Inductive Automation CTO Discusses Software-Defined Automation, Cybersecurity, and Edge Strategy at ARC 2026 - ARC Advisory

MARCH 27, 2026 BYCRAIG RESNICK CATEGORY: PODCASTS/VIDEOS THE DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS IGNITION’S EVOLVING PLATFORM STRATEGY, SECURITY-FIRST DESIGN, AND THE ROLE OF OPEN ECOSYSTEMS IN SCALING INDUSTRIAL IOT DEPLOYMENTS. Inductive Automation’s Chief Technology Officer, Carl Gould, shared insights into the company’s technology direction and industry trends during an executive interview at the ARC Industry Leadership Forum 2026. The conversation covered software-defined automation, cybersecurity, innovation strategy, and the growing importance of edge and ecosystem-driven architectures. The company’s approach to software-defined automation is closely aligned with its long-standing focus on decoupling hardware and software. Its Ignition platform is designed to be hardware-, operating system-, and platform-agnostic, enabling flexible deployment across industrial environments. Reflecting on this trend, Gould noted, “The idea of decoupling layers has been part of Ignition since day one.” Recent developments in Ignition 8.3 focus on expanding built-in functionality, simplifying deployment at scale, and improving development velocity. Enhancements include broader device connectivity, integrated tools, and a new historian, alongside support for modern IT deployment practices such as Git-compatible configurations and container-based environments using Docker and Kubernetes. “IT departments can now manage their OT software deployments in a similar way that they can their IT deployments,” he explained, highlighting the convergence of IT and OT workflows. Cybersecurity remains a central focus, with a layered strategy spanning organizational practices, secure software development, and product-level protections. The company emphasizes secure development lifecycle processes aligned with ISA/IEC 62443, along with practices such as dependency analysis, threat modeling, and external testing. Gould pointed to a common industry challenge, stating, “One of the most common types of security vulnerabilities in the OT space comes from systems that people are terrified to patch.” He added that ensuring smooth and reliable upgrade paths is critical to maintaining secure operations. Innovation within the company is driven through a combination of top-down strategy, customer and partner input, and engineering-led initiatives. The organization continues to expand its R&D investments, including hiring across experience levels. Addressing the role of AI in engineering, Gould noted, “I fully expect them to be AI augmented, but I want humans in those seats using that AI.” The company’s ecosystem strategy centers on maintaining a horizontal platform while enabling partners to deliver industry-specific solutions. Its integrator network and newly introduced technology ecosystem program provide a structured way for partners to build and showcase integrations. Gould emphasized the importance of this approach, stating, “We want to focus on Ignition, keep it really horizontal, and make it the universal OT integration platform.” Edge computing continues to be a key area of focus, supported by a unified platform approach across on-premises, cloud, and edge deployments. Ignition Edge enables data acquisition, local processing, and integration with cloud systems, with support for containerized environments and MQTT-based data movement. “There’s just a myriad of ways to deploy Ignition at the edge,” Gould said, reflecting the flexibility of the platform across distributed industrial environments. Watch the full interview on YouTube or here: Watch on YouTube Play