My early days of college study included using a slide rule and writing FORTRAN programs for a mainframe computer. Later, a Texas Instruments calculator made tedious engineering calculations less stressful, although not necessarily any more correct.
ENEOS Materials and Yokogawa ran an autonomous AI controller on a butadiene distillation column for 35 days and cut steam use 40%. It’s a real operations proof point. It also puts integration and governance gaps front and center.
