In Stay Sharp Episode 140, Share PLM Summit 2026 Recap, co-hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott are joined by Razorleaf International colleagues Ashish Kulkarni, Director of Growth, and Luc Van Hemelrijck, Director of Strategic Alliances. Both Ashish and Luc attended the Share PLM Summit in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, which was billed as an event “Where People Take Center Stage to Drive Human-Centric Transformations.” The foursome discusses the standout presentations, speakers, and activities, as well as what makes this annual conference so unusual and engaging.
The Human Element
Ashish Kulkarni, Director of Growth, Razorleaf International
Luc Van Hemelrijck, Director of Strategic Alliances, Razorleaf International
This year was the second Summit put on by Share PLM, a boutique consulting company that specializes in helping organizations manage change in PLM implementations. Jonathan appreciates the “human-centric approach to digital engineering and manufacturing, because it’s an area that doesn’t often get enough focus. We often at Razorleaf talk about four pillars in our work: technology, data, process, and people. Unfortunately, they often get attention in that order. And the Share PLM Summit is an opportunity really to put people first in the digital engineering space.”
The event’s effort to encourage attendees to look at PLM implementations from a different perspective began with taking them to a dirt-floored bodega that sold the region’s specialty: sherry (“jerez” in Spanish). While the event included the typical sessions from consultants, customers, and service providers—as well as the topic of AI—the unique location continued to ground participants’ perspectives in the human experience. It was “a conference for the AI generation,” Luc notes.
Bodega La Constancia (Photo Courtesy of Share PLM)
Speaker Highlights
Luc says the most innovative case study of organizational change management (OCM) for PLM was Andreas Wank, from Pepperl+Fuchs, and his mood barometer. Throughout the different stages of Wank’s PLM implementation, Luc explains, “They asked people who were involved in these different phases what they thought about it, their mood. They had a system for it.” Not surprisingly, the barometer went up and down as people’s perception of the project fluctuated throughout the project.
Photo Courtesy Share PLM
Photo Courtesy Share PLM
Another presentation that has stayed with Luc and Ashish was Antonio Casaschi from ASSA ABLOY, a global leader in access solutions, including doors, gates, locks, and more. ASSA ABLOY acquires a lot of smaller companies that then must be integrated into their systems. To help that process, they’ve turned to AI, and Casaschi shared eight practical applications for using AI in the PLM area. What’s notable here, Jonathan says, is that this presentation went beyond the typical AI hype to AI in use. Casaschi’s goal was finding a solution so that the company could really know what the company as a whole knows. “Stop thinking of AI as this buzz in digital,” Jonathan says. “If only we knew what all of us know. That’s a problem that AI and PLM are both trying to solve. But now look at it from the problem we’re trying to solve instead of, what does this tech do for us?”
AI Discussions
Ashish believes the presentation on AI from Share PLM’s Helena Gutierrez was one of the most important. He was particularly struck by her first line: “Make AI something that happens with people and not to people.” He explains, “Currently everybody’s talking about AI and AI replacing people, but she was more talking about how you can use AI to elevate what humans are doing. And humans should focus on doing what they are made for doing.” While there may be concern or questions about AI overshadowing PLM, Ashish believes both tools are evolving. He adds, “AI for some people could be a boon to afford PLM because some things could be done quickly, some things can be implemented simply. And for some it is going to be like elevating what they are already doing by enhancing the productivity of PLM, the performance of PLM.”
Photo Courtesy Share PLM
Luc points out that the ongoing question in manufacturing, in IT, and even in the academic world is whether AI is an evolution or a disruption. Jos Voskuil tackled a similar topic in his presentation on AI, admitting that he became very pessimistic about it before finding some good news among the bad. Luc says, “With the technology we’ve got, the agents we will have, it’s easier to have an idea and to execute it than in the past. Now you can execute it quickly. So it might be easier to have better new ideas.”
Learn More About the Share PLM Summit
The full podcast contains more discussion and details on a variety of topics, including why Daniel Kehneman’s book Thinking Fast and Slow needs a third option of “thinking outsourced,” why Voskuil is worried about the increasing amount of cognitive surrender happening, what kind of networking activities and discussions were available, and more.
Be sure to check out Stay Sharp Episode 140: Share PLM Summit 2026 Recap and join us each week for a new podcast.
