By Annika Olme, CTO & Senior Vice-President, Technology Development, SKF
Industrial transformation is often described through technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) models, digital twins, automation platforms, and advanced materials. Yet technology alone does not change organisations—people do. The culture surrounding technology determines whether it becomes an enabler or a burden. True digital maturity isn’t about how many tools you deploy; it’s about how teams think, collaborate, and solve problems with technology as a natural part of their work. As industries modernise, this cultural shift will decide who leads the next phase of global manufacturing.
Tech as a cultural foundation
Industrial companies are moving from using technology to thinking technologically. This mindset shift transforms everything—from how teams analyse data and design systems to how leaders evaluate risk and opportunity. But cultures don’t change by rolling out platforms. For advanced technologies to take root, culture must be intentionally shaped, just like any technical upgrade.
Too often, companies invest heavily in digital tools only to find employees overwhelmed or disconnected from the purpose behind the change. It is important to enable a psychologically safe culture where people can experiment, question, and learn without fear of failure. This is why we actively foster an environment where intelligent risk-taking is encouraged. For example, in our technology development teams, we run “failure-forward” sessions—structured reviews where teams share lessons from experiments that didn’t succeed. These sessions turn setbacks into learning opportunities, reinforcing that innovation thrives when curiosity is rewarded, not penalised.
A defining industrial moment, globally and locally
We are at a rare inflection point. Sustainability demands, energy transitions, supply chain realignments, and rapid technological advances are reshaping how economies compete and collaborate. Success will not belong solely to the most technologically advanced nations, but to those that combine engineering excellence with cultures built on curiosity, agility, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
This is a global reality. Whether designing wind energy systems in Europe, modernising railway networks in India, or optimising mining operations in Latin America, the differentiator is the same: how effectively people work with technology to solve real problems.
India’s momentum reflects this shift. Manufacturing growth continues to strengthen—recording a 5.4% growth year-on-year in July, while digital adoption accelerates with over 806 million users. These trends underscore India’s readiness to shape the next chapter of manufacturing.
Local technical centres: Accelerating innovation
The evolution towards local-for-local engineering is transforming industrial competitiveness. By placing engineers and R&D teams closer—physically and culturally—to customers, organisations sharpen problem-solving, make faster decisions, and deliver innovation that is relevant.
SKF’s Global Technical Centres exemplify this approach. We operate 17 technology centres, each dedicated to developing technologies that give customers a competitive edge while advancing sustainability goals. Our Global Technical Centre in Bengaluru serves customers across India and Southeast Asia as well as West Asia by applying the latest engineering knowledge to create application-specific solutions tailored to regional needs. Equipped with state-of-the-art labs in metallurgy, chemistry, bearing investigation, and connected technology, the centre also houses endurance and life-cycle testing facilities for comprehensive product validation.
Every solution developed here addresses customer pain points while aligning with sustainability and remanufacturing requirements. This customer-centric approach ensures innovation remains relevant, practical, and impactful.
Talent & ecosystems shaping the next era
The future manufacturing floor will not be split between “digital experts” and “engineers”. Resilient organisations blur that line. Tomorrow’s talent combines deep engineering fundamentals with digital fluency—AI awareness, automation know-how, and data interpretation becoming a part of everyday work.
But skills alone are not enough. In a world where technology evolves faster than job descriptions, continuous learning becomes the real differentiator. Leading organisations make curiosity a habit, learning a rhythm, and cross-functional collaboration second nature. Innovation itself is changing shape. Breakthroughs no longer emerge behind closed R&D doors. They come from ecosystems where start-ups, universities, suppliers, and industrial players co-create and scale ideas together.
This open model reduces risk, accelerates progress, and brings diverse thinking into complex problem-solving.
We embrace this ecosystem approach through an initiative to partner with start-ups and innovators to accelerate solutions in areas such as AI, sustainability, and advanced manufacturing. By combining entrepreneurial agility with SKF’s deep industrial expertise, we create a platform where new ideas can scale faster and deliver real impact for customers and society.
Increasingly, industry recognises that sharing—through open platforms, collaborative pilots, or selective patent access—can speed sustainable innovation more effectively than working alone. The next decade of industrial advancement will be powered by ecosystems.
Shaping the next decade of industrial leadership
Technology accelerates performance, but culture determines how far it can take us. As industries move towards a sustainable, connected, and intelligent future, the real differentiator will not be tools or systems but the mindsets behind them.
The next decade of industrial leadership will be shaped by organisations that empower people to think boldly, learn continuously, and collaborate beyond boundaries. When culture and technology move in step, innovation stops being incremental—and becomes transformational.
For technology leaders, this is an opportunity to model curiosity and openness, create environments where experimentation is encouraged, and recognise intelligent failure as progress—not setback.
This cultural foundation must be paired with a relentless focus on customer-specific innovation. Every breakthrough should solve real-world challenges and deliver measurable value for customers. By combining advanced technologies with deep application knowledge and close customer collaboration, we ensure that innovation is not just cutting-edge—but relevant, practical, and impactful.
Technology drives efficiency. Culture drives possibility. Organisations that understand this—and build cultures where technology fulfils its promise—will shape the future of industrial innovation.