PITTSBURGH, PA, April 16, 2026 - JetStor CEO Jim Gallagher joined Manufacturing the Future for a wide-ranging discussion on how manufacturers should be thinking about data infrastructure as sensor data, analytics, AI workloads, and long-term retention demands continue to grow.

Gallagher discusses where storage conversations often go wrong, why one-size-fits-all infrastructure decisions create problems over time, and how manufacturers can better balance performance, cost, resilience, and future flexibility. The discussion also touches on the growing overlap between IT and OT, the importance of aligning infrastructure decisions with actual business objectives, and why doing nothing can carry its own cost.

Conversation moves beyond broad trends and into practical questions many organizations still are not asking often enough, especially around backup testing, disaster recovery readiness, and how to prepare for changing AI and data requirements without overcomplicating the environment from day one.

For manufacturers trying to modernize while keeping operations efficient and resilient, it offers a timely look at the infrastructure decisions that matter now and the tradeoffs that will shape what comes next.

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