New annual index uncovers a growing execution divide as industrial frontline teams tap operational data to solve critical challenges and achieve cost savings with AI while leadership catches up on governance, AI safety, and scale

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- IFS Unleashed - IFS, the leading provider of Industrial AI software, today launched new research revealing a significant divide between frontline execution and C-suite strategy in industrial AI usage. According to the IFS Industrial Index 2026*, which surveyed over 2,200 senior decision makers from across 14 countries, operational workers are driving real-world AI implementation and delivering tangible, commercial value. Meanwhile, formal AI governance frameworks and data access structures are not keeping pace.

The operational impact: 50% employee time freed, direct savings across departments

When frontline teams - engineers, plant managers, service leads, logistics managers - connect their domain expertise and operational data with Industrial AI, the business impact is immediate. Rapid adoption on the floor is delivering direct commercial returns in savings across key operational areas, despite solutions not currently being used to the fullest. Over 90% of global organizations report significant gains in reliability and performance:

93% improvement in first-time-right performance
90% increase in asset availability
88% improvement in on-time delivery schedule adherence

Removing operational friction also frees employee capacity. With over 50% of employee time saved across key workflow areas like production throughput and quality assurance, companies are repurposing workforce capacity toward higher-value initiatives:

36% prioritizing workforce safety, training and operational compliance
35% optimizing asset performance and reliability
26% accelerating continuous process improvement
25% growing overall market share

The knowledge impact: 43% training agentic digital workers, 37% upskilling humans

Factory floor teams are pushing ahead as they know the operational problems that need to be solved, recognizing that the answers already lie in their institutional knowledge and operational data.

The data reveals that frontline workers are taking workforce transformation into their own hands:

43% have trained and introduced agentic digital workers into their day-to-day operations over the past 12 months
37% have upskilled peers to use industrial AI tools in everyday operations
36% have directly trained staff to collaborate with digital workers

In contrast, executive leadership's primary AI effort over the same period was upskilling management to improve their own AI literacy (41%), directing attention inward rather than enabling the floor. While 27% of respondents view AI literacy as the first vital step for organizational readiness, ground-level execution is moving regardless, leaving leadership confidence (30%) as one of the biggest operational barriers to scaling success.

Cathie Hall, Chief Product & Customer Officer at IFS, commented: "The factory floor is moving at full speed. Workers see the operational insights, know their data better than anyone, and they know they need industrial-grade AI solutions to turn that expertise into action. The real challenge for leadership isn't driving adoption, it's having the insights to clear legacy roadblocks and delivering the secure industrial harness, data pipelines, and governance required to scale these wins safely and globally."

The AI governance conundrum: confidence on paper masks critical control gaps

While floor-level initiative proves demand for intelligent tools, the disconnect between perceived readiness and actual operational safeguards creates potentially dangerous exposure. Despite over 70% of organizations claiming confidence in their safety and data policies, critical controls are missing where they matter most:

Only 11% have validated AI outputs for safety-, quality-, or mission-critical processes
Only 11% have established control mechanisms for AI use with sensitive or export-controlled data
Only 4% have implemented mandatory human oversight or approval requirements for AI-supported decisions
Only 20% have embedded Industrial AI into supply chain management or maintenance planning (MRO) - the functions where operational failures carry the highest consequences

In industrial operations, this gap between confidence and control is an operational liability. Agentic AI at scale without robust safety frameworks and decision oversight creates compounding risk: unvalidated outputs in mission-critical processes, uncontrolled data exposure, decisions without human accountability.

Cathie Hall concluded: "Industrial operations are defined by speed and consequences. Every decision, every asset, every second compound. To compete, leadership must match the frontline's pace. That means having Industrial AI at the heart of operations to support rapidly scaling agentic AI, enabling the safety, governance, and data controls that make rapid decision-making trustworthy and operationally sound. Companies that move now will compress decision cycles and extend competitive advantages. Leadership cannot afford to lag."

Learn more about IFS Intelligence here: https://www.ifs.com/en/products/ai/ifs-intelligence/

IFS Press Contacts:

EUROPE / MEA / APJ: Adam Gillbe

IFS, Director of Corporate & Executive Communications

Email: adam.gillbe@ifs.com

NORTH AMERICA / LATAM: Mairi Morgan

IFS, Director of Corporate & Executive Communications

Email: mairi.morgan@ifs.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/ifs/r/ifs-industrial-index-2026-reveals-the-factory-floor-is-surging-ahead-in-ai-usage-leading-to-90--gain,c4408189

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