AI is reshaping how things are made, from the shop floor to the supply chain.

In this episode of Human Work After AI, Chris Fanchi speaks with Zakary Smith, CEO of SensFlo, about how artificial intelligence and industrial IoT are transforming manufacturing — not by replacing workers, but by redefining how they collaborate with machines.

SensFlo’s AI-powered platform connects equipment, software, and people across global factories to improve efficiency, safety, and data transparency. Zakary shares how he’s helping manufacturers transition from fragmented operations to fully interoperable, semi-autonomous ecosystems, and what that means for the next generation of skilled labor.

They explore:

- How AI is accelerating the digital transformation of manufacturing

- Why “interoperability”, not full automation, defines the smart factory

- The real opportunities (and limits) of robotics over the next decade

- How AI creates new skilled labor roles instead of erasing them

- Ethical design and data transparency in human-machine systems

Chapters

0:00 Intro – AI meets manufacturing

1:27 Zakary’s origin story: from STEM curiosity to entrepreneurship

4:37 Discovering inefficiencies on the factory floor

6:23 What SensFlo does (explained simply)

8:02 How manufacturers adopt AI today

10:25 Build vs. buy: choosing the right AI stack

13:13 Worker fear vs. executive excitement

15:45 What AI can’t yet do

17:51 Robotics and “the Optimus problem”

18:48 The rise of new skilled labor and upskilling culture

22:33 Ethical AI and data transparency

24:39 What the smart factory of the future looks like

27:28 The next phase for SensFlo

🔗 Resources

SensFlo: https://sensflo.ai

Connect with Zakary Smith: http://www.linkedin.com/in/zakarytsmith

Big North Marketing: https://bignorthmarketing.com

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