Episode #17 | Open Automation Is Finally Happening: Real-World Proof from Universal Automation

For years, the automation industry talked about decoupling hardware and software. IT/OT convergence became a buzzword that everyone nodded at but few truly believed would arrive.

Episode 17 of Practitioners Unplugged, recorded live at Schneider Electric’s Innovation Summit in Las Vegas, proves the skeptics wrong. Greg Boucaud, Chief Marketing Officer of UniversalAutomation.org, and Renato Silva, CEO of Aimirim, shared real implementations, actual deployments, and measurable results.

This wasn’t a vision presentation. Instead, it was a field report from practitioners who’ve already made the future work.

The Universal Automation Movement: Four Years of Real Progress

UniversalAutomation.org launched in November 2021 with nine founding members. Four years later, the nonprofit association has grown to 115 members spanning end users, system integrators, technology vendors, and academia.

“Our motto in life is to unlock the automation software—decouple hardware and software in the automation space,” Greg explained. While the goal sounds simple, it represents a fundamental shift in how industrial automation functions.

Think about your personal computer. You download software, install it, and never wonder about your laptop brand. Industrial automation historically hasn’t worked this way. Instead, you needed the right brand, the correct hardware, and the proper topology.

Through open standards—specifically IEC 61499—UniversalAutomation.org brings the IT world’s flexibility to OT environments, enabling true hardware/software decoupling.

Why Decoupling Matters for Long-Term Investment

Greg highlighted a critical challenge: “If you invest in your OT systems, your investment is tightly tied to the lifecycle of your hardware. If your hardware tends to be end of life, then you need to reinvest for the next generation.”

That’s an expensive, disruptive cycle. When hardware reaches obsolescence, companies face massive capital expenditures to replace entire systems.

However, decoupling changes this equation dramatically. Software becomes independent from hardware lifecycles. Manufacturers can upgrade hardware without throwing away automation logic. Furthermore, they can add new capabilities without rip-and-replace projects.

For facilities running 20, 30, even 50 years, this matters enormously. Consequently, the ability to evolve automation without complete overhauls transforms how organizations approach digital transformation.

The Three-Pillar Community

What makes UniversalAutomation.org different? A deliberate community structure bringing together three critical groups.

Users of automation represent the entire value chain—end users, system integrators, technology integrators like Aimirim, and distributors. Technology vendors include both traditional automation companies and increasingly IT companies attracted by easier data access. Academia completes the picture by training the next generation with full curriculum provided by UniversalAutomation.org.

Greg cited a sobering statistic: “By 2030, 2 million jobs will go unfilled in the automation space because of lack of engineering skills.” Therefore, academia’s role in closing this gap becomes strategic, not optional.

The Aimirim Story: Nine Years to What Usually Takes Thirty

Renato Silva’s journey provides the perfect case study for why open standards matter. Aimirim specializes in advanced process control based on artificial intelligence and real-time optimization.

Here’s what makes the story remarkable: Aimirim accomplished in nine years what typically takes established companies 30-40 years. Moreover, they achieved this by building on the IEC 61499 framework.

“Would it be possible to do in 90 years the same thing we do without a framework for scaling? No,” Renato emphasized. “The scalability of complex technology is only feasible right now because of the standard.”

The British American Tobacco Deployment

Aimirim’s flagship implementation with British American Tobacco (BAT) demonstrates open automation’s practical viability. Starting in Uberlândia, Brazil, Aimirim digitalized BAT’s entire industrial operation using IEC 61499 and Universal Automation Organization (UAO) runtime.

What started locally scaled globally. Consequently, the same technologies now operate across at least eight countries for BAT, proving the approach works across different regulatory environments.

“We could deploy an advanced process control in one week,” Renato explained. “And then they say, can you scale to 15 more facilities?” For startups competing against 30-40 year old companies, the open standard framework became the competitive differentiator.

How It Works: The Edge Layer Transformation

Dante asked the technical question practitioners need answered: what compelled choosing IEC 61499 over traditional PLCs and SCADA infrastructure?

Renato’s explanation reveals the architectural shift: “The point about the PLC and DCS systems for us is that it became purely infrastructure. We take some edge device—it doesn’t matter the brand—and we fully integrate this edge device to any PLC.”

Traditional PLCs lack edge compute power for complex AI models. In contrast, Aimirim’s approach integrates edge compute at the same layer, treating existing PLCs as infrastructure.

Maintaining Safety While Adding Capability

“If we can read, I can take this information and stream it to a cloud,” Renato explained. “If I can write, I can take some decisions on the edge and instantly write on the PLC.”

Critically, this approach maintains safety: “When the PLC becomes infrastructure, we keep the automation as they are. If you turn off my technology, you instantly go back to your old technology.”

As a result, this architecture enables brownfield deployments without ripping out existing systems. Organizations add capabilities on top of current infrastructure, upgrading incrementally.

What End Users Actually Care About

Renato shared an insight from driving 120,000 kilometers per year for three years, visiting facilities and listening to operators, supervisors, managers, and executives:

“The client doesn’t want one standard or another. They just don’t care. They want to know if you as a company are compliant. They want efficiency increase.”

This perspective matters. Technology providers often sell features and standards. However, end users buy outcomes and compliance.

Sree highlighted the strategic thinking behind standards: “You were able to think two, three steps ahead. The client wants scalability. The value of standards in enabling that.”

End users struggle to envision the end state of their digital transformation journey. Therefore, practitioners and vendors thinking strategically understand that standards enable the scalability clients need even when they can’t articulate it.

Proving Capability Through Demonstration

“It’s a game of proving everything you say,” Renato noted. “You go to a big client and you say, I can deploy an advanced process control in one week. And they say, okay, do it.”

The proof comes through demonstration, not presentation. Startups especially must prove capability before negotiating terms. Moreover, standards enable that rapid proof-of-concept by providing frameworks that work reliably.

Brownfield, Greenfield, and Everything Between

Greg emphasized that open automation applies across implementation scenarios, not just new facilities.

ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge project represented greenfield application—full rip and replace using Open Process Automation (OPA) with Universal Automation Organization as a technology enabler.

Kongsberg Maritime’s oil and gas platforms demonstrated brownfield application. They couldn’t replace everything on existing platforms. Instead, they added an orchestration layer using UAO technology on top of existing systems.

Aimirim’s BAT deployment represented another brownfield approach—facilities with existing infrastructure where new capabilities deployed incrementally.

The Orchestration Layer Strategy

“Some people may tend to think that this technology is only for greenfield application,” Greg noted. “But actually, no. One of the easiest ways is going through the orchestration layer, adding a layer on top of what is existing.”

Kongsberg Maritime standardized well barrier testing—previously done manually by different operators in different ways. They automated it using universal automation technology, orchestrating the process without replacing underlying systems.

This flexibility matters because few organizations can afford complete system replacements. Furthermore, the ability to add open automation capabilities incrementally, proving value before expanding, enables adoption that wouldn’t happen otherwise.

The Obsolescence Mitigation Strategy

Dante highlighted a powerful advantage: “Creating that abstraction or control layer and being able to manage obsolescence simultaneously, developing your software simultaneously without having to worry about tremendous downtimes.”

Traditional automation faces a harsh reality. When hardware reaches end-of-life, organizations face downtime, capital expenditure, and risk.

With hardware/software decoupling, organizations abstract the control layer first, then gradually replace underlying hardware. “Building it into that layer over time as opposed to ripping everything out and starting over,” Dante summarized.

Greg emphasized the investment perspective: “You need to ensure that this money which is invested, you will have your return on investment quite soon. But as well, that your investment lasts a certain amount of time.”

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The “This Is Happening Now” Moment

Sree posed the critical question: “Could we say that the big takeaway here is we’ve been talking about this for a while, but this is happening now?”

“This is happening now,” Greg confirmed emphatically. “Adoption is happening and adoption is accelerating.”

Fifteen Years from Vision to Reality

The timeline provides context. Germany launched Industry 4.0 in 2010—15 years ago. France called it Industry of the Future. Similarly, the U.S. talked about digitalized industry.

“It takes time for sure, because we speak about OT processes, physical processes,” Greg acknowledged. “But luckily now we have the tools. We have the technology. We have the right companies to do it.”

Aimirim’s nine-year journey mirrors the Industry 4.0 timeline. The companies, technologies, and standards needed for open automation matured together. What seemed theoretical five years ago now operates in production environments across multiple countries.

Renato’s approach to clients captures the moment: “I say to them, you’re gonna make it now or tomorrow. And I am here right now, so why waiting?”

The Competitive Pressure of Open Standards

Dante observed an interesting dynamic: democratization of hardware creates competitive pressure on vendors to deliver best-in-class products.

“Most systems today are vendor locked. It puts pressure on you as a manufacturer to come out with best in class hardware to compete in this now open space.”

Greg acknowledged Schneider Electric’s commitment: “I’m quite proud that Schneider is saying openly we go towards open automation. That’s the way we see it for industry, for energy. This world needs to be open.”

This represents a fundamental shift from “lock in the customer and lock out the competition” to competing on hardware quality, service, and ecosystem value.

The Open-Minded Requirement

Renato emphasized mindset as critical to this transformation: “This moment requires a lot of open-minded people. To be with Universal Automation means that you have the right mindset for an open world.”

His call to other startups: “It’s not really about the competition. It’s about changing the market. A new market is being created and to be part of it, you have to be open-minded enough to join.”

Dante agreed: “Open-minded is what’s definitely missing right now. It’s just rigid thoughts of 50 years of how we’ve done automation systems.”

Sree referenced the old approach: “Lock in the customer and lock out the competition.”

The future approach recognizes that ecosystems require frictionless exchange of information. Furthermore, open standards provide the foundation that makes ecosystems viable.

Key Lessons for Practitioners

Several critical insights emerged for practitioners evaluating open automation:

Standards enable startup speed at enterprise scale. Aimirim’s nine-year achievement demonstrates how frameworks accelerate complex technology deployment. Therefore, standards aren’t bureaucratic overhead—they’re competitive advantages.

Brownfield deployment removes the biggest adoption barrier. The ability to add open automation layers on top of existing infrastructure means organizations don’t need greenfield opportunities to start. Moreover, incremental adoption with rapid proof points drives expansion.

End users buy outcomes, not standards. While standards enable scalability strategically, sales conversations focus on efficiency and proven results. Consequently, standards matter most in delivery and scaling.

Investment protection matters more as facilities age. For 20, 30, 50-year operations, the coupling of software to hardware lifecycles creates expensive replacement cycles. However, decoupling transforms capital planning and operational risk.

The ecosystem finally exists. Technology, companies, standards, and talent converged to make open automation viable. What seemed theoretical five years ago now runs in production across industries.

Competitive dynamics shift from lock-in to excellence. Vendors must compete on product quality and ecosystem value rather than proprietary control. Consequently, this accelerates innovation and benefits end users.

Conclusion: From Talking to Doing

Episode 17 marked a transition point in the open automation conversation. For years, industry events featured vision presentations about possibilities. This conversation presented field reports about what’s already working.

Greg Boucaud and Renato Silva didn’t pitch concepts. Instead, they shared implementations—British American Tobacco across eight countries, ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge facility, Kongsberg Maritime’s oil platforms.

UniversalAutomation.org’s growth from 9 to 115 members in four years, with 15 commercial offers available, indicates momentum. Moreover, Aimirim’s rapid scaling demonstrates that open standards enable capabilities previously reserved for established players.

The convergence of IT and OT that Industry 4.0 promised in 2010 finally materialized in practical, deployable form. Standards matured. Companies built products. Practitioners proved concepts. Furthermore, academia started training the next generation.

As Renato told potential clients: “You’re gonna make it now or tomorrow. And I am here right now, so why waiting?”

The question for manufacturers isn’t whether open automation will happen—it’s already happening. Rather, the question is whether they’ll lead the transition or scramble to catch up later.

For practitioners tired of vendor lock-in and frustrated by hardware obsolescence cycles, the tools exist today. The standards work. The implementations prove viability. Additionally, the ecosystem supports adoption.

Open automation isn’t the future anymore. It’s the present for organizations open-minded enough to embrace it.

Ready to explore open automation? Visit UniversalAutomation.org to learn more about the technology, join the community, and access training resources.

Keep practicing. Keep learning. Keep transforming.

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