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CADDi Connect: Cutting Through the Noise on Digital Transformation

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A panel discussion at the CADDi Connect event featuring four professionals seated on stage. One panelist is speaking into a microphone while others listen attentively. A presentation screen in the background displays event details.
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“You’re doing digital transformation wrong.”

That was the bold opening statement at CADDi Connect, CADDi’s first annual flagship event in San Francisco. But this wasn’t just another conference filled with buzzwords and broad platitudes. The event brought together manufacturing leaders, industry pioneers, and operators on the front lines—people who have seen firsthand why transformation efforts fail and what needs to change.

Beyond the Hype: What Really Matters

With an audience spanning companies like Fictiv, Provisur Technologies, Hilltop Technology Laboratory, and Applied Materials, the discussion tackled one core question:

💡 How do we stop talking about digital transformation and actually make it work?

The day was packed with insights, candid conversations, and perspectives that cut through the noise.

  • Will Drewery (CEO, Diagon) delivered a keynote that reframed digital transformation as an American story—tying it back to his family’s journey from the Great Migration to Pittsburgh’s factory floors. His message? The gap between what’s possible and what’s real is growing, and without investment in foundational infrastructure, transformation is just an illusion.

  • A panel on AI and automation featuring leaders from L2L, Duro Labs, and nVenia dug into why AI isn’t the issue—it’s the rollout. The tech is there, but if the process is broken, AI just accelerates bad decisions. If people don’t trust it, they won’t use it.

  • Four fireside chats tackled the real blockers of transformation—data, storytelling, human factors, and R&D—with Whitney Sales, Chris Brown, Vivek Kumar, and Aaron Lober leading the discussions.

  • A major product launch from CADDi’s CEO, Yushiro Kato, who introduced CADDi Quote, an AI-powered sourcing solution aimed at revolutionizing the quotation process. He also drew eerie parallels between the manufacturing challenges in Japan and the U.S.—and made a clear case for why the time to adapt is now.

The Real Takeaways

🔹 Stop chasing transformation for the sake of it. Set clear, tangible goals.
🔹 AI and tech won’t fix bad processes—transformation is about people, not just tools.
🔹 Breaking silos is key—insights exist, but they’re locked away inside disconnected teams.

The Most Important Conversations Happened Off-Stage

Jim Mayer, the event’s MC, put it best:

“The best part? The side conversations. The moments where people pushed back instead of nodding along. The questions from the audience. The real talk about why transformation still isn’t working.”

That’s what CADDi Connect was about—less theory, more reality. Less noise, more substance.

So, where do we go from here?

#CADDiConnect #DigitalTransformation #ManufacturingInnovation #Leadership

Huge kudos to the CADDi team behind the scenes—including Lindsay, Aaron, and Bridget—who made the event not just possible, but memorable. The passion behind the production showed in every moment of the day.