Last week, I had the privilege of attending and speaking at the Share PLM 2025 Summit in Jerez de la Frontera. If you missed my previous article, check it here – Five Principles of Building a Human-Centric PLM in 2025.
It wasn’t a typical PLM event and that’s exactly what made it stand out.
No flashy vendor booths. No scripted “problem → implementation → success” storylines. Instead, the summit created an open space for reflection, real-world discussion, and honest questions that most traditional PLM conferences avoid.
The main message from Share PLM and everyone involved was loud and clear: the past and current problems—and the future challenges—of the PLM industry lie in understanding people and aligning data and systems with them. Helena Gutierrez’s presentation captured this perfectly and it deeply resonated with my thoughts and many people I talked to. As technologies and environments continue to evolve, our path to success lies in leading with people.
As I listened to the presentations and talked with attendees, five key observations emerged—each offering a lens into where our industry is, and where it must go.
1. Systems vs. People: The Unspoken Conflict
At the heart of many PLM challenges is a quiet but powerful tension: systems versus people.
PLM strategists often aim to implement structured systems to bring order to engineering and manufacturing processes. But these environments are still deeply human—full of tribal knowledge, informal workflows, emotional decisions, and interpersonal dynamics.
When systems attempt to impose structure without acknowledging this complexity, friction emerges. Confusion, resistance, and even outright rejection follow—not always because the system is wrong, but because people feel alienated by it. Sometimes the rejection is as blunt as “I don’t like how this feels” or “I don’t trust who brought this in.”
At Share PLM, this conflict wasn’t hidden. It was recognized and surfaced. And that ackowledgment is critical if we want to create systems that people will actually use and embrace.
I found this presentation from Beatriz González Pedraza extremely important and useful.
2. Messy Reality vs. the Demand for Simplicity
There’s a widespread desire for “out-of-the-box” PLM systems that just work. Intuitive. Configurable. Plug-and-play. It’s what everyone wants.
But the reality behind the scenes is far more chaotic.
Companies are burdened with a tangle of legacy systems, disconnected data, partial implementations, homegrown workarounds, and document chaos. No two organizations have the same starting point. And this overwhelming diversity makes the decision of what to do next incredibly difficult.
At Share PLM, we saw this contradiction up close. The expectation for simplicity is rising. But without acknowledging the mess we’re trying to simplify, we’ll keep making tools that fall short.
3. AI and Data Access Change Everything
A technological revolution is underway—and it’s not waiting for PLM to catch up.
Artificial Intelligence is already transforming how we interact with information. From language models to document analysis to task automation, AI is enabling a new kind of interface—one that understands, anticipates, and assists.
This wave of innovation is now colliding with PLM systems that were built 20 or even 25 years ago. Systems designed for file storage and revision control, not intelligent collaboration.
At Share PLM, the question wasn’t “Is AI coming?” It was “What does it mean for PLM?” And the answers weren’t clear—which is exactly the point. It’s time to stop assuming that traditional PLM tools can evolve fast enough. We must ask bigger questions and be willing to rethink the foundation itself.
The main point about the future of AI – check what you do with the data in your organization. This is where it starts.
4. Challenging the Presentation Status Quo Works
Most PLM events follow a predictable script:
- We had a problem—messy data and chaotic processes.
- We brought in a PLM system—it was hard but we got through it.
- Now we have clean processes and everyone is happy.
It’s neat. It’s polished. And it’s often disconnected from reality.
Share PLM broke that mold. Presenters didn’t deliver finished stories. They asked questions. They showed work in progress. They shared the uncomfortable truths of what hasn’t worked—without pretending to have all the answers.
That shift—from “success theater” to “open dialogue”—was energizing. It made the room feel less like a sales pitch and more like a community of peers figuring things out together.
5. The Untapped Value of Information Assets
Most companies are sitting on a goldmine of knowledge—stored in documents, spreadsheets, emails, shared drives, and siloed systems. But this information often remains invisible or inaccessible, scattered across disconnected repositories. I’ve made this reminder in my presentation – all existing PDM/PLM tools were developed 20-25 years ago before (!) all modern innovations we use now were invented.
At the same time, decision-makers are under pressure to move faster, reduce risk, and involve more stakeholders in complex product development processes.
The opportunity? Build tools that turn this existing information into something actionable. Help people find what they need, make decisions, and contribute—without needing to be PLM experts.
This is more than data management. It’s about surfacing the digital memory of the company and putting it to work.
What Is My Conclusion?
The Share PLM Summit felt like a wake-up call for the entire PLM industry.
We’ve been stuck in old models for too long—monolithic systems, spreadsheet-like UIs, rigid workflows, and business models built on locking data in. But the pressure is rising. Human resistance. Complex realities. Outdated systems. And now, a wave of AI that won’t wait.
The time for incremental change is over. The opportunity now is to open up—in three key ways:
- Technology: Move from monolithic platforms to federated, service-based architectures that reflect the real-world diversity of tools and data sources.
- User experience: Shift from passive data views to active, decision-centric interfaces that help people take meaningful action.
- Business models: Abandon lock-in strategies and embrace openness. Monetize accessibility, collaboration, and real-time value—not barriers.
Share PLM proved that challenging the status quo doesn’t mean chaos—it means clarity. It means progress. And it just might be the key to unlocking a more human, intelligent, and impactful future for PLM.
If you’re in the PLM community and you haven’t started asking these questions, now is the time. Because the world is changing—and we have to change with it.
Just my thoughts…
Best, Oleg
Disclaimer: I’m the co-founder and CEO of OpenBOM, a digital-thread platform providing cloud-native collaborative and integration services between engineering tools including PDM, PLM, and ERP capabilities. With extensive experience in federated CAD-PDM and PLM architecture, I’m advocates for agile, open product models and cloud technologies in manufacturing. My opinion can be unintentionally biased
