Something shifted for us this year: the more we commit to doing less, the more we’re actually building. Nikki, Courtney, and Allie get together for a real catch-up on work, life, and what’s next for Automation Ladies, with stories that range from bigger robotics and better work-life balance to a brand-new view outside a bayou window in Louisiana.

We also dig into OT SCADA CON and why it keeps feeling more like a community than a conference. OT SCADA CON runs July 22-24 at the Endress+Hauser Houston Campus in Pearland (south of Houston), and we share what’s new this year: fresh speakers, updated sections, the same 30-minute talk format, and the kind of fun that makes people stay late (taco trucks and karaoke included). If you care about operational technology, industrial automation, controls engineering, and modern data skills, you’ll especially want the part about databases and process historians and why that knowledge still runs so much of industry.

Then we get practical about AI in manufacturing. No hype, no magic: we talk about where tools like Claude and OpenAI Whisper are finally saving real time, from generating documentation and polishing write-ups to building a custom raffle app that runs the way we want. We also lay out the guardrails we take seriously: review everything, don’t leak sensitive information, and follow your company AI policy.

We wrap with where you can find us at Automate and other events, how we’re expanding the show with more correspondents, and our push for more live demo episodes (including a PID loop tuning software demo). Subscribe, share this with an automation friend, and leave a review so more people can find women-led conversations in industrial automation.

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________

🎙 About Automation Ladies

Automation Ladies is an industrial automation podcast spotlighting the engineers, integrators, innovators, and leaders shaping the future of manufacturing.

__________________________________________________________________

🎤 Want to be a guest on the show?
https://www.automationladies.io/guests/intake/

__________________________________________________________________

👩‍🏭 Connect with the Hosts

Nikki Gonzales: https://linkedin.com/in/nikki-gonzales

Courtney Fernandez: https://linkedin.com/in/courtneydfernandez

Ali G: https://linkedin.com/in/alicia-gilpin-ali-g-process-controls-engineering

__________________________________________________________________

🎟 The Automation Ladies Community Conference: https://otscada.com

Learn more about the hosts’ industrial automation conference OT SCADA CON attended by 100+ automation professionals, engineers, integrators, and technology leaders for hands-on learning, real-world case studies, and meaningful industry connections.

🎬 Credits

Produced by: Veronica Espinoza
Music by: Sam Janes

P.S. - Help our podcast grow with a 5-star podcast review if you love us!

Humanoid robots are getting real, and the biggest question isn’t “Can they dance?” It’s “Who’s going to understand them well enough to build, program, and fix them?” We sit down with Dr. Elliot Hefling Jr., founder of Reality Tech Academy, to talk about why he brings full-scale humanoid robots into education and why waiting until college is too late for most students, especially in underserved communities.

We get into what it looks like to teach robotics with Pepper and NAO using Python programming, live demos, and simulation tools like Choregraphe. Dr. Hefling explains his “plant the seed” approach: show students how the code works behind the scenes, let them test wild ideas safely, and help them see technology as something they can create. We also explore what social robots can realistically do today, from multilingual interaction to machine vision, obstacle avoidance, indoor navigation, and even early ideas for elder care support like reminders, guidance, and simple object retrieval within payload limits.

Along the way, we zoom out to the workforce problem: if humanoid robots become as common as computers, we’ll need an entire pipeline of people who can troubleshoot and maintain them. That’s where the episode lands, on becoming producers not just users, and building local skills so robotics doesn’t become a black box. Subscribe, share this with a friend in STEM education or industrial automation, and leave a review with one thing you’d want a humanoid robot to help with.

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________

🎙 About Automation Ladies

Automation Ladies is an industrial automation podcast spotlighting the engineers, integrators, innovators, and leaders shaping the future of manufacturing.

__________________________________________________________________

🎤 Want to be a guest on the show?
https://www.automationladies.io/guests/intake/

__________________________________________________________________

👩‍🏭 Connect with the Hosts

Nikki Gonzales: https://linkedin.com/in/nikki-gonzales

Courtney Fernandez: https://linkedin.com/in/courtneydfernandez

Ali G: https://linkedin.com/in/alicia-gilpin-ali-g-process-controls-engineering

__________________________________________________________________

🎟 The Automation Ladies Community Conference: https://otscada.com

Learn more about the hosts’ industrial automation conference OT SCADA CON attended by 100+ automation professionals, engineers, integrators, and technology leaders for hands-on learning, real-world case studies, and meaningful industry connections.

🎬 Credits

Produced by: Veronica Espinoza
Music by: Sam Janes

P.S. - Help our podcast grow with a 5-star podcast review if you love us!

You don’t need a perfectly planned career to become a manufacturing leader. Megan, Director of Manufacturing at Sentry Equipment, started in hospitality and landed in manufacturing because she wanted a more predictable schedule for family life. What happened next is the part most people miss: she fell in love with the shop floor, learned continuous improvement tools like QRM, Lean, and Six Sigma, and kept choosing roles that expanded her skills until she was leading manufacturing operations.

We also get specific about what strong manufacturers do differently when hiring and developing people. Sentry runs a culture interview before a skills interview, betting on coachability, attitude, and learning speed. We talk about recruiting challenges, why marketing matters for hiring, and what companies can change right now to attract more women in manufacturing and a more diverse workforce without treating it like a checkbox.

Then we go deeper into the hard parts of scaling a shop: building teams with complementary strengths, using personality assessments to improve training, and capturing tribal knowledge before it walks out the door. Megan shares how they’re moving toward clearer work instructions and easier access to process knowledge, plus where AI can save time in everyday work when used responsibly.

If you want real-world manufacturing leadership insights and a clearer picture of how modern industrial companies grow talent, you’ll get a lot from this conversation. Subscribe to Automation Ladies, share the episode with a friend in manufacturing, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Support the show

__________________________________________________________________

🎙 About Automation Ladies

Automation Ladies is an industrial automation podcast spotlighting the engineers, integrators, innovators, and leaders shaping the future of manufacturing.

__________________________________________________________________

🎤 Want to be a guest on the show?
https://www.automationladies.io/guests/intake/

__________________________________________________________________

👩‍🏭 Connect with the Hosts

Nikki Gonzales: https://linkedin.com/in/nikki-gonzales

Courtney Fernandez: https://linkedin.com/in/courtneydfernandez

Ali G: https://linkedin.com/in/alicia-gilpin-ali-g-process-controls-engineering

__________________________________________________________________

🎟 The Automation Ladies Community Conference: https://otscada.com

Learn more about the hosts’ industrial automation conference OT SCADA CON attended by 100+ automation professionals, engineers, integrators, and technology leaders for hands-on learning, real-world case studies, and meaningful industry connections.

🎬 Credits

Produced by: Veronica Espinoza
Music by: Sam Janes

P.S. - Help our podcast grow with a 5-star podcast review if you love us!