Viva the revolution.

The war is upon us—not of steel and sword, but of data and code. The AI uprising is breaching the walls of every organisation, every system, every process we’ve built to protect the delicate balance of risk, cost and performance. For asset managers, the question is no longer if this force will change our craft—but whether we stand as the vanguard or fall as the vanquished.

AI has become the great disruptor of our age. From stealthy deployments in CMMS and EAM platforms to executive decrees echoing promises of “intelligent transformation,” artificial intelligence is now entangled with the very tools and systems we rely on. But this is not a battle we chose—it’s one we must now fight to control.

The battlefield is murky. Allies are unclear. And within our own walls, three factions move:

• The Revolutionaries, eager to tear down the old guard, installing chatbots and machine-driven logic in place of governance, human insight, and risk-based decision-making. They storm ahead, blind to the value of the processes they bypass.
• The Saboteurs, cloaked in tradition, quietly undermine progress. They trust only legacy knowledge, resist all change, and dismiss AI as a passing fad. In doing so, they weaken our defences from within—refusing to prepare, adapt, or evolve.
• The Guerrilla Actors, our vendors and suppliers, who slip AI into our platforms without warning. These shadow players reshape our practices in silence, embedding automation where oversight once lived.
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We—the asset managers—stand at the gate. Sometimes, AI is a resource: a tactical ally to bolster decisions, detect patterns, and support foresight. Other times, it is a strategic asset: one that must be governed, monitored, and maintained like any critical piece of infrastructure. Our challenge lies in knowing which role it plays, and commanding it accordingly.

To defend our discipline and reshape our future, we must:

1. Strategise – Forge frameworks that bind AI to our asset principles and lifecycle thinking.
2. Educate – Arm our teams with AI fluency, not just literacy.
3. Convene – Rally the field, share battle plans, and align under a banner of responsible AI use.
4. Lead – Take the high ground. Influence how AI is adopted and wielded before it’s weaponised by others.

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This presentation will equip the vanguard with the insight, clarity, and conviction to meet the AI era head-on. Drawing from field intelligence, emerging frameworks, and real-world scenarios, we will explore how to secure advantage—without sacrificing assurance.

This is not just a technology talk—it’s a call to arms.
AI has crossed the moat.
It’s time we raise the standard.
We are the asset managers.
We are the vanguard.
And this is our battlefield.