Enterprise software maker IFS says industrial companies are moving beyond generative AI experimentation and starting to put AI to work in real operations, though the shift could require broad workforce retraining.
IFS is positioning AI as a practical tool for aviation maintenance, with a focus on helping technicians work faster, connecting data across systems, and keeping the technology inside secure, tightly controlled environments.
Robert Mather, Vice President, Aerospace and Defense Industries at IFS, said in an interview at MRO Americas 2026 in Orlando that the industry spent much of the past year planning for broader AI adoption, but the conversation is now shifting toward products that are ready to use.
He said that change is especially important in aviation, where operators have moved more slowly than some other industries because of safety culture, compliance demands, and the risks of introducing immature technology into critical workflows.
Still, he framed AI less as a race to adopt the newest consumer tools and more as a push to apply the technology where it can actually help.
In aviation maintenance, he said, that means giving technicians, planners, and engineers tools that help them work faster without removing human judgment from safety and compliance decisions.
Mather said IFS has organized its AI push around three areas. The first is what the company calls industrial AI, which focuses on embedding AI inside the software platform that customers already use to run maintenance and operational workflows. IFS has publicly positioned “industrial AI” as intelligence embedded where work happens, rather than as a separate standalone layer.
The second pillar is IFS’s agentic AI strategy, which Mather said centers on “digital workers” that can carry out specific job tasks across systems. IFS has been rolling out those digital-worker concepts more broadly through its recent product releases.
The third is Nexus Black, an IFS group that works with customers to identify pain points and develop AI tools that can later become repeatable products. Mather pointed to one example designed to process airworthiness directives and service bulletins, assess their impact on a fleet, and build out compliance-related job cards. He said that application cut the time required to process an AD by more than 70%.
Mather said most AI tools in the broader market still target white-collar work even though much of the value in aviation maintenance rests with technicians and other frontline users. In his view, AI has more value when it helps certified personnel move faster, find relevant information sooner, and work through documentation and historical maintenance records more efficiently.
Mather said purpose-built tools can be fenced around validated data sources, secure environments, and human review. He added that aviation and defense customers are putting more weight on cybersecurity as airlines and other commercial operators begin to view themselves more clearly as part of critical infrastructure. IFS says its aviation maintenance offering sits within IFS Cloud, and the company has continued investing in that platform as it builds out its industrial AI strategy.