Speaking · Hosting · Briefings
Talks built on primary research.
Thirty-five years inside engineering software, hundreds of founder conversations, and no vendor slides. Michael speaks, hosts, and moderates for audiences that build, buy, and invest in the future of engineering.
- 01
AI across the product lifecycle
Where AI actually lands between design, simulation, manufacturing, operations, and service, and where it is still theater.
- 02
Beyond the digital thread
What replaces the thread once product data, context, and feedback loops are reorganized around agents rather than documents.
- 03
The shadow ecosystem rewriting engineering software
The startup layer forming under CAD, PLM, CAE, and MES incumbents, who funds it, and where the incumbents are exposed.
- 04
Who actually buys from industrial software startups
Evidence from the buy side: which manufacturers adopt startups, how expansion really happens, and what predicts an acquisition.
- 05
PLM history as a map for what comes next
Thirty-five years of platform shifts, from PDM to cloud, and what they say about the AI transition now under way.
Keynotes and talks
Twenty to forty-five minutes, built from primary research, no vendor slides.
Panels and moderation
Hosting roundtables and executive panels, including the Future of PLM format.
Show-floor interview series
On-site video interviews with founders and operators, edited and published.
Private briefings
Closed-door sessions for investment committees, product leadership, and boards.
Podcast and video guest
Available for shows covering engineering software, manufacturing, and Industrial AI.
- September 2026Chicago, IL
Interview series
IMTS 2026
Twenty-three on-floor interviews on industrial AI, sponsored by Aras: machinist knowledge and CNC programming, physical AI and robotics, engineering AI and CAD, data and the digital thread.
- September 2026Sacramento, CA
Interview series
ICC 2026, Ignition Community Conference
Conversations with Ignition's CEO and CTO, MaintainX, Fuuz, and Itanta on where AI assistance stops and autonomous control begins.
- April 2026Miami, FL
Host and speaker
Threaded Miami 2026
“Envision: Beyond the Digital Thread”
Opened and hosted the two-day event connecting the next generation of engineering-software startups with industrial AI companies, and presented the closing thesis on what comes after the digital thread.
- April 2026Cambridge, UK
Speaker
Siemens PLM Components 2026
“From Buzz to Backbone”
A Day 1 talk framing where AI actually sits in the PLM stack, between marketing buzz and the data backbone it depends on, at Siemens' Parasolid and kernel-technology conference at Downing College.
- 2026Warwick, UK
Host
Threaded Warwick 2026
Opened and hosted the European edition of the Threaded conference series, showcasing engineering-software innovators and industrial AI startups from across the UK and Europe.
- May 2026Jerez, Spain
- April 2026Barcelona, Spain
- February 2026Dallas, TX
- May 2025Jerez, Spain
- March 2025Boston, MA
- March 2025Paris, France
Keynotes · Panels · Private briefings
Put Fino on the agenda.
Share the event, the audience, and the date. You will get a straight answer on fit, and a talk shaped for the room rather than a recycled deck.