What does Ignition 2027 mean for industrial AI, SCADA teams, and large-scale operations? Kevin McClusky, Chief Technology Architect at Inductive Automation, joins Jeff Perry and Mike Flores at the OpSite Energy Control Center in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, to break down the major announcements from ICC 2026. Kevin explains the Inductive Automation and Tiger Data partnership, the new Enterprise Historian Module for TimescaleDB, and benchmark targets that could reshape how large industrial systems store and retrieve time-series data. The conversation explores how greater historian scale can support richer analysis and help organizations prepare operational data for AI. They also examine Ignition Catalyst, including Catalyst Core, AI-assisted development, diagnostics, and the Catalyst Agent Module. Kevin shares practical examples for custom agents, alarm analysis, operator questions, drilling and completions, exploration, leak detection, and well optimization. The discussion goes beyond tools. Kevin explains why normalized data, trustworthy context, technical infrastructure, and organizational willingness all determine whether a promising demonstration becomes a sustainable production deployment. They also discuss why MQTT Sparkplug and OPC UA serve different roles—and why Ignition intends to support both. IN THIS EPISODE ⚡ Major announcements from ICC 2026 and Ignition 2027 ⚡ The Tiger Data partnership and TimescaleDB for Ignition ⚡ Enterprise historian scale, retrieval speed, and compression ⚡ Why more data can create a higher-fidelity operational picture ⚡ Catalyst Core, AI-assisted development, and diagnostics ⚡ Building custom agents with the Catalyst Agent Module ⚡ Alarm analysis and plain-language operational insights ⚡ AI opportunities in drilling, completions, exploration, and production ⚡ Trustworthy context, normalized data, and AI readiness ⚡ Why MQTT Sparkplug and OPC UA are complementary ⚡ The technology and organizational gaps that derail production deployments ⚡ Leak detection, well optimization, and the next wave of industrial AI Which Ignition 2027 capability could create the most value for your operation: AI-assisted engineering, enterprise historian scale, or custom operational agents? Tell us in the comments. Subscribe to the Energy Tech Podcast, presented by OpSite Energy, for practical conversations about industrial technology, AI, automation, and digital transformation across energy and critical infrastructure. CHAPTERS 00:00 Kevin McClusky joins the Energy Tech Podcast 01:03 ICC 2026 takeaways 03:18 The Ignition community and ecosystem 05:07 Why Inductive Automation partnered with Tiger Data 07:32 Enterprise Historian performance and compression 09:04 Data quantity, quality, and AI readiness 11:28 Choosing the right historian tier 13:49 Why Inductive Automation built Catalyst 15:20 Catalyst Core, diagnostics, and agents 16:41 AI-assisted development inside Ignition 18:47 Why Catalyst Core is included with Ignition 20:34 Communicating AI value to industrial customers 23:17 Building custom agents inside Ignition 24:30 Alarm analysis and operator insights 26:27 AI agents for drilling, completions, and exploration 30:32 Trustworthy context and normalized industrial data 33:47 MQTT, OPC UA, legacy assets, and the UNS 40:00 Why impressive demos fail in production 41:33 Technology barriers and organizational politics 45:56 Consensus without agreement 47:20 Ignition as a technology tipping point 48:34 The next two years of industrial AI 50:08 Leak detection and well optimization 52:15 Closing thoughts WEBSITES AND RESOURCES\ Inductive Automation: [https://inductiveautomation.com/](https://inductiveautomation.com/) Ignition 2027 preview: [https://pages.inductiveautomation.com/ignition-2027](https://pages.inductiveautomation.com/ignition-2027) Ignition Catalyst: [https://links.inductiveautomation.com/blog/ignition-catalyst-our-safetyfirst-approach-to-ai-in-ignition-2027](https://links.inductiveautomation.com/blog/ignition-catalyst-our-safetyfirst-approach-to-ai-in-ignition-2027) Tiger Data: [https://www.tigerdata.com/](https://www.tigerdata.com) OpSite Energy: [https://opsiteenergy.com/](https://opsiteenergy.com) Listen to the EnergyTech Podcast: [https://opsiteenergy.podbean.com](https://opsiteenergy.podbean.com) MUSIC “Fast Life” by Uygar Duzgun Courtesy of Epidemic Sound [https://www.epidemicsound.com](https://www.epidemicsound.com) #IndustrialAI #IgnitionSCADA #EnergyTechPodcast