90% of Manufacturers Consider Digital Transformation as Baseline Requirement – Global Survey

Why It Matters

The shift from pilot projects to enterprise‑wide deployment signals that digital tools are becoming core to manufacturing competitiveness, while rising cyber risk forces firms to prioritize secure IT/OT integration.

Key Takeaways

• 90% of manufacturers view digital transformation as essential baseline
• 60% actively use smart manufacturing tech in daily operations
• Only 18% remain in pilot testing phase
• 34% of operations augmented by AI; over 50% projected by 2030
• 46% experienced cyber incidents, underscoring rising security challenges

Pulse Analysis

The latest Rockwell Automation survey confirms that digital transformation has graduated from a strategic experiment to an operational necessity for manufacturers worldwide. With more than 1,500 respondents spanning 17 nations, the data reveal a decisive move away from isolated pilots toward full‑scale rollout of smart technologies. Executives are now focused on extracting measurable value, a shift that aligns with broader industry pressures to improve efficiency, reduce waste, and meet increasingly complex customer demands.

Artificial intelligence is at the heart of this evolution. Today, roughly one‑third of manufacturing sites leverage AI for quality control, cybersecurity, and process optimization, and the study projects that AI will underpin more than half of all operations by 2030. This rapid adoption is driving faster decision‑making, higher equipment uptime, and greater resilience against supply‑chain disruptions. Companies that successfully integrate AI with people and processes are already reporting stronger performance metrics and a competitive edge in a crowded market.

The upside of connectivity comes with a stark security trade‑off. Nearly half of the surveyed firms experienced at least one cyber incident in the last twelve months, underscoring the vulnerability of increasingly networked production lines. To safeguard growth, manufacturers must invest in integrated IT/OT architectures that can protect data, ensure system integrity, and support the safe scaling of AI and automation. Balancing innovation with robust cyber‑risk management will be the defining challenge for the sector as it moves toward a fully digital future.