S4 Bonus: What to Expect at the Share PLM Summit 2026

In this special bonus episode of the Share PLM Podcast, we give you an inside look at what’s coming at the Share PLM Summit 2026. 

From key themes to speaker highlights, we explore what you can expect from this year’s event, including insights on human-centric transformations, real-world PLM journeys and the role of change management in driving successful digital initiatives. 

We also take a closer look at the workshops, the diversity of speakers joining us, and the kinds of conversations that will shape the summit. Whether you're attending or just curious, this episode sets the scene for what’s ahead.

👉 Discover more and register here: https://summit.shareplm.com/
Tune in to get a preview of the ideas, people, and discussions that will define this year’s summit.

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Website: https://shareplm.com/ 


Join us every month to listen to fascinating interviews, where we cover a wide array of topics, from actionable tips, to personal experiences, to strategies that you can implement into your PLM strategy.

If you have an interesting story to share and want to join the conversation, contact us and let's chat. We can't wait to hear from you!

Transcript

[00:00:11] MARIA MORRIS:
Hello, everyone, and welcome to a special episode of the Share PLM Podcast. I'm Maria Morris, Business Development Manager at SharePLM. You may recognize my voice from some previous episodes, and today I'll be hosting a pre-Share PLM summit special episode as we get ready for the event that is coming up in a few weeks time.

So joining me today are two very special guests and familiar voices. We have our Co-Founder and CEO, Beatriz González, and longtime PLM thought leader and co-host of the podcast, Josh Voskuil. So, with the summits just around the corner, today, the purpose of the episode is to explore what makes this year's event unique, the key themes shaping the agenda, and what you can expect from our speakers and workshops. So, Bea and Jos, it's great to have you both here.

[00:01:03] JOS VOSKUIL:
Thank you, Maria.

[00:01:05] BEATRIZ GONZALEZ:
Thank you, Maria.

[00:01:06] MARIA MORRIS:
So, I want to kick us off and get straight into the juicy parts. So, Jos, I'm going to come to you first, and I wanted to ask you, what makes this year's Share PLM summit one that people shouldn't miss?

[00:01:20] JOS VOSKUIL:
Okay. Well, first of all, they shouldn't miss it because they have probably learned the excitement from last year. It was a complete new event. It also was a very positive surprise for me, where traditional PLM conferences were about consuming information, dead by PowerPoint. Here, I think that the big value also for me was to create your network for the future with people who have the common ideas with, which you have discussions about.

So, it was very much about the why and how we are, uh, doing PLM instead of what we are doing. And that was, yeah, a big difference.

[00:01:53] BEATRIZ GONZALEZ:
Yes. And also, we have tried always to not just talk about technology, but also, like, adding the people side, the focus. And we do that not only in the presentations, in the keynotes, but it's embed in all the experience that we offer at the event.

So, we try to make also the networking fun and also to build strong business relationships that are real and honest. And everyone is talking with honesty about the transformations, the technology, their issues that they are struggling and, and asking for advice. So, I think that's the most powerful aspect that we can find in the Share PLM summit.

[00:02:32] MARIA MORRIS:
Yes, definitely.

[00:02:33] JOS VOSKUIL:
Exactly. Yeah.

[00:02:35] MARIA MORRIS:
And Bea, talking about what people can expect from the conference, for the people attending, what should they expect over the two days of the event? What do they have to look forward to?

[00:02:49] BEATRIZ GONZALEZ:
It's being open to learn, to receive information, and also to share their knowledge with other colleagues and people around Europe that is open to share their experiences.

[00:03:01] JOS VOSKUIL: 

Hmm.

[00:03:02] BEATRIZ GONZALEZ:
We will have different topics where the focus is PLM, but of course, we have other tools, other different softwares. There are also different type of transformations, different types of organizational change management approaches. We will talk this year also about the manufacturing. So, there is always things that will surprise people.

[00:03:23] MARIA MORRIS:
Yeah. There's lots of things to learn. And I can also agree. I think one of the really refreshing things that I took away from last year, and as you were saying, Bea, not just from the keynotes, but also from all of the networking opportunities that there were, is that people weren't just focused on kind of what went well or what is going well in their own transformation projects, but they were also very open to share things that they have tried, strategic approaches that maybe didn't work so well, and what they did to get over these obstacles.

And I think this is where people really learn when you can be really honest about what didn't go well and learn from others. So, yeah, completely agree with you.

[00:04:02] BEATRIZ GONZALEZ:
And also, there, there is a variety of industries that enables you to learn from different approach from different industries that it might be applicable for your industry, and maybe you haven't thought about it, so it's also an eye-opener.

[00:04:16] MARIA MORRIS:
Definitely. And so, a big part of the conference is obviously the keynote sessions that we have, and we have an incredible group of people who are going to be speaking. One of them is here with us, Josh, but we'll come to, to him in a second.

But yes, Bea, one thing I wanted to ask you is that obviously the central theme of the conference is people and human-centric transformations. Why is that so important to have as kind of the key element of the conference and the thing that connects all of the discussions?

[00:04:51] BEATRIZ GONZALEZ:
Because the word transformation implies people. Without the people, transformation doesn't happen. So, that's why we move from having all the attention into the technology, how we have configured the technology to help the businesses.

We move it to how we help the people to transform their current way of working. So, this is why it's so important, because if people is not involved and is not part of the transformation, there will not be any transformation happening.

[00:05:23] MARIA MORRIS:
Definitely. And I think one thing that attendees can look forward to this year, and I think it's a topic that is much more prevalent than it even was last year, is the topic of AI.

And so, Jos, AI is, is a big topic this year. You just have to look on the website and look at some of the abstracts that we have, and to see that it's very prevalent. How do you, have you seen this topic evolve even since last year when we went to the conference?

[00:05:52] JOS VOSKUIL:
Yes. I think if we would to watch at the Gartner Hype cycle, we are now, uh, at the top of the hive, and also in the PLM world where initially maybe AI was happening outside PLM. Now, we are starting discovering and, uh, discussing concepts where AI can also bring value for companies, for the product lifecycle management environments.

And here, I think we see different type of ideas coming up, and they are worth to discuss, and that's why I'm looking forward to meet people that are diving deeper into those concepts.

Personally, I'm a little bit skeptic from the Greek word, skeptic thinking, but yes, we cannot live with AI in the future, so we have to learn from that.

[00:06:33] MARIA MORRIS:
Mm-hmm. Definitely. And am I right in saying, Jos, that AI is going to be a topic of your own keynotes? Are there any spoilers that you can give us or tease us?

[00:06:45] JOS VOSKUIL: 

Yeah, one of the spoilers I can give is, are we still human resources in the future? That's the question that I will address because in current businesses, we always talk about human resources, and now suddenly with AI, we will have agents working with us. So, what happens to us? Are we becoming human agents or do we stay resources?

I will not say much more, but it's going to be, I would say, up and down story with good and bad things for the future.

[00:07:16] MARIA MORRIS:
Yeah.

[00:07:16] JOS VOSKUIL:
And the future will tell in the end.

[00:07:18] MARIA MORRIS:
And I think that's the million dollar question, what happens to us. Yeah. And you only have to scroll through your LinkedIn feed and you see lots of people asking similar questions, so very much looking forward to hearing what's insights or answers you can give us here, Jos.

[00:07:33] JOS VOSKUIL:
Yes, and for sure. Let's not talk about pure technology, but about the application of AI. What does it mean for organization and for humans? I think that's where I'm very curious to learn from others also.

[00:07:46] MARIA MORRIS:
So, one of the elements that I think links the keynotes that we have this year is the element of our speaker sharing real transformation stories, so moving away from the theory and more to the practical concept. Why is that so important, Jos?

[00:08:01] JOS VOSKUIL:
Well, I, I think we've had many presentation and other conferences about potential transformations, but they never happened. Where if people really share their honest stories, first of all, it helps you when you are in a transformation to understand that you're not alone because many times when I speak with companies and I tell about dos and don'ts and the experiences, they say, "I thought that we were bad, but, and the others were good."

So sharing experiences might make you feel better. And of course, you don't have to sell the shiny future, you talk about reality. That's where we learn from, uh, we, we learn from reality. And that's, I think, so important. Not only the presentation, but also that the people are approachable after the presentations in the event. And I think that's also one of the strengths.

[00:08:47] MARIA MORRIS:
Definitely. And are there any specific sessions, Jos, that you're looking forward to in particular?

[00:08:52] JOS VOSKUIL:
I can't make a choice of me because many of the people-

[00:08:55] MARIA MORRIS:
Don't want to offend anyone.

[00:08:56] JOS VOSKUIL:
I mean, many of the people we have either spoken already in our podcast and I'm looking forward if they follow up and approach.

Some other people are in my old PLM network, which I haven't seen in person for years. It, it's a little bit of reunion for me also, and that I'm still in contact with those people means also they have a message that appeals to me.

[00:09:19] MARIA MORRIS:
Definitely. And what about you, Bea? Is there anything in particular you're excited about?

[00:09:24] BEATRIZ GONZALEZ:
It's again, meeting some colleagues that joined last year and also looking forward to the new speakers and new attendees. We are this year also having people from different countries and I feel really grateful for that because the approach is also different. Even if they are international companies, we have people from Germany, like Andreas Wank, from Spain, like Javier Sanchez, Jos from Netherlands.

So, it's really amazing to hear how many things we have in common that really join us, and that's what I'm more excited about, to see how the people is managing the transformation in different contexts, different countries, different industries, and at the end, like, having some, lot of aspects in common. We will have, again, Antonio from Italy, so

[00:10:16] JOS VOSKUIL:
Yeah, definitely.

[00:10:59] MARIA MORRIS:
And people who not only share our passion for digital transformations, but also for Spanish wine and cherries. So that also helps the connectors as well.

[00:11:08] JOS VOSKUIL:
Okay.

[00:11:08] MARIA MORRIS:
So we've talked a lot about the different keynote sessions that we have, but maybe now we should move to day two of the conference that's a little bit more interactive.

Jos, could you maybe walk us through some of the workshops that we have and what our attendees can expect?

[00:11:24] JOS VOSKUIL:
Yeah. So the good idea of the idea now of, of the workshops is that they're almost two hours, so it's really a workshop and it's always nice to be interactive to learn and to discuss instead of listen for two hours to, uh, somebody preaching.

One of the, the workshops I'm moderating together with my friends from QCM, Martin and Jörgen, but also with Patrick from ARAS is about sustainability and a digital product passport again. Last time we spoke briefly about it, but now we also decide let's make it more interactive so it will be a little bit pub quizzy style, but also we bring content and we verify content and we share experiences so that it's going to be, uh, yeah, something that is both entertaining and useful for the future.

And then one workshop that is upcoming that unfortunately I, I cannot join because to be also very interesting, it's about AI identity and engineering where Martin Eigener, Alexioviski and Helena Gutierrez will talk about their ideas and then experiences on AI. And knowing from speaking with them, we are, I would say, many points aligned, but other points are still under discussions.

So it also should be fantastic workshop, which I cannot promote because I want everyone to become sustainable, of course. But, uh, what can we do?

So workshop three, leading human change. I think it's your share PLM, bread and butter, and it's also going to be an exciting workshop Because I noticed that even Nina Dari is joining there, and I know Nina from 2012 from the PI conferences. And she was one of the first also talking about the human side of PLM. So it should be exciting. Maria, are you involved in the organization of this workshop?

[00:13:11] MARIA MORRIS:
So I'm actually very excited for this because for the first time, I'm actually taking a, a backwards seat and I'm going to be an attendee of the workshop. So I haven't been taking an active role in the development, but from what I have heard, I've had some inside scoop from both Nina and Christina from the Share PLM team who will be leading the session. Again, it's going to be very practical session. So they're going to be walking us through kind of our share PLM approach to organizational change management, but in using real practical examples.

So they'll be talking you through some different scenarios, scenarios that are very common in any type of digital transformation. So focusing on user readiness, stakeholder resistance, and then giving you some kind of practical tips and tricks on how you can actually overcome these challenges. So it's definitely going to be an exciting workshop, but like you said, Jos, it's a shame that we can't split ourselves into three and attend all of them. However, I'm sure-

[00:14:12] JOS VOSKUIL:
Exactly. Yeah. ...

[00:14:13] MARIA MORRIS:
during some of the networking breaks, we'll be able to find out more about each of the workshops themselves.

[00:14:19] BEATRIZ GONZALEZ:
Talking about breaks, we are introducing this year also the sponsor's tour. What I'm looking forward to look at it, so they will have different topics and we will be going through the woods and listening to different sponsors what are they offering and how they contribute to the topic of the tour.

So I'm looking forward to it because it's a lot of information in, in a really short time, so you can really get to know everyone at the end at the event.

[00:14:46] MARIA MORRIS:
And actually, the idea of the sponsors tour came from feedback that we got last year. So we have some incredible sponsors this year. We had incredible sponsors last year, even more this year, and we really wanted to make sure that our attendees got to have some kind of one-on-one time almost with all the sponsors, find out what their expertise and talk about more practical topics as well. So yeah, that's a, a great point Bea.

Okay. So coming to the end of today's episode, because I don't want us to reveal all of the secrets, we need to leave some things to surprise. Bea, I wanted to ask you, there are many PLM events out there. I mean, we're all frequent attendees to many of them, but what would you say makes this one different?

[00:15:33] BEATRIZ GONZALEZ:
For me, the most important difference is, like, people is relaxed, and that's very, very important to do connections. We don't do connections kind of trying to share or to showcase what you are doing. It's more really supporting connections in a relaxed environment. So getting to know really the people and their technology, how can support and how you can collaborate.

So this is for me the most important point. Of course, we are having a very, very good speakers, so they are people working in the best companies of Europe, which is also very interesting to see, and they do it with their heart open. So these are the two points that it makes the event a must.

[00:16:19] MARIA MORRIS:
Yes, for sure. And you mentioned there as well, there's a lot of opportunity for networking during the event and some, and more informal networking, you can say. Is there anything you can tell us about those activities?

[00:16:32] BEATRIZ GONZALEZ:
Especially, we are opening the event the day before with a pre-event in the Nest. It's our co-working space at Share PLM. We are inaugurating it this year, and we will invite everyone that is around in Jerez to come, visit it, get to know it, and explore what are the team building activities that we are going to offer there, and start meeting people that will be in the event in a relaxed atmosphere. So looking forward to the opening.

[00:17:03] MARIA MORRIS:
Very exciting. And this will also be my first time visiting the Nest, and I think Jos is as well. So very excited about that.

[00:17:09] BEATRIZ GONZALEZ:
Everyone.

[00:17:14] MARIA MORRIS:
Very excited about that. And so maybe it means we're going to have more opportunities to have actual work trips to the south of Spain as well, not just to attend the conference this year, so something for us all to keep in mind.

And the final question I want to end on, Jos, is for the people attending the summit, what will they be walking away with? What will they be taking away from the conference with them?

[00:17:37] JOS VOSKUIL:
Uh, I think also, Bill already said that the atmosphere of the, the conference should be relaxed, and it should not be that the Stockholm syndrome, that you are taking hostage for two days, and you have to follow the leader.

It's really, you come out of it open-minded, hopefully with a broader network. There is so much opportunity and so much openness of the people. And we have to remember, it's a very diverse community. 40% were women last year, which I've never seen in a traditional PLM conference before. So I think the atmosphere is, is really about connecting, creating your network for the future, and find those people that are interesting you, because they're also interested in talking with you.

We have a very human, I would say, setting it, and of course, uh, a bodega is good for that. Instead of a, a conference room.

[00:18:26] MARIA MORRIS:
That's a very good point. And one we actually haven't even touched on, the fact that the event is going to be taking place in another bodega winery this year. So this year we're moving to the Tio Pepe Bodega, which is, I would say, the most famous bodega in Jerez.

So yes, it's also in a very cool environment and a very unique environment as well. But before we close out this episode, are there any final words you'd like to leave us with, Bea or Jos?

[00:18:55] JOS VOSKUIL:
I would say join us because if you only have half of the excitement I have, it will be already very exciting. I'm looking forward to meet everyone.

[00:19:03] BEATRIZ GONZALEZ:
Yes, don't miss it because it's a great opportunity to make real relationships.

[00:19:09] MARIA MORRIS:
Definitely. And of course, we can't close out this session without giving a huge shout out and thank you to the sponsors of the Share PLM Summit. Without all of them, the event wouldn't be possible. We have even more sponsors this year, which I think goes to show how amazing the event was last year.

So the scale is increasing slightly, but still maintaining the same kind of comfortable and close atmosphere that everyone really enjoyed last year. So a huge thank you to our sponsors, QCM, XPLM, Arena, ARAS, Intellizign, Gentelligence, Razorleaf, Contact Software, and Cadmatic. We're really looking forward to having them join us.

They will, of course, have their own dedicated booths at the session, so all of our attendees during the networking breaks will be able to go and speak to them and learn from them, and of course, many of them will be giving keynote sessions as well.
So I will include the link to the Share PLM Summit website in the description for this episode, so you can go and check it out, read the really exciting abstracts from our keynotes as well as more information on the workshops.

And the last thing to say is just that we hope to see you there. It will be a fantastic event this year if it's anything like last year, and we'll be looking forward to connecting with you and learning from your own transformation journeys. So thank you to all of our listeners. Thank you, Bea and Jos, and I look forward to seeing you in Jerez.

[00:20:39] JOS VOSKUIL:
Thank you Maria. We're looking forward.