In Episode 116, Stay Sharp 2025: A Guest Soundbite Mashup, co-hosts Jonathan Scott and Juliann Grant wrap up 2025’s podcasts. They reflect on the year’s surprises, including how technology is changing in the PLM space, how popular sustainability was, and how they couldn’t ever not talk about AI. From the pithiest quotes and the most insightful analogies to the biggest conceptual impacts, they highlight and revisit the best of the best podcast moments.
Best Moments in Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Early in the year, product data expert Rob Ferrone (Agentic AI: Rewiring Digital Workflows) talked about Agentic AI, predicting it would be almost like having “access to an additional workforce that are superhuman.” Caddi’s Patrick Harrigan (Unleashing Unstructured Data: AI’s Manufacturing Revolution) dug into a specific use case, sharing tips for using AI to make unstructured data actually useful. And ARAS CTO Rob McAveney (Unlocking the Power of the Digital Thread) reminded our audience that they can’t forget the basics: “AI doesn’t excuse you from building a digital thread.”
Taking a broader view, PLM authority Michael Finocchiaro (Digital Engineering’s New Frontier: Innovation Across 300+ Startups) surveyed hundreds of startups and shared ways they’re using AI to innovate and accelerate their growth. His conclusion: “It’s not going to replace what we do, but it’s really going to change what we do.”
Best Moments in MBSE
Razorleaf colleague Pat Coulehan (Bridging MBSE and PLM: Overcoming Challenges in Digital Engineering) made the point that PLM and MBSE are really two different worlds, and MBSE expert David Long (Unpacking Digital Twin Series: MBSE) explained how MBSE relates to a digital twin. But it was David’s second visit to the podcast (MBSE Unveiled: What’s Next for System Design) that produced—at least in Jonathan’s opinion—the most useful explanation of the year: “MBSE is CAD for systems engineers.”
Best Moments in Digital Thread and Digital Twin
Three guests stood out for how they helped explain digital threads and digital twins. ARAS’s Rob McAveney took on the topic of strong and weak links in digital threads. PLM pioneer Dr. Martin Eigner (Extended Digital Threads and PLM Reality) emphasized that the digital thread can’t be considered a static entity. And David Ewing of SAIC (Unpacking Digital Twins: Myths and Misconceptions) laid down the law about the idea of models versus twins, saying “It’s a model. It’s not a twin. It doesn’t represent the thing. It represents the thing as you’re trying to design it.”
Best Moments in PLM Lessons
BAE Systems’ Bob Maffia (PLM at Scale: The Digital Engineering Journey) offered a host of PLM lessons learned, including the idea that you’ve got to have more than just a roadmap. “Stakeholder agreement, clear requirements early on, and reasonable size tasks to prove it out are critical,” he said. “And then prioritizing those features and tasks.” Dr. Eigner similarly reminded listeners that you shouldn’t trust software tools blindly and forget to pay attention to the process. And John Salyers and Korey Green from Sea Box (Building a Digital Thread One Problem at a Time: Sea Box’s PLM Story) shared the lessons they learned from taking a “just get it done fast” approach that wasn’t optimal for longer-term implementation.
Two guests in particular cautioned listeners to remember the people behind the software. OpenBOM’s Oleg Shilovitsky (The Three Factors That Drive Business Value in PLM) noted that software purchases don’t start with someone wanting to buy software. Customers end up with software because they start with trying to solve a problem. And David Long explained why middle management, whose job it is to keep the organization working, has to be on board for any operational changes you have planned.
Best Moments in Trends in Digital Engineering
A variety of guests also offered more out-of-the-box digital engineering insights. Oleg Shilovitsky offered insight into what drives business value in PLM, boiling it down to more sales, less cost, and risk mitigation. CONTACT Software’s Frank Patz-Brockmann (Digital Product Software Series: CONTACT Software Elements) noted, “It’s the integration piece … that’s key to digital thread and digital twin and what people are trying to accomplish overall.” Jos Voskuil of the PLM Green Global Alliance (Sustainability in PLM: A Pathway Forward) contributed the topic that most interested listeners in 2025: sustainability and the ability for PLM systems to track compliance information.
Finally, Fino left us with a clue to discussions ahead in 2026 when he noted, “The thing about PM is that its definition is moving.” Be sure to check out Stay Sharp 2025: A Guest Soundbite Mashup and join us each week for a new podcast. Here’s to staying sharp in 2026!
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