Manufacturers are under pressure to adopt AI faster than most of them can secure it. That gap was the starting point for the “Unlocking AI in Manufacturing Without Compromising Security” workshop, hosted by SECNORA and Corello on 3 September at The Star in Frisco, Texas. The session brought manufacturing executives, plant managers, engineering leaders and IT professionals into one room to work through what AI and cybersecurity in manufacturing actually looks like in practice. The framing behind the session was simple, AI in manufacturing isn’t just a technology conversation.
It’s a trust conversation, about what happens to production data, who can reach it and how much exposure a plant is willing to accept in exchange for speed. SECNORA and Corello shared the stage to look at the same question from two directions, what AI can do for a manufacturer and what it opens up if left unsecured.
AI Adoption and Cybersecurity: Two Sides of the Same Problem
Corello opened the discussion by looking at where AI can create practical value for manufacturers, while also considering what AI and cybersecurity in manufacturing mean for adoption. The conversation focused on a challenge many plants already face, valuable information is spread across ERP systems, spreadsheets, emails and years of employee experience. AI can help bring that information together and turn it into useful operational insight. The session also explored when public AI tools make sense and when a private, self-hosted or isolated model is a better fit for sensitive manufacturing environments.
SECNORA then brought the conversation to the other side of that equation, what happens when those AI capabilities are connected to the systems that keep a plant running? Every new integration can introduce another path into the environment, particularly when AI interacts with operational technology such as PLCs, SCADA systems and shop-floor sensors. Third-party vendors and remote connections add another layer of exposure, often across systems that may not have been part of a traditional IT security review.
Why Manufacturing Needs a Different AI and Cybersecurity Approach
Most AI security guidance is written for office IT environments but AI and cybersecurity in manufacturing present a different challenge. A manufacturing floor doesn’t work that way and that mismatch is a large part of what the session addressed. Operational technology and information technology have historically run as separate systems, often managed by separate teams with separate priorities. OT equipment is built to run for years or decades without interruption, which means patching and updates happen far less often than on a laptop fleet. When an AI tool gets connected to pull data from ERP systems, historians or shop-floor sensors, it can end up bridging that OT/IT divide, whether or not anyone planned for it to.
Supply chain exposure adds another layer. Manufacturers rarely run AI adoption in isolation. Vendors, subcontractors and equipment suppliers are often plugged into the same data flows, so a security gap introduced at one point in the chain doesn’t stay contained to a single company. Reviewing an AI integration means reviewing who else touches that data, not just the tool itself. This is a key consideration for AI and cybersecurity in manufacturing, where third-party access can extend across connected systems.
This is why SECNORA’s position in the session wasn’t “avoid AI” but “sequence AI correctly”, map what data an AI tool will touch, understand which systems it connects to on the OT side and run the security review before the integration goes live rather than after an incident forces the question. AI can make manufacturers faster, smarter and more competitive. But innovation without security can become very expensive, very quickly.
What the Workshop Covered
The agenda moved through practical territory rather than general AI messaging:
- The difference between public and private AI models and when each fits a manufacturer’s risk profile.
- How AI can connect ERP systems, spreadsheets, email and informal process knowledge into operational intelligence.
- Real examples of AI-assisted estimating, quoting and decision-making on the production side.
- The AI and cybersecurity challenges specific to manufacturing environments, including operational technology and supply chain exposure.
- Why AI adoption and cybersecurity planning need to move together rather than as separate workstreams.
The discussion gave attendees a clearer picture of where AI can create value in manufacturing, while highlighting the importance of understanding the data, systems and security risks involved before deployment.
The Questions Manufacturers Actually Asked
The most useful part of the session came after the formal presentations, in direct conversation with attendees. The questions manufacturers asked were consistent and specific like Can AI actually work with our existing systems or does it require ripping out what we have? What happens to our data once it moves through an AI tool? How exposed is our production environment right now? Where should we even start?
None of these are hype questions. They are the questions of people responsible for keeping a plant running who now also have to account for a new category of risk. They are exactly the questions a working AI and cybersecurity in manufacturing strategy needs to answer before a single tool gets deployed.
SECNORA and Corello: One Session, Two Perspectives
Corello and SECNORA came at the same event from different vantage points, one on what AI can do inside a manufacturing operation, the other on what it opens up if left unsecured. Running that as one session instead of two was a deliberate choice.
A manufacturer evaluating AI usually ends up in separate meetings for the operational pitch and the security review, often weeks apart, with no one connecting the two. Putting both companies on the same stage lets attendees ask both questions to both companies, in the same room and walk out with a single, more complete picture of the decision in front of them.
What’s Next for SECNORA and Corello in Texas
The workshop marked an important first step in bringing SECNORA and Corello together to address both sides of AI adoption in manufacturing, the opportunities it creates and the security considerations that come with it. With this workshop setting the foundation, and with continued support through the Texas Advisory Services network, there is more to come from the collaboration.
For manufacturers weighing AI adoption, the takeaway from Frisco was less about which model to choose and more about how to approach AI and cybersecurity in manufacturing. Know what data is moving where, understand the new attack surface each integration creates and build the security review into the adoption plan rather than bolting it on afterward.
SECNORA helps organisations assess and strengthen their security posture across emerging technologies, operational environments and connected systems, helping them identify security gaps before they become business risks. Talk to our team.
