From Software to Abilities: What Manufacturing and Logistics Companies Will Need in the Coming Decade
Aimtec
23. 7. 2026
8 minutes reading
Aimtec is celebrating its 30th anniversary. That many years in business means experiencing multiple waves of trends – and learning to tell which ones have really changed business reality. Over these years, Aimtec has grown to become a digitalisation partner for customers around the world. Which way is manufacturing and logistics digitalisation moving, what will AI bring and what abilities will companies need to stay competitive? We spoke about all this with Aimtec’s CEO Pavel Boháč.
Aimtec has reached the 30-year mark. Looking ahead from this milestone, where do you see our field in the coming years?
I’ll borrow the subtitle of our conference TAL this year – “Digital by Design”. Digitalisation isn’t some layer on top. In good solutions, it’s in the design from the start. We spent a long time talking about automation, technologies, digitalisation and so on as separate topics and grappling with optimisation ROI. Now we’re moving on. The key thing is to join it all into one system and, above all, to acquire data from it. Data’s importance is skyrocketing, because if it’s not clean and reliable, companies cannot realise the potential of automation or AI.
AI has been the biggest topic in digitalisation in recent years. How is it changing software development and companies’ approach to IT?
AI is changing the overall way our business works. I call this the emancipation of access to IT. Development tools and work with information are more accessible, so even small firms can offer solutions with real impact. Tied into this is citizen development – where with the help of the new tools, people outside traditional IT join in building simple applications, automations or process adaptations. I think that companies will have to get used to one big system no longer handling everything. They’ll have to learn to quickly deploy new solutions, combine them and remain open.
In the situation where we all know the market is changing, but we don’t know how, we at Aimtec have an advantage. We’re not a stomping colossus that’s very slow to pivot; meanwhile, we have experience, a body of knowledge and stability confirmed by our thirty years. That’s a good combination for a time when you need to be flexible, but not chaotic.
I think that companies will have to get used to one big system no longer handling everything. They’ll have to learn to quickly deploy new solutions, combine them and remain open.
What will AI transform in the daily operations of manufacturing and logistics companies – and what won’t it fix on its own?
AI will help fundamentally wherever you need to work with a large amount of information, seek context or automate activities. It supports planning, evaluation and work with documents and helps in many other areas. But it can’t fix badly described processes. If a company doesn’t know how its processes work, if it doesn’t have data or a clear idea of what to expect from AI, it can’t expect miracles.
Mapping and describing processes has become an investment that needs to be made. Postponing it can prove costly. It doesn’t sound sexy, but you can’t advance without it. AI agents have great potential for supporting people across many fields, but they need material to draw from and learn from. Otherwise your AI will be – to overstate a bit – just an improved search engine and a tool for nicer slideshows.
So what’s the key ability for companies in the coming years?
A healthy openness towards how things can be done differently, and willingness to dive into such changes. Adaptability gets mentioned a lot. It isn’t just about responding to market developments or new technologies, but rather the ability to transfer this flexibility into your own systems and processes. That’s one reason why we don’t build all-encompassing solutions with an answer for everything. What makes more sense is a platform that can absorb new requirements, technologies and changes in operations and adapt as the customer and their market evolve.
Innovations are often postponed out of a lack of time, or a fear of breaking something that is, you know, working. Change’s risk and benefit always need to be measured; nothing should be rushed just “to keep up with the times”. But those postponing innovation because there’s no time now may face much more catch-up later.
What is the biggest constraint on changes in companies today – technology or people?
It’s us. People. More precisely our ability to accept and sensibly use technologies, which are now advancing rapidly. It’s not just new tools; it’s also a change in thinking: knowing how to ask good questions, understand context, think critically and assess what’s relevant. People have to learn to work with technologies as tools that expand their abilities. I prefer to introduce these changes iteratively, step by step. People accept change better when they see its results and have time to learn.
But I think we should still always exercise sound judgement. Technology can support us and expand our vision, but we shouldn’t blindly let it decide for us. Creative thinking, final calls and the responsibility for them should rest with people. The smarter our systems are, the more it will matter how clearly the decision layer is described. What systems may recommend or do automatically, and where people remain essential. We should always understand what we’re doing, why we’re doing it and what impact our decisions will have.
The smarter our systems are, the more it will matter how clearly the decision layer is described. What systems may recommend or do automatically, and where people remain essential. We should always understand what we’re doing, why we’re doing it and what impact our decisions will have.
Why should companies working on major digitalisation or automation changes want Aimtec, specifically, at the table?
Our experience. Not just our list of references, but the experience that comes from spending years handling real-world situations in operations and seeing what works, what doesn’t and what customers really need. That kind of experience still isn’t easily transferable. You can buy the technology and hire people, but building a combination of know-how, context and responsibility for the outcome takes a long time.
Continuity is important as well. When you’re dealing with changes in operations, you don’t want a partner who delivers a project and disappears. You need a partner who understands your environment, knows how to share in the responsibility and helps you grow.
Thinking about Aimtec in five years, how do you want it to be seen by customers?
As a global partner for companies tackling digitalisation and automation, a powerful player with clear know-how and a stable team. We’re strong in specific expertise, we’re expanding our portfolio and building an ecosystem of partners that complement our knowledge and experience.
We supply start-to-finish solutions – from process digitalisation and transparency to automation. We never stop at just delivering a system. Software is a means to an end. That end is the customer’s new ability – like managing operations based on data or scaling solutions across sites.
If you could advise me on just one thing to start doing tomorrow bright and early, what would it be?
I would study. Read, try, ask, don’t dawdle. Thanks to internet content, there are a lot of guides, examples and know-how available that used to require formal education or expensive courses. We don’t all have to master everything, but we all should be willing to try and understand what’s changing around us.
Practically speaking, I would look at one specific business process and ask: do we know how it really functions? Have we mapped it? Do we have data? Do we know where decisions are made and what could be simplified or automated? That’s a good Monday-morning beginning.
Pavel Boháč CEO Aimtec
Pavel Boháč has been Aimtec’s CEO since 2024. He’s been connected with the company for over a decade, and he spent a long time in digitalisation, planning systems and managing manufacturing and logistics processes. In 2016, he took over our APS (Advanced Planning and Scheduling) division, where he deepened his consulting experience and helped with strategic development, business and pre-sales activities and product management. Under his direction, the division expanded its scope, and thanks to corporate projects it helped to expand Aimtec’s global footprint all the way to Australia.
He has brought the CEO role a combination of technology know-how, real-world project experience and an emphasis on the practical impacts of digital solutions. He is continuing to develop Aimtec as a global partner for manufacturing and logistics digitalisation.
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