Unplugged: An IIoT Podcast

Join industry experts Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes on "Unplugged: An IIoT Podcast", powered by PLCnext Technology, as they explore the fascinating world of the Industrial Internet of Things. Discover the latest trends, debunk common myths, and gain insights from leading voices in IIoT. From seasoned professionals to those new to IIoT, you'll learn about practical applications and cutting-edge innovations driving digital transformation. Tune in for thought-provoking discussions and engaging interviews, making complex topics accessible and interesting.

Unplugged: An IIoT Podcast is a technology podcast hosted by Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes, with 60 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes hosts Unplugged: An IIoT Podcast, a technology show with 60 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #59

  Every Seat at the Ignition Table

  Sep 22, 202652 minS4

  --- This episode is brought to you by Canary Labs, and Cirrus Link. Canary Labs — The industrial historian platform that captures your plant and process data the moment it's generated and makes it instantly accessible across your entire operation. Learn more: https://unpluggediiot.com/go/canary-labs --- Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes sit down with Kyle Van Eenennaam (BW Design Group) to explore what it actually looks like to work at every level of the Ignition ecosystem. Kyle has taught Ignition at Inductive Automation, presented at ICC, and now builds systems at BW Design Group. In this conversation, he maps the four types of organisations in the Ignition world, walks through the history of industrial automation from IR1 to Industry 5.0, and gives a practical guide to learning Ignition from scratch in 2026 — including what Ignition 8.3, Git integration, and AI tools are changing for SCADA engineers. Topics covered: • The four Ignition ecosystem buckets: integrators, end users, consultants, IA/partners • Kyle's journey from IA support and training to ICC presenter to BW Design Group • The cold call that turned into a full Ignition transformation • A brief history of industrial automation: IR1 to Industry 5.0 • How to learn Ignition in 2026 — install first, use the Design Challenge, build with the designer • Ignition 8.3 and Git: managing the full gateway in version control • What CI/CD really looks like for SCADA teams starting small • AI in Ignition development: MCP servers, automated commits, and the dream of closed-loop delivery • CSS, Perspective, and what Kyle is learning next Guest: • Kyle Van Eenennaam — BW Design Group Resources: • How to Learn Ignition From Scratch: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U-QOARK7izqJnXgIr6ITT3ysxw9usIrxsKCHQhJX_dc • ICC 2025 presentation: https://inductiveautomation.com/resources/icc/2025/history-of-industry-from-00-to-50 Episode page: https://unpluggediiot.com/episodes/ep-59-every-seat-ignition-table Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:00 The four buckets of the Ignition ecosystem 08:30 Kyle's career journey 10:00 The aha moment 14:00 History of Industrial Automation: IR1 to Industry 5.0 23:00 Learning Ignition from scratch in 2026 31:00 Ignition 8.3 and Git 36:00 CI/CD for SCADA 43:00 AI in Ignition 48:00 Phil's prediction 50:00 CSS and what's next --- Cirrus Link Solutions — MQTT and Sparkplug software that connects OT to IT and cloud systems. Visit: https://unpluggediiot.com/go/cirrus-link

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #58

  Breaking the Silos: Why IT/OT Convergence Fails and What Actually Works

  Sep 8, 202650 minS4

  Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes sit down with David Ariens (Analytics For Industry / AVEVA) and Willem van Lammeren (Syensqo) to explore why IT/OT convergence fails — and what organisations actually get right when convergence works. They discuss the cultural and technical silos that keep IT and OT teams divided, common misconceptions on both sides, and the practical changes that make integration stick in industrial environments. Topics covered: • Why convergence projects stall or fail • Breaking silos without burning bridges • What good IT/OT integration looks like in the field • Making OT data usable for IT and business intelligence • Real lessons from practitioners on both sides of the wall Guests: • David Ariens — Analytics For Industry / AVEVA • Willem van Lammeren — Syensqo Episode page: https://unpluggediiot.com/episodes/ep-58-breaking-the-silos-itot-convergence Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 03:00 The unlikely path into the IT/OT gap 13:00 Why convergence keeps failing: it’s not the technology 25:00 Seven patterns that actually work 37:00 Stories from the plant floor: BASF lessons 45:00 Building the IT/OT Academy + where IT/OT is heading 48:30 Outro This episode is brought to you by Canary Labs and Cirrus Link. Canary Labs — Canary Labs builds the industrial historian platform that captures your plant and process data the moment it's generated and makes it instantly accessible across your entire operation. Learn more: https://unpluggediiot.com/partners/canary-labs --- Cirrus Link Solutions — MQTT and Sparkplug software that connects OT to IT and cloud systems. Visit: https://cirrus-link.com/unplugged

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #56

  Native PLC Communication & Why OPC-UA Is Wasting Your CPU

  Aug 18, 20261h 2mS4

  Every IIoT project starts the same way: you need data out of a PLC. The standard answer is OPC-UA — but what if that protocol is overloading your PLCs, eating bandwidth, and costing you thousands in upsized hardware? In this episode, Christofer Dutz — creator of Apache PLC4X and CEO of ToddySoft GmbH — joins Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes to explain why speaking the native tongue of your PLCs is faster, cheaper, and more efficient than wrapping everything in OPC-UA. Chris shares how PLC4X pulled 2,600 data points every 200 milliseconds at just 2–3% CPU overhead — compared to OPC-UA choking at 200 data points every two seconds on the same hardware. The conversation covers the origin of PLC4X (a "JDBC for industrial automation"), the not-invented-here syndrome that created today's protocol mess, why open-source adoption in OT is still painfully slow, the role of Apache IoTDB as a time-series storage engine handling 1.5 billion insertions per second, and Chris's new commercial venture ToddySoft — bringing production-grade Rust-based drivers to platforms like Inductive Automation's Ignition. Whether you're an automation engineer drowning in protocol adapters or an IT architect trying to bridge the OT gap, this episode is packed with practical insight from someone who has spent a decade making PLCs talk. Connect with Christofer on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/christoferdutz Connect with Phil on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/phil-seboa Connect with Ed on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ed-fuentes Sign up for the Unplugged newsletter: unpluggediiot.com/newsletter Learn more about ToddySoft: toddysoft.com Learn more about Apache PLC4X: plc4x.apache.org

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #55

  Flowfuse Expert: Scaling Applications

  Jul 28, 202627 minS4

  In the final part of our FlowFuse mini-series on Unplugged: An IIoT Podcast, Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes close out with Kristopher Sandoval of FlowFuse on what happens once you can build fast: how do you scale, govern and standardise industrial applications across plants, lines and teams? Kristopher explains why Expert doesn't replace developers — it removes repetitive setup so engineers can focus on operational problems, business logic, architecture and deployment strategy. We cover scaling via FlowFuse pipelines (build once, roll out to hundreds of devices), granular RBAC that persists across instances and sites, air-gapping and data sovereignty for regulated environments, and the bring-your-own-key/model future. The throughline: without FlowFuse's governance, versioning and standardisation, AI-generated apps just become technical debt. Chapters: - 0:00 — Welcome back: the changing role of industrial teams - 1:00 — Expert removes repetitive setup; engineers focus on operational problems - 5:00 — Augmenting vs replacing developers - 9:00 — Enterprise governance: self-hosted, BYOK, guardrails - 12:00 — Scaling across teams and sites with FlowFuse - 15:00 — Advice for closing the application gap today - 17:00 — Learning segment - 18:00 — Closing and outro Connect - Kristopher Sandoval (FlowFuse): https://www.linkedin.com/in/krsando/ - FlowFuse docs: https://flowfuse.com/docs - Phil Seboa: https: //www.linkedin.com/in/phil-seboa/ - Ed Fuentes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-fuentes-2046121a/ FlowFuse is a proud sponsor of Unplugged: An IIoT Podcast. For more Info about Flowfuse Expert visit https://flowfuse.com/ #IIoT #NodeRED #FlowFuse #Governance #Scaling #IndustrialAutomation #ITOT

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #3

  53.Closing the Industrial Application Gap with Kristopher Sandoval

  Jul 3, 202624 minS4

  In this first episode of a 3-part FlowFuse mini-series on Unplugged: An IIoT Podcast, hosts Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes sit down with Kristopher Sandoval of FlowFuse to unpack the application gap in industrial operations — the growing distance between how many applications industrial teams need and how fast their developers can build them. Kristopher explains why so many operational workflows still live in spreadsheets, local scripts and one-off dashboards, and how the Node-RED → FlowFuse → FlowFuse Expert stack is changing the equation. We cover what FlowFuse Expert actually is — an AI co-pilot that builds industrial applications on a Node-RED workspace from a plain-language description — why it's built on MCP (Model Context Protocol) for real industrial context instead of generic LLM guesswork, and how it can compress tasks that once took 10–20 hours down to around an hour, without replacing the operators and OT engineers who know the plant best. If your team has more ideas than capacity to build them, this episode is about closing that gap. Chapters 0:00 — Intro and guest welcome 3:00 — The application gap in industrial operations 6:00 — Where workflows live today: spreadsheets, scripts, manual processes 10:00 — Who feels this gap most? 12:00 — From operational need to working application (OEE dashboard) 16:00 — Iterating with Expert and availability 0:00 — Intro and guest welcome 3:00 — The application gap in industrial operations 6:00 — Where workflows live today: spreadsheets, scripts, manual processes 10:00 — Who feels this gap most? 12:00 — From operational need to working application (OEE dashboard) 16:00 — Iterating with Expert and availability Connect Kristopher Sandoval (FlowFuse): https://www.linkedin.com/in/krsando/ FlowFuse docs: https://flowfuse.com/docs Phil Seboa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-seboa/ Ed Fuentes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-fuentes-2046121a/ Newsletter Sign up: www.unpluggediiot.com/newsletter FlowFuse is a proud sponsor of Unplugged: An IIoT Podcast. #IIoT #NodeRED #FlowFuse #IndustrialAutomation #ITOT #ManufacturingTech #OEE

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on Unplugged: An IIoT Podcast. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.