ACE 2025 Highlights: 10 Takeaways You Need to Know

ACE 2025 wrapped up just two weeks ago, and the momentum is still going strong. From inspiring keynotes to exciting new product announcements, the event brought together our vibrant community to explore what’s next in PLM, AI, and the digital thread. Attendees got a first look at new solutions, hands-on apps, and strategic initiatives that sparked meaningful conversations throughout the week.

One of the most memorable moments at ACE 2025 was the powerful thread connecting Rob McAveney’s keynote to the “What if?” panel discussion. Rob set the stage by challenging us to think differently—asking bold questions about how we approach problems, build, and innovate. His session tapped into the curiosity of the Aras community and introduced a new way of thinking about the future of PLM, what he called the “brink of PLM singularity.”

That spirit of exploration continued in the “What if?” panel featuring Martin Eigner, Liz Graham (CEO of Ada IQ), David Long (INCOSE), and Julian Ostrow (Microsoft). Together, they expanded on Rob’s ideas and brought real-world perspectives to the conversation. With 500 attendees and 35 partner sponsors, ACE 2025 was packed with fresh thinking, energy, and a clear sense of what’s possible when we ask the right questions.

I was privileged to attend the event and conduct real-time interviews with Aras executives, community members, partners, and industry influencers. In total, I spoke with 5 Aras executives, 3 board members, 7 employees, 12 partners, and 6 influencers and analysts. The range of perspectives – from presenters to community voices – led to a dynamic mix of conversations and valuable insights to take away from the event.

Here are the top 10 insights gathered from these interviews. Let’s dive in and see what folks had to say:

1. The Aras community and partner ecosystem are highly valued and seen as major strengths. Many interviewees emphasized the passionate and collaborative nature of the Aras community, with partners actively engaging with one another and contributing significantly to customer success. The ACE conference itself is viewed as a testament to this strong community spirit. David Ewing, of SAIC and previously employed by Aras Corporation, noted that the community part was always one of the best things about working for the company.

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is considered a transformative technology for PLM and manufacturing. Numerous interviewees highlighted the potential of AI, including agentic and generative AI, to assist with product change, multi-domain impact analysis, modular product design, enhancing digital engineering, and driving autonomous decision-making. However, there were discussions around the need for human oversight and data governance for AI and addressing concerns about traceability and the dynamic nature of LLMs. Jason Kasper, senior director of Product Marketing at Aras, pointed out that Aras is implementing AI in Aras Innovator® and InnovatorEdge because “those who deploy first and creatively are going to be the ones that win.”

3. The digital thread concept is central to the future of PLM, focusing on connectivity and data integration across the product lifecycle. The digital thread was frequently mentioned as a key area of focus. The ability to connect data from various sources and make it useful for different stakeholders, from warfighters to astronauts and across the entire value chain, is seen as critical. Martin Eigner envisions a digital thread on top of all legacy systems.

4. The CERN implementation of Aras is widely recognized as a compelling and impressive example of the platform’s capabilities in managing highly complex products and vast amounts of data. The CERN use case shown as a keynote by David Widegren, involving 100 million parts, was repeatedly cited as a highlight of the conference and a testament to Aras’ scalability and ability to handle complex digital twins and threads.

5. PLM has evolved from a system primarily focused on managing mechanical CAD data to a strategic business system encompassing more processes and people and extending across the entire product lifecycle and value chain. Interviewees with long tenures in the industry reflected on this evolution, noting the expansion of PLM beyond engineering into manufacturing, supply chain, and other enterprise functions. Aras Founder Peter Schroer pointed out that PLM decisions are now often made at the CIO level.

6. Aras InnovatorEdge and the focus on a no-code platform are seen as significant advancements that can democratize data access and enable the creation of custom applications. The announcement of InnovatorEdge was noted as exciting, with the potential to connect the digital thread to new users and applications. David Segal, digital thread global executive at Tata Consultancy Services, said that the no-code platform InnovatorEdge should enhance Aras’ openness and capabilities.

7. There is a growing recognition of the importance of data management and governance in PLM, with a shift in focus from applications to the data itself. Oleg Shilovitsky, CEO of OpenBOM and BeyondPLM, believes the biggest shift is the move from software applications to the importance of data. Ensuring data uniformity and quality is seen as crucial for leveraging AI and achieving true system insights.

8. Modular product design is highlighted as a key strategy for managing increasing product complexity and enabling product configuration. Modular Management, a company focused on this approach, was interviewed, and CTO Jakob Åsell discussed using modular products to connect systems and reduce complexity.

9. Adopting PLM can still be challenging for organizations due to factors like migration complexities, implementation hurdles, and the need to align PLM with evolving business needs. Concerns about PLM’s historical reputation as being hard to implement and taking a long time were raised. Aras CEO Roque Martin emphasized that PLM solutions need to be adaptable to keep pace with changing businesses.

10. Integration and interconnectedness are crucial themes, both in terms of connecting different systems and data sources within an organization and fostering collaboration across various stakeholders. The interconnectedness of solutions was highlighted as a key aspect of the ACE conference. Achieving digital continuity through integration is seen as essential. As Elizabeth Graham, CEO of Ada IQ, put it quite nicely, “It’s really what if you could have a PLM that’s continuously evolving based on real-time manufacturing data, real-time product performance, and what we’re focused on, which is real-time customer feedback. And then you get this self-reinforcing, continuously learning.”

The energy, collaboration, and insights shared throughout the event were a powerful reminder of what makes the Aras community so unique. AI’s transformative potential was clear, and the digital thread remains a central focus. As PLM continues to evolve, the future holds even more opportunities for innovation and connectivity.

Thank you to our event sponsors, who helped make it a success! Make sure to check out the keynote sessions now available on demand and stay tuned for our upcoming Aras Connect events. The series will launch on June 5 in Tokyo, followed by events in the UK, France, and Germany in October, culminating with the Nordics Connect in early November.

Before you leave, please share some of your takeaways from ACE 2025. Also, take a minute to check out the new Aras Marketplace! Go to aras.com and ask Nova, “Take me to ACE 2025 content!”

For more takeaways like these, check out my post-index of ACE related content.