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Recorded live in person from the 2026 API Inspection and Mechanical Integrity Summit in San Antonio, this episode picks up where the "Graybeards" panel, a conference session that was held earlier that morning, left off. Hosts Greg and Branden sit back down with Ray Konet, John Reynolds, and Clay White to work through the attendee questions that didn't make it into the live session.
Topics include how a leader's background can shape their backing of fixed equipment mechanical integrity programs, how to sell MI in terms leadership already understands, and the mistakes the panel sees most often from young engineers. The conversation also turns to some of the panel's best repair stories, the "cowboy" maintenance era, and why major MI failures have declined industry-wide. They close with practical takeaways on audits, API 585 near-miss investigations, and right-sizing CML programs around real damage-mechanism understanding rather than AI shortcuts.
- 00:00 Summit Welcome
- 01:34 MI Leaders in Management
- 05:40 Selling MI Value
- 07:23 RBI Reaches the C Suite
- 09:52 Young Engineer Pitfalls
- 14:37 Craziest Repair Stories
- 16:19 Cowboy Maintenance Era
- 20:21 Unplanned Outage Lessons
- 24:14 Failures Down Over Decades
- 29:31 Complacency and Budget Cuts
- 33:22 Selling Risk Prevention
- 34:15 Staying Paranoid and Improving
- 36:04 Do Codes Get Softer
- 38:57 Shalls, Shoulds, and Pushback
- 40:42 RBI Needs IOWs
- 41:46 CML Optimization and AI
- 46:02 Audits and Procedures Matter
- 51:15 API 585 Investigations
- 56:45 Wrap Up and Credits
Episode Acronyms & Abbreviations
- AI – Artificial Intelligence
- API – American Petroleum Institute
- CCD – Corrosion Control Document
- CML – Condition Monitoring Location
- DMR – Damage Mechanism Review
- FEMI – Fixed Equipment Mechanical Integrity
- HSE – Health, Safety, and Environment
- IOW – Integrity Operating Window
- MI – Mechanical Integrity
- OSHA – Occupational Safety and Health Administration
- PSM – Process Safety Management
- RBI – Risk-Based Inspection
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