Digital transformation in manufacturing is no longer defined by tools, pilots or roadmaps. It is defined by the quality of leadership decisions made under sustained volatility. That is the central finding of a new global report released today by Valtech, the experience innovation company.
The Voice of Digital Leaders in Manufacturing 2026 is based on in-depth interviews with senior digital, commercial, service and transformation leaders from eight global manufacturing organizations, including Atlas Copco, ABB Motion, Greif, Tetra Pak, Dräger, HF GROUP and Röhm.
Representing organizations with a mean annual revenue of nearly €7 billion, the leaders interviewed describe a market shaped by compounding pressures: geopolitical tension, tariffs, inflation, supply chain reconfiguration, sustainability regulation and the accelerating impact of AI.
Key findings from the report include:
- Volatility is now structural, not episodic. Leaders are no longer waiting for stability but focusing on internal readiness as the decisive variable.
- Digital advantage is determined less by ambition and more by alignment across experience, organization, data and technology.
- Customer experience in manufacturing is defined by friction removal, speed and transparency, not brand moments or sweeping redesigns.
- AI is acting as a clarifier, exposing weak data foundations, unclear ownership and fragmented governance faster than previous technology waves.
- Organizations that fail to make explicit, cross-functional decisions risk drifting into fragmentation as defaults harden into operating models over time.
The findings suggest a fundamental shift in how digital maturity is understood in manufacturing. Rather than pursuing isolated innovation initiatives, leaders are increasingly focused on making a small number of coherent, shared decisions that compound over time.
“Digital advantage in manufacturing is no longer about having the right answers,” says Vincent van Hellemondt, Valtech Lead Industrials and co-author of the report. “It’s about making deliberate choices together while conditions keep changing. The manufacturers moving ahead are the ones aligning decision rights, clarifying ownership and making trade-offs visible before pressure forces them.”
Across interviews, leaders consistently describe the same tension: Digital initiatives often start strong but fragment when accountability is unclear. Experience programs stall when operations are underrepresented. AI pilots multiply without a shared agreement on what to scale. Data platforms are built for reporting rather than real-time action.
The report underscores the concept of the “connected manufacturer” not as a technology architecture, but as a leadership posture. Connected manufacturers reduce internal ambiguity, align roles and priorities, and ensure that decisions in one part of the organization strengthen the whole.
AI plays a prominent role in the 2026 edition, but not in the way many expect.
“AI doesn’t remove the need for leadership judgment,” van Hellemondt adds. “It increases the cost of indecision. It makes misalignment visible faster. If ownership, data quality and governance aren’t clear, AI simply accelerates fragmentation.”
The report concludes with The Connected Manufacturer’s Decision Playbook, a practical leadership framework outlining five core decision tensions manufacturers must address:
- Efficiency vs. growth
- Scaling AI vs. pilot sprawl
- Data as insight vs. data as action
- Consistent platforms vs. distinctive experiences
- Changing how teams work vs. adding more tools
According to Valtech, these tensions are already shaping every major digital initiative. The difference between organizations that compound value and those that stall lies in whether these choices are made explicitly and collectively or left to default.
The full report, The Voice of Digital Leaders in Manufacturing 2026, including The Connected Manufacturer’s Decision Playbook, is available here: https://www.valtech.com/whitepapers/the-voice-of-digital-leaders-in-manufacturing-2026/
About the study
The report is based on several months of in-depth qualitative interviews with senior digital, commercial, service and transformation leaders from eight global manufacturing organizations across industrial equipment, chemicals, packaging, safety technology and materials. For this fifth annual edition, the research prioritized depth over breadth, focusing on lived executive experience rather than retrospective case studies or survey-based benchmarking.
About Valtech
Valtech, the global leader in experience innovation, exists to unlock a better way to experience the world. By delivering sustainable, human-centric digital solutions that prepare businesses for the future, we empower brands to leapfrog the competition and surpass best practices. Our 6,000-strong team in 24 countries crafts intelligent, personalized experiences that blend crafts, categories and cultures. At the intersection of data, AI, creativity and technology, we touch lives, grow businesses and unlock value in a digitally accelerated world. Our clients include the world’s leading brands, such as AXA, Dolby, L’Oréal, LVMH, Mars, Mercedes, P&G, Santander, Toyota and Volkswagen. See our work at Valtech.com.