CSIA 2025: Industry Leaders Discuss Consolidation, Digital Transformation, and more

Speaker A: Welcome to the Rivergate Marketing podcast. In this episode, Christine McQuilkin speaks with Rich Bregman of Data Science Automation, rick

Speaker B: Caldwell of SkateAware, Wright Sullivan of Sky I.O.

Speaker A: and Jeff Miller of Exotech about consolidation, digital transformation and leadership development at the 2025 CSIA conference. Hi, please introduce yourself. Your name, title, company.

Speaker C: All right, well thank you. Uh, my name is Rich Brigman. I'm um, the president of Data Science Automation. We are uh, an automation systems integrator a little bit different than the normal CSIA member. We focus a lot more on laboratories and R and D, scientific applications and automated test and inspection. So kind of on both ends of the spectrum from manufacturing. Great.

Speaker A: Rick.

Speaker B: Hi, I'm Rick Caldwell, I'm the president of Skate Aware. Uh, we are ah, a typical control systems integrator and diversified across several vertical industries. We work in the manufacturing industry in water, wastewater and agriculture and a, uh, few other odds and ends. Uh, we also have a very strong robotics business that uh, we spun up about five years ago. That uh, uh, I think is probably our biggest challenge going from software tilt with the SCADA background to robotics and figuring out how to make money building robotic systems. So we have very, very good technical systems, you know, work very well. But the biggest challenge for me has been figuring out how to make money on them because they're very competitive and you got a whole new team of people with mechanical engineers instead of electrical engineers and the mechanics building things. So it's a big shift for us but uh, we're growing and doing uh, well been 25 years now. For uh, Skate Aware, this year is our 25th anniversary.

Speaker A: Congratulations.

Speaker B: Thank you.

Speaker A: What are the biggest industry trends or challenges you're seeing right now?

Speaker C: Uh, well for me I'd say one of the trends that's been going on really for a few years is the roll up of the industry. You know there's a lot of consolidation, it's already very fractured market, there's a lot of small systems integrators, medium sized and we're part of a roll up now. And one of the main reasons we continue to come to CSIA is you know, to find other like minded companies that want to join forces and grow their businesses and maybe have additional financial resources and maybe uh, divest from some of the administrative burdens of running a technology business. So um, that is a significant trend that's affecting our business these days.

Speaker A: That's great, we can help you get that message out. And what benefits do these companies have when they roll up under your umbrella?

Speaker C: Well it's early yet, so it's hard to know all the answers. But one of the compelling messages is to reduce the administrative burden. A lot of technology entrepreneurs, engineers that start these businesses, um, they can be very successful, but they also don't want to have to deal with half of the work, like the HR aspects of the business. Maybe they don't even like sales. Right. Um, so if they join forces with a larger organization, they can maybe focus more on the things that got them into the business to begin with, the technologies. So that's an example and that's actually

Speaker B: a good example because as engineers and technical people we don't like the business side of things. And actually I think that's why we're all here at csia to learn that piece of it or get some help with that piece. But yeah, that rolling up under somebody large would be nice for a company that's pure engineering and doesn't want to deal with the admin and HR and all of that's hard for us. Uh, one thing I see out there is, and maybe it's part of the roll up that you're describing is everybody wants to be in a service business doing what we do. So the manufacturers want to have integrators. They don't no longer just want to sell product, they want to have uh, uh, the full solution. And distributors want to have integration capabilities. So now you have integrators like myself and you guys are different integrators, but you have the distributors that sell us components that want to be integrators and manufacturers that manufacture the components, that distributors that sell to me, they want to be integrators. So everybody wants to be in the service business and be integrators. So uh, they're acquiring some of us and trying to spin up their own. But it's hard to start an integration business and most people in manufacturing and distribution have no idea how to do it. So it's a hard road. So uh, they're rolling up like you say, they're grabbing onto some of us. So it's a little, it's interesting. A lot of big changes out there.

Speaker A: Interesting times. What technology innovations are you excited about? Anything out there? I know we've been talking about digitalization at this conference. Anything, um, you want to share there?

Speaker C: I'm probably not the best person to answer that question because I don't deal with the day to day as much anymore. But the whole aspect of artificial intelligence, it has, I mean, not just our industry confused, it has lots of industries confused. Like how to leverage it, how do you. How do you protect intellectual property? How do you solve problems faster? How do you continue to inspire software engineers to do creative work when a lot of it can be done through artificial intelligence means? There's a lot of challenges there. But it's so early. It hasn't really negatively impacted our industry. It just has a lot of warning signs on the horizon. So we all have to adapt. There's always something to adapt to. And this is just the latest.

Speaker B: Yeah, uh, the digital transformation, as you said, is a big thing. It's a lot of talk here, and George said it. I've said this over and over again. We've. Those of us that build systems like this have been doing this forever. It's not a new thing. We just now put a name on it, and we're getting used to taking it a step further, I guess I'll say. But the digital transformation is. Is nothing new. It's just what we talk about now. But like you said, Rich, the AI thing is, it's a little bit worrisome, and I don't know how it will impact us, and it's very early. But, uh, um, one thing that I read just recently in the Wall Street Journal, some of the, uh, experimental AI engines are now rewriting themselves so that you can't shut them down. So think about that. They're defending themselves. That's what worries me.

Speaker A: We need to just simply look to some fiction literature to find out what's going to happen next.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's all you have to do.

Speaker A: I know it's early for a takeaway or insight from the conference, but if you have one or you want to say what you're excited about, uh, upcoming at the conference, you want to share that?

Speaker C: Sure. Um, it is. It's the first day, but I've been here all week, and, you know, you try to use these opportunities, few and far between as they are, to network as much as you can. And I'd say one of the highlights is certainly already the handful of conversations I've been able to have and get invited to do this great podcast. So thank you.

Speaker A: Thank you.

Speaker B: The conferences are always enjoyable, and, uh, every one of them, um, brings a little something different to us. But the one constant is the networking. Like you said, the biggest thing I get out of this conference is the networking with the different people. And there's always something to learn. Of course, the presentations are wonderful and I love them, but I very much enjoy, uh, learning from my peers and others around that are, you know, that are experiencing some of the same changes we're experiencing and how are they dealing with them and what's uh, around the corner.

Speaker A: Yeah, I love it. I love visiting my once a year family here as well. So how can people connect with you?

Speaker C: LinkedIn is certainly fine, but my email is public knowledge so it's my initials, rmbsautomation.com.

Speaker B: i'm on LinkedIn as well. It's the only social media that I tolerate. Uh, my email is probably on my website, but it's my last name. CaldwellKateAware. Ah.com.

Speaker A: thank you so much.

Speaker C: Thank you.

Speaker B: Thanks for having us.

Speaker A: Please introduce yourself. Name, title and company.

Speaker D: Hi, I'm Wright Sullivan. I'm the CEO of Sky IO. We are rebranded from our name of 30 years, which was A and E Engineering and also Apex Manufacturing Solutions. We came together two and a half years ago and we're now 170 people strong. We're located in Greer, South Carolina, Concord, North Carolina, Boise, Idaho and all points in between.

Speaker A: What kind of projects do you like to do?

Speaker D: Our projects run the whole gamut from wiring things all the way to cloud applications with aws, MES applications, automation, everything in between. And that's why we came up with the name. Sky I.O. was to represent I.O. as the, the field wiring and the physical device all the way up to the cloud and everything in between.

Speaker A: I like that. What are the biggest trends or challenges you're seeing in the industry right now?

Speaker D: I would say in our system integration industry, the biggest trend I see is consolidation. There's so many firms getting bought out and we're kind of bucking that trend. We love being a feisty, uh, independent, uh, it served us well. Our employees love. And so I think there's a lot of maturity of our industry, but I think there's still a lot of room for independent system integrators that can serve their customers well.

Speaker A: Great. Are there any technology innovations you're excited about right now?

Speaker D: You know, I think like everybody, AI is by far the uh, biggest change in the world in the last couple years. There's a lot of obvious changes that have happened, But I think 90% of it hasn't even hit us yet.

Speaker E: Yet.

Speaker D: And it's exciting to see wave after wave of unexpected change come to our corner of the world and really impact us. So I'm really excited about what that brings us.

Speaker A: I know it's early in the conference, but are there insights or takeaways you've enjoyed or is there a session you're looking forward to?

Speaker D: I think this morning's digital transformation keynote was fantastic. I'm on the board of csia. I love the organization. I love it when people come and talk about what we actually do and deliver value to our members. That particular presentation, George talked about the, the importance of the human, which I think is often skipped. We engineers like to talk about machines and we like to talk about technologies, but the emotional, you know, he made the point that proposals don't have to just hit financially and technically, they need to make an emotional connection with our customers. It's, you know, it's great to hear leaders in our field talk about the human element. So to me, that was really cool. Um, I'm also looking forward to Matt Wise's presentation tomorrow, late tomorrow afternoon. Uh, Matt is the CEO of etec, and I hold him in very high regard. Um, I think they run a very good company and are growing, and I think that's one of the current, uh, leading lights in our industry.

Speaker A: Shout out to our client, ETEC Group.

Speaker D: While you're shouting out, let's do a shout out to Sam Hoff, who couldn't be here. And, uh, he's a great guy. Love the guy.

Speaker A: He's a staple on our podcast, so we are missing him as well.

Speaker D: Awesome.

Speaker A: Yeah, I enjoyed the morning as well. I thought CSIA knocked it out, uh, of the park with the lineup. That panel was especially intriguing. Um, these integrators came and made themselves vulnerable, talking about things that went wrong in the effort to help, uh, the rest of the audience, like, avoid those same pitfalls.

Speaker D: So that's the best part of these conferences is integrators learning from other integrators. Um, and yeah, I agree, that panel was fantastic. There were just solid takeaways everywhere throughout that panel. And you're right, they're just great folks, great leaders, but great leaders have humility. And you all recognize that in the journey to get where we've gotten to today, we've made a lot of mistakes. And we share those together. We learn from them and the industry gets stronger and our company get stronger. So it's great. Great to hear. I agree.

Speaker A: Anything else you'd like to share?

Speaker D: Uh, just what an awesome organization this is. I've, uh, been coming to the conference since 2003. It's made a huge impact on our company. Our outgoing CEO, Jose Rivera is awesome, and he's been amazing for 10 years. And now we have our incoming CEO. Adrian will be introducing herself tomorrow and starting formally in a few weeks and just super excited about where CSI is going. So thank you very much.

Speaker A: We will all miss Jose. Oh, we will also look forward to the future.

Speaker D: That's it. That's it. I'm thrilled with both sides. That's great.

Speaker A: How can people connect with you?

Speaker D: Probably the easiest way is just on LinkedIn. And the cool thing is I have a very unique name, Wright Sullivan. And it's Wright like the Wright brothers. So just, just reach out to me on LinkedIn. You'll find me awesome.

Speaker A: Thank you.

Speaker D: Thank you so much.

Speaker A: Please introduce yourself, Name, title and company.

Speaker E: Jeff Miller. I am a senior consultant at Exotech. SI consultant. Been coming to the conference for a lot of years, but I was um, actually an SI before. So enjoy uh, being on the other

Speaker A: side now at Exotech. What kind of uh, role do you play there as a consultant?

Speaker E: Yeah, so I work with the project management peer groups. I facilitate those Also. One of the new things that we'll be doing is uh, teaching a leadership, uh, development program for kind of up and coming SI candidates, folks that are part of your organization that need to have better leadership, uh, training. And uh, so we're going to start that.

Speaker A: That's exciting. Are there any trends or challenges you're seeing in the industry right now?

Speaker E: Well, a lot of what we see is, you know, some of the work that they're doing now is being pulp, postponed. A lot of capital expenditures are getting postponed and it means SI's got to tighten their belts. And uh, that's where we come in. We can help them kind of streamline their processes, figure out what works better. What can I, uh, always called it when I was working as an si. Bleed less. If you're bleeding cash, you're not making good money. So that's something we can help them with.

Speaker A: Are there sizes of sis that you work with? You work with small, medium and large,

Speaker E: or do you focus on pretty much all of them? My peer groups, I now have a, ah, small SI group, a medium size and a large. And that really works nice because they have uh, different problems they're solving. So we used to have them kind of mixed together and uh, realized, oh, we're really solving different problems and sometimes just more than they're able to invest in if they're a small meeting with large. So that really helped out a lot. It's made some really nice improvements in the peer groups.

Speaker A: Great. Are there any technology innovations you're excited about?

Speaker E: Well, one of the things that um, I continue to use even as a consultant is really the AI side of things. And I talk a lot about this in our peer groups. Because project management in particular is one of those parts of an SI organization that can benefit from using it for things like note taking or uh, you know, analyzing data that we might have. So you know, it's really, there's just a lot of different applications and it doesn't expose your data to the outside world. It's just things you put in and let it analyze. So it's been really good. I think it's going to um, if you listen to the Project Management Institute, they say it's the. It is absolutely going to take a lot of the monotonous work out of the PM's hand. And that's what I want to be able to do, is find ways that we get to do the fun stuff and not so much the non fun stuff.

Speaker A: I love that. So here we are at the csia. We're finishing up day one. Are there any insights or takeaways from today's or a session you're looking forward to tomorrow that you would like to mention?

Speaker E: Yeah, so today just looking at some of the data, uh, transformation that was really interesting talking with some companies that are doing it really well. A lot of the systems integrators have been trying it for a while but it's taken a while to catch on. It changes so much. But tomorrow I definitely. The economics presentation is always one of my favorites. Uh, not just that it's fun but uh, but it's also now that I'm semi retired I can uh, I can laugh at those that are gonna, that have to fight with it all the time. So. No, it's always a great presentation.

Speaker A: The economics is my favorite. Honestly. It helps you see around the corner a little bit.

Speaker E: Right, right.

Speaker A: Anything else you'd like to share?

Speaker E: No. Thanks for uh, letting me uh, chat with you. I look forward to, forward to seeing uh, you out in the conference.

Speaker A: Appreciate that. And how can people connect with you?

Speaker E: My email address jeffmilleroxotech.com and uh, I'll be around the conference all week.

Speaker A: Awesome. Thank you so much.

Speaker E: Thank you.

Speaker A: Founded in 2009, Rivergate Marketing is a full service digital marketing agency serving small to mid sized B2B companies trying to reach technical and engineering buyers. We are passionate about building strategic and data driven marketing and PR programs to help our clients compete and be found in a crowded digital space against much larger companies with seemingly endless marketing dollars. For more information visit us online@rivergatemarketing.com.