66% of Manufacturers Eye Agentic AI as Living Digital Twins Push Plant Autonomy
Updated
Updated · MIT Technology Review · Oct 28
66% of Manufacturers Eye Agentic AI as Living Digital Twins Push Plant Autonomy
3 articles · Updated · MIT Technology Review · Oct 28
Summary
Living digital twins are moving industrial AI beyond simulation into real-time monitoring and closed-loop action, letting plants adjust operations continuously while keeping human operators in supervisory control.
66% of manufacturers already use or plan to use agentic AI, and 40% expect some factory autonomy by 2030, as cheaper sensors, IoT telemetry and connected software make those systems practical.
Adoption is still constrained by risk: 65% of executives in Deloitte’s 2025 survey ranked operational disruption among their top concerns, and many companies have yet to build strong governance and accountability safeguards.
Early deployments show measurable gains — Nestlé cut dryer energy use 16%, while SCG Chemicals reported 99% plant reliability and a ninefold return on investment within six months.
The longer-term goal is an integrated value chain in which AI, robotics and digital twins coordinate across plants, grids and supply chains to improve resilience, safety and sustainability.