A CPLANE production

The OT Crowd

Industrial Automation, Unfiltered

Break room talk, not a briefing. Jarie asks the questions you're thinking. David and Andrew tell you what's really going on. Operators, integrators, and standards people — open control, O-PAS, plant-floor problems, and how the industry markets and sells it all — worth your commute.

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The crowd

Meet the hosts

Jarie Bolander

Jarie Bolander

Producer

The one learning industrial automation in public. Jarie produces the show and asks the "dumb" questions so controls engineers, managers, and IT-adjacent listeners don't have to feel dumb. He keeps episodes moving and reacts honestly — no performing the deepest OT expertise in the room, just genuine "wait, explain that."

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David DeBari

David DeBari

Co-host

The OT veteran. David's seen the field cycles, the vendor lock-in, and the migration that almost went sideways. He explains without lecturing and demos when the topic needs showing, not telling. Pushes back on hype — respectfully, with stories.

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Andrew Vanderpool

Andrew Vanderpool

Co-host

The spec and the I/O vendor side. Andrew co-chaired the Open Process Automation Forum Technical Working Group, so he's seen how O-PAS actually gets written — and argued over. He also came up at an I/O vendor, so he knows what it takes to ship product into an open stack, not just specify it. Explains both without the brochure.

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The feed

Recent episodes

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Listener Q&A

Think you can stump us?

Send a real OT question, a myth, or a "my plant does X — is that normal?" Best stumps get a shout-out on Crowd Reactions.

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We book practitioners first — automation leaders, SI modernization leads, partners with field stories. Talk like a human, not a press release.

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