Manufacturers are entering a new phase where AI, autonomy, and real-time intelligence are becoming central to how plants and supply networks operate. The TCS–AWS Future-Ready Manufacturing Study captures this shift, revealing how global leaders are making bold AI investments while navigating foundational gaps in data, integration, and system readiness.
Based on insights from 216 senior executives across North America and Europe, the study highlights four defining signals shaping the next era of performance:
75% expect AI to rank among the top three contributors to operating margins by 2026.
Only 21% consider themselves fully AI-ready, reflecting fragmented data, legacy systems, and inconsistent plant maturity.
74% anticipate AI agents will independently manage 11–50% of routine production decisions within the next three years.
67% report improved supply-chain visibility as AI-enabled insights enhance responsiveness and continuity planning.
AI is rapidly becoming a major driver of enterprise value. Leaders expect the strongest gains across:
With 75% positioning AI among their top three margin levers and more than one-third forecasting meaningful productivity improvements, AI is reshaping how manufacturers unlock financial performance.
Despite accelerating adoption, structural hurdles remain:
The sector is advancing toward autonomy, but foundational gaps must be closed to sustain scale and consistency.
AI is redefining roles and augmenting workforce productivity:
89% expect robotics, copilots, and AI-guided workflows to augment—not replace—the workforce. The emerging model is a tightly integrated, human–AI operational partnership.
Policymakers and researchers, urban planners and advocacy groups, the Influencers are shaping public opinion, policy, and industry direction in the electric vehicle ecosystem.
More than a third (37%) of EV influencers expect EVs to represent the majority of sales globally within the next one to five years. And 58% expect the majority of new vehicles in their country will be EVs within the next one to five years.
EV influencers consider financial incentives and a charging infrastructure the most important factors for EV adoption
AI is strengthening visibility and decision-making across global networks:
Manufacturers are shifting from static planning to adaptive, intelligence-led supply networks.
Anupam Singhal
President - Manufacturing, TCS
Manufacturing is an industry defined by precision, reliability, and the relentless pursuit of performance. Today, that strength of foundation becomes multifold with AI in orchestrating decisions—delivering transformational business outcomes through greater predictability, stability, and control. At TCS, we see this as a defining opportunity to help manufacturers build resilient, adaptive, and future-ready enterprise ecosystems that can thrive in an era of intelligent autonomy.
The next era of manufacturing performance will be shaped by four connected capabilities:
AI agents managing routine workflows, adjusting plans, and orchestrating decisions.
Technicians, planners, and supervisors supported by real-time intelligence.
Digital twins, early-warning systems, and AI-led reliability engineering.
End-to-end visibility and responsive planning built on unified intelligence.
Together, these shifts mark the industry’s transition toward intelligent, resilient, and autonomous manufacturing ecosystems—capable of operating with greater precision, agility, and confidence.