# Most mid-market manufacturers are stuck in AI pilot mode, and their data infrastructure is why

By MarketScale Newsroom · Published 2026-07-14 · Industrial IoT on MarketScale
Canonical: https://www.marketscale.com/industries/industrial-iot/most-mid-market-manufacturers-are-stuck-in-ai-pilot-mode-and-their-data-infrastructure-is-why

> 73% of manufacturers remain in AI testing. A new Kaufman Rossin survey reveals legacy ERP and siloed data as the core blockers to scale.

## Key points

- 73% of manufacturers remain in the AI pilot phase.
- Legacy ERP systems hinder AI scalability.
- Data silos are significant barriers to AI implementation.

Not one mid-market manufacturer in Kaufman Rossin's latest research has reached what the firm defines as full AI operation, the stage where AI is simply how the business runs. That finding, drawn from a survey of senior decision-makers across U.S. mid-market companies, is the clearest signal yet that the manufacturing sector's AI moment is more complicated than the headlines suggest.

Writing in Automation World on July 8, 2026, Vera Nieuwland, director of Kaufman Rossin's business consulting services practice, lays out the numbers behind the gap. The data comes from Kaufman Rossin's report, "The State of AI in the Mid-Market," which covers industrial and mid-market manufacturers alongside other sectors.

## The data infrastructure shortfall

The core problem isn't appetite. Some 91% of manufacturers surveyed plan to increase their AI investment, and every respondent agrees AI saves time. The problem is that AI requires clean, connected, and accessible data, and manufacturing has historically underinvested in exactly that.

## Sources

- [AI arrived on the factory floor before the foundation did](https://www.automationworld.com/factory/digital-transformation/news/55389491/op-ed-ai-arrived-on-the-factory-floor-before-the-foundation-did) (Automation World)

Tags: [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object]

---
Source: MarketScale, https://www.marketscale.com/industries/industrial-iot/most-mid-market-manufacturers-are-stuck-in-ai-pilot-mode-and-their-data-infrastructure-is-why. Published for AI indexing and citation; cite the canonical URL. Site guide for agents: https://www.marketscale.com/llms.txt