The share of industrial manufacturers expecting to highly automate key processes will more than double by 2030, rising from 18% to 50%, according to PwC's Global Industrial Manufacturing Sector Outlook released in February 2026. The study surveyed 443 senior executives across 24 territories and characterizes the $16 trillion global industrial manufacturing sector as sitting at a historic inflection point driven by AI, robotics, and advanced process technologies. The findings carry broad implications for capital investment cycles, supply-chain configuration, and workforce planning across metalworking, fabrication, and allied sectors.
Background
PwC's outlook surveyed 443 director-level-and-above executives from publicly listed industrial manufacturers across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East in late July 2025. The report identifies a widening gap between what PwC terms "future-fit" manufacturers-the most agile and innovative 20% of respondents-and the rest of the field. Currently, 29% of future-fit companies report highly automated processes, compared with 15% of others; by 2030, those figures are expected to reach 65% and 45%, respectively.
The automation surge extends well beyond the shop floor. Advanced technology use in production and operations is projected to reach 76% by 2030, up from 29% today, while product design and development is expected to climb from 37% to 72%. Business support functions such as finance and HR are expected to nearly quadruple their use of advanced technology in the same period.
Separately, Bain & Company estimated that AI alone will unlock nearly $70 billion in new market value for the industrial automation sector over the next five years, representing roughly 22% growth. MarketsandMarkets projects the broader industrial control and factory automation market will grow from $274.99 billion in 2025 to $435.24 billion by 2030 at a 9.6% CAGR.
Details
Ryan Hawk, PwC's global industrials and services leader, stated that competitive differentiation is shifting from tool acquisition to system-level orchestration. "The question is no longer whether companies will adopt new technologies, but how fast they can integrate them," Hawk told Manufacturing Dive. He added that manufacturers "must treat AI and other advanced technologies as a system, not a set of projects and advanced tools in isolation."
PwC found that robotics investments are viewed primarily as productivity plays, with 78% of respondents citing productivity as the goal versus 13% citing growth, while AI investment is split nearly evenly between growth (47%) and productivity (46%).
The report also signals a fundamental shift in revenue models. Surveyed manufacturers expect 44% of total revenue to come from outside traditional industrial and consumer product manufacturing by 2030. Companies are increasingly positioning themselves as integrated solution providers that bundle hardware with software, data services, and lifecycle support.
Regional adoption gaps remain significant. Asia-Pacific continues to lead global automation spending, driven by large-scale industrialization in China, Japan, and South Korea. North America and Western Europe are prioritizing high-mix, high-value automation and reshoring-related capacity investments.
Workforce readiness is a persistent constraint across all regions. The National Association of Manufacturers estimates the sector will need to fill 3.8 million jobs over the next decade. PwC's companion Hopes and Fears survey found that only 50% of industrial manufacturing workers above entry level trust their managers, and just 42% trust top leadership-both figures markedly below global averages.
Outlook
The pace of automation adoption is expected to accelerate through the second half of the decade as AI-native operations and tighter digital integration become prerequisites for competitiveness. Manufacturers that lag in data infrastructure, digital skills, and interoperable systems risk compounding disadvantages as technology and capability gaps reinforce each other. Policy frameworks-including Germany's Industry 4.0 programs, China's Made in China 2025, and U.S. reshoring incentives-will continue to shape regional adoption trajectories and, by extension, the global supply-chain landscape.
