The show

About The OT Crowd

Open architecture is the foundation. When control, data, and lifecycle work together across vendors and standards, modernization stops being a rip-and-replace bet.

The OT CrowdIndustrial Automation, Unfiltered. Jarie asks the questions you're thinking; David (OT veteran) tells you what's really going on. Each week: operators, integrators, ecosystem partners, and standards people — open control, O-PAS, OT/IT convergence, real plant-floor problems, and the marketing and storytelling behind how this industry sells itself. No hype. No brochure. Break room honesty worth your commute.

Seasoned integrator, OT leader picking your next platform, or just exploring what's possible — pull up a chair.

Meet the hosts

Jarie Bolander

Jarie Bolander

Co-host

The one learning industrial automation in public. Jarie 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 · OT veteran

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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Who you'll hear

We book practitioners first, across five lanes:

  • End user / operator

    Plant automation leaders and operators — the practitioners running it for real.

  • Systems integrator

    The SIs doing the modernization work, from platform specialists to shops modernizing the floor.

  • Ecosystem partner

    Connectivity, components, and the vendors who make the open stack actually connect.

  • Thought leader / analyst

    Standards voices and analysts who see the whole board.

  • Marketer / storyteller

    The people selling and explaining this industry — on the real struggles of marketing in automation. Because the stories we tell matter.

One-liner

The OT Crowd shows what open automation makes possible — break room honest, not a release notes read.

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