47 - What Ignition 8.3 Means for Industrial Automation's Next Leap with Carl Gould

Carl Gould, CTO and co-founder of Inductive Automation, joins hosts Phil Seboa and Ed Fuentes for an in-person conversation recorded in Australia ahead of the Ignition Everywhere event in Brisbane.

Carl traces Ignition's journey from FactorySQL in 2003 to the 8.3 release, which introduces file-based configuration, Git and GitOps compatibility, Perspective offline mode, and a new architecture for managing distributed OT systems at scale. He breaks down the three design principles that have guided the platform from day one (cost, convenience, and capability), shares his evolving take on AI in industrial automation, and explains why he calls the IT/OT divide "a fictional line."

In this episode, we discuss:

• The 8.3 release: file-based config, GitOps, deployment modes, and Perspective offline
• Scaling from thousands of tags to millions with distributed, decoupled architectures
• Why AI in industrial automation is a means to an end, not a product in itself
• The community and culture behind Ignition's worldwide growth




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This episode is proudly made possible by PLCnext Technology




PLCnext Technology is the ecosystem for industrial automation consisting of open hardware, modular engineering software, a global community, and a digital software marketplace.




Learn more at:

⁠⁠⁠https://www.plcnext-community.net/news/synergy-edge-cloud/

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FlowFuse at Hannover Messe 2026

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Claim your free pass and learn more: https://flowfuse.com/events/hannover-messe-2026/

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Carl Gould is the CTO and co-founder of Inductive Automation. He has been building and guiding the Ignition platform since 2003. Under his leadership, Ignition has grown from a SQL connectivity tool into a comprehensive platform used across industries worldwide for SCADA, HMI, MES, and IIoT applications.




Connect with Carl Gould on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-gould




Learn more about Inductive Automation: https://inductiveautomation.com




Connect with Phil on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/philseboa/⁠




Connect with Ed on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/edfuentes/