Great decisions don't ship, but interoperable assets do. This spotlight gets practical about scaling digital workflows across global teams and suppliers, from 3D and beyond. As more companies move toward AI-based solutions and digital decision-making platforms, the conversation has expanded well past geometry and renders.

We'll explore how the full spectrum of digital assets moves from creation tools into PLM, real-time environments, and out to factories without breaking, and what it actually takes, in terms of people, process, platforms and supplier readiness, to make the digital thread real rather than theoretical.

Specific angles of discussion include:

Q1: The digital thread has been promised for a decade. What has actually changed, and what is still broken?

Q2: How do you start with purpose and process before technology? What does that mindset shift look like in practice, including where AI fits into that hierarchy rather than leading it?

Q3: Are we letting tool limitations constrain creative decisions? How do you stop designers designing around what digital can and can't do rather than around what they actually want to make?

Q4: How do you embed digital product creation capability across every function that touches assets?

Q5: Platform connectivity is everything: PLM, DAM, 3D, AI and beyond. What does it take to move from siloed systems to meaningful scale?

Q6: How do interoperable assets unlock the ability to sell before production even begins, and what does the education and workflow process actually look like to get there?

Q7: The digital thread ends at the factory door if suppliers aren't ready to receive it. How do you solve supplier readiness without losing fidelity at handoff?

Q8: Quality standards for digital assets need to match those for physical products. What does that mean in practice, and how does it add complexity to new workflows?