining PLM for Future-Ready Manufacturing.
The session, which also featured leaders from TCS, JLR, and Siemens Digital Industries Software, explored how Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is being elevated from a support platform to the "strategic nerve center" of the modern enterprise. As manufacturers face rising product complexity, the panel shared their experiences on how next-generation PLM is essential for business agility, product leadership, and long-term resilience.
Representing CIMdata’s deep industry research, Dr. Tamburini addressed the critical intersection of AI and the Digital Thread.
Key highlights from the discussion include:
- Where AI is delivering real value in PLM today: Through AI use cases that are actually working in production environments. Examples are natural language interfaces that extend PLM reach, agentic workflows that replace rigid branching logic, and AI-powered surrogate models that accelerate generative design and simulation.
- How software-defined products are transforming the digital thread: Dr. Tamburini emphasized that the most profound shift is not merely AI generating code faster, but AI replacing hand-coded decision logic within embedded software. This allows Digital Twins to perform predictive reasoning over products in operation, finally making the Digital Thread truly actionable.
- Identifying persistent barriers to scale: Dr. Tamburini identified the hurdles preventing manufacturers from moving beyond proof-of-concept to enterprise impact, including data-readiness challenges, multi-system complexity, missing ROI frameworks, and unresolved AI governance questions.
- The evolving role of System Integrators: The discussion highlighted how partners are essential for bridging the gap to production-scale deployment through cross-system architecture, MLOps capabilities, and the critical alignment of Engineering and IT.
Watch the full panel discussion at: https://www.linkedin.com/events/7429554344628314112/.
