Looking forward: The trends most impacting industry and engineers in 2025 and beyond

As we round out the first quarter of the 21st century, we find ourselves firmly on the doorstep of the fifth industrial revolution — Industry 5.0 — the emerging era in which people and machines will work side by side. This change is being pushed forward by rapid IT developments, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, automation, big data, and virtualisation. While the benefits it will bring are still to be realised, several are predicted: industries will be more resilient to issues beyond their control, such as COVID, by changing how we consume energy; resource use will become more efficient, favouring a circular economy of reuse and regeneration; and the current focus on economic value is expected to shift to a broader take on the societal value industry brings, including the wellbeing of workers.

We asked Actemium UK directors Rob Shaw (Director of Actemium UK’s Automation Perimeter) and Andrew Hunter (Director of Actemium UK’s Mechanical and Electrical Perimeter) for their insights about what changes they feel will most affect their industrial customers, Actemium UK itself, and anyone considering a career in engineering and with Actemium.

In the next couple of years, what trends will most impact the industries and organisations your engineers support?

Andrew Hunter (Actemium Director, Mechanical & Electrical Perimeter): The big one that’s going to affect us all is AI. The year 2025 is going to be when artificial intelligence impacts our business and our customers’ businesses.

Rob Shaw (Actemium Director, Automation Perimeter): Although AI is all over the media — and I agree has the potential to be disruptive — our markets and supply chain are still feeling their way as to how it will most impact them. Software suppliers in our industry are heavily investing in AI; Rockwell, Siemens and Schneider are recruiting a lot of people to support product development to benefit from AI. They’re determining where AI is going, initially by adapting their existing tools to be used in a more efficient way by engineers.

Andrew: Decarbonisation of transportation is another mega trend that will continue to grow. The government is targeting 70% of all vehicles to be zero emission by 2030. This target is driving big investment in repurposing automotive manufacturing factories to produce electric vehicles, plus a huge investment in charging infrastructure throughout the UK.

Another trend is the move to renewable power generation. We do a lot of work in the nuclear sector, which the UK Government now views as green energy. They have clean power initiatives where they want to reduce the overall CO2 per kilowatt from 171gCO2e/kWh in 2023 to well below 50gCO2e/kWh in 2030. Nuclear will play a big part in achieving this goal.

And geopolitical instabilities around the world and interventions by rogue states are driving significant investment in such areas as cybersecurity and the repatriation of nuclear fuel and other key production to the UK. We’re seeing a trend towards the onshoring of supply chains, particularly in the automotive and food sectors.

AI has rapidly come to the forefront of innovation, and its impact is already being felt in mainstream business activities. How is it impacting your work?

Andrew: At the moment, we’re treating AI as a new tool in the toolkit to help spark innovation and collaboration, and to improve productivity and efficiency.

Rob: I see our customers considering it, but it’s more prominent within specific industries. For example, the medical industry is looking into how it can perform product testing in a virtual world, and is running scenarios against models, with AI analysing the results. We’re seeing some use in the manufacturing sector, where AI is continuously monitoring production environment and operator input, analysing the effects of material quality against final product quality. AI can then predict and make suggested changes to process control and adapt in real time. However, overall use across most industries is still relatively low.

Andrew: I was initially a bit wary about the technology. There is this sort of end-of-the-world, Terminator, kind of self-awareness about it all. But I’m more optimistic about it now. It’s definitely something we can use to improve our operations, but it’s a tool to aid rather than to replace. For example, we may have 90% of our design work powered by AI and then our engineers take on the remaining 10% in terms of the bespoke design work needed.

For our customers, we’re still analysing and reviewing its best use and application. We’re creating an internal environment where information is contained and controlled because we do a lot of work that is regulated and security cleared, such as work with the defence and nuclear industries.

It is time to adopt AI — it’s embrace or die.

How is AI impacting the industries you serve and the services you provide?

Andrew:  Behind AI is investment in big data centres, with lots of power needed to fuel the exponential growth in computing power and keep the infrastructures cool. That’s driving a lot of opportunity for us, particularly in our electrical panel design-and-build service.

Rob: AI hasn’t had a huge impact yet in the automation sector. But we are definitely monitoring our clients’ attitudes to it, and with our suppliers we’re investigating what AI-based solutions and tool enhancements are available to support them.

When we think about where our industry will be in five years, it’s strange because in a way automation doesn’t look much different than it did 30 years ago. We’re still writing the software predominantly in the same way we have for the last decade, only with a shiner user interface. We’re still creating electrical circuit diagrams using CAD. Yes, we’ve got fancier tools to do in it; it’s  quicker, in colour, etc. But fundamentally, automation design work has evolved slowly. Will AI be a big disruptive change to traditional software programming and CAD that the industry hasn’t seen before?

In the consumer world, if we buy a laptop, we know it might last five years. Even if you don’t spill a coffee on it, Microsoft or Apple will stop supporting something on it. We accept it will become a throwaway item. However, with industrial control systems, it’s quite different. Industrial Capex requires an investment to last for 10 to 15 years. Hundreds of thousands of control systems exist in the UK that are more than 20 years old because they were built robustly — the industrial user expects that a control system was designed to do a function that hasn’t changed and so should still be doing it.

However, will the introduction of AI help upgrade these legacy systems? A concern is that engineers who understand the nuances of these many older systems will retire or leave the industry. Will AI be able to replace this human knowledge and experience? We still need to develop a generation of engineers with the skill to maintain, upgrade and ultimately replace these legacy system.

How are you going to balance the increased efficiency AI brings against engineers’ ability to gain problem-solving experience, including understanding the technology behind legacy systems no longer taught in their education?

Rob: Losing the legacy competence of senior engineers — the ones who put those systems in 20 or 25 years ago —  is a side effect of COVID and people retiring earlier. It’s quite significant in our sector. We rely on engineers to be problem solvers. A competent engineer relies on training and certification, but chiefly experience. Gaining experience requires going through an iterative process of being presented with a problem, attempting a solution, learning from any mistakes, and adapting. The challenge we’re working on is how to use AI as a tool, while still allowing people to develop the skills to solve unique problems.

In the next few years, experienced engineers and designers will adapt to using AI to be more efficient, etc. But they’re bringing a depth of experience that will let them to do that. If we challenge inexperienced engineers to use AI, will they be too trusting of its output? Will they know when the solution AI has produced is wrong for a unique situation?

Andrew: Our graduate and apprentice programmes are helping here by giving people practical, real experience working alongside more-senior people who share their knowledge.

Overall, AI is more of a boosting tool than a replacement tool. The simple reality is the engineers of the next generation are going to have to use these tools. It’s a whole new world and we’re finding the best ways to adapt to it.

How is sustainability imbedded into Actemium’s work for others, as well as in its own activities?

Andrew: At Actemium, we do walk the walk. We’ve electrified our fleets, we have green energy contracts, and we’re managing our waste in the right way. The more difficult step is ensuring we work in the right way with suppliers and subcontractors to improve our sustainability performance in all areas of what we offer our customers.

Rob: Customers are still moving slowly in terms of modifying sustainability-focused user requirements or performance KPIs. However, when we talk with our customers about their sustainability pledge, we are aligned in terms of climate and energy efficiency goals. In reality, the industries we work in have been talking about energy efficiency for 20 years. But, where it was once about saving money, now  there are the motivating factors of reducing emissions and lowering their carbon footprint.

Andrew: Ideally, we want to provide a standard solution for our customers, but provide them with a sustainable or green proposal, as well. We’re developing tools to calculate carbon calculation as a real number in terms of impact of a particular project.

We’re also looking at reuse and extending the lifespans of products. For example, historically our panels business was about building new panels, with customers saying: “This one’s 20 years old. It needs to be replaced.” Now, we’re increasingly working on retrofits, taking existing panels and only upgrading those components that need upgrading. This gives item another 10- to 15-years’ worth of life. This element of sustainability is increasingly going to be a customer requirement — if you don’t bring it, you’re not even going to get through the door.

You mentioned the global changes bringing security to the forefront. How is cyber security changing in the work you do?

Rob: In the last few years, we’ve definitely seen our customers placing more focus here. Five to 10 years ago, the focus in the industry was broad and around the new standard for security  Now our customers are more knowledgeable about the specific risks, and are engaging with us in a more fully developed way.

Andrew: Much of the nuclear industry is based on tech that’s deliberately not connected to any infrastructure that could be a gateway into their sites. We’re pressed for innovation, but the top priority is always security of the infrastructure. Our people are far more aware of the cyber risks to our own infrastructure and that of our customers.

Rob: From a security perspective, up to now, it helped that our control systems were isolated systems, or on small, closed, plant-level networks. However, big data, sustainability and AI all require multiple sources of data in real time, which means customers now have to connect their control systems so data can be shared, which is tightening industry’s focus on cybersecurity.

One of the UK’s biggest challenges is our massive demand for skilled labour, which is not readily available. This is magnified in a niche area, such as industrial cyber security. So even if a customer recognises they have a potential cyber security risk, they can’t quickly and easily employ someone to help them solve it. That’s probably why this area has moved at a slower pace within many of the industries we support. However, being part of the wider VINCI Energies group of companies gives us the benefit of having a network of skills and services we can use to optimise our support in cyber security.

Andrew: Our sister company Axians are experts in this area, and we collaborate with them. For example, we’re working with Axians in Wokingham on electric vehicle charging points that are part of the national infrastructure. We’re putting in the protection needed to reduce the potential for attack due to this connectivity.

You’ve talked about challenges that could impact the benefits coming out of trends you’re seeing. What is the biggest challenge you’re currently facing, and how are you overcoming it?

Andrew: The biggest challenge on the M&E side relates to rapid growth. We have business units that have been doubling and quadrupling in size in recent years, which can be a challenge when it comes to getting people properly onboarded, trained and aligned to our values and how we work. So, we’ve made an active decision to put our foot on the brakes this year. Stop. Catch up. We want to make sure everyone is all right, and that we have solid foundations across the whole business before pressing the accelerator to grow again.

Rob: Yes, my biggest challenge is getting skilled people resources needed to deliver our solutions effectively and efficiently. One negative outcome of Brexit has been the reduced migration of skilled labour around the world; we relied on recruiting skilled labour from outside the UK and this has become more difficult. But this pushed us to increase our investment in young talent, as well as in our current team and leaders. We’re definitely upping our game to be more attractive to newcomers and to those already working with us.

Andrew: The worst thing you can do is you put effort into recruitment and then fail that person by not treating them right or not onboarding them properly. It’s also about retention, and mental health and well-being. We’re helping our managers develop the leadership skills they need in these areas, and we’ve boosted the HR dedicated to these issues.

We’re also putting a lot of energy and time into training and advancement programmes. Whether it’s high-potential talent, graduates, or our potential leaders of the future, we have programmes to help them on their way. It’s a real investment in people.

Recently, we proudly joined The 5% Club, as well. If more than 5% of your workforce are apprentices or graduates, then you get into the 5% Club. It’s an initiative across the whole UK construction industry to recognise those organisations that are investing in the future — which we at Actemium definitely are doing. We’re running way above 5% — nearer to 15%, actually.

What industries are you seeing the most growth in terms of their requests for Actemium’s support and solutions?

Rob: One area is Logistics. It’s changed significantly in the last five to 10 years, and will continue to change. We didn’t have Amazon warehouses 10 years ago and now it seems they’re on every street corner. However, it’s common knowledge that the UK is behind the curve from a robotics point of view. We’re definitely looking to see what it will mean to our manufacturers.

Andrew: Yes, and the decarbonisation of transportation is huge. On the M&E side, we’re doing a lot of work associated with logistics chain. Amazon have a fleet that’s being electrified. We’re helping them decarbonise their vehicles. And these electric vans you see trundling around all need charging somewhere, which we are behind. We’re doing the same with Royal Mail and a few other major players, as well.

And it’s not only the electric chargers, but everything that goes on behind them — the infrastructure beyond simply plugging in a vehicle to recharge is enormously complex. We’ve been involved in this area since 2008. From the beginning, we saw this wave coming in, and it’s just getting bigger. We’re one of the leading car EV-charging design-build-and-maintain firms in the UK. We’re seeing the power, size and scale of these installations growing. It moved from cars to trucks and buses. It’s even turning up in ships docking into ports and trains being serviced in depots. It’s a huge market for us.

In terms of our own growth in this area, we train our people to have the skills needed in this new industry — working with key equipment partners and providing our customers with a full design, build and maintain solution. We’re also looking for acquisitions, and when the right opportunity hasn’t been there to acquire, we’ve self-started a business. For example, initially we just provided low-voltage solutions in EV charging. But customers were asking us to do ICP connections — the independent connection provider side of things. So, we brought in an expert in this area to set up a business, build a team, establish relationship with our customers, and set up processes and supply chain. We plugged the gap our customers needed us to fill.

Rob: We’re also helping our customers understand and migrate technologies and solutions that we have experience in from another industry. Clients are seeing they might have been siloed in their particular industry, and are asking us, “What do others do that we don’t do? Are we missing something? Come up with ideas that we haven’t thought of and that you’ve seen elsewhere.” They’re looking for us to innovate on their behalf.

Andrew: We benefit from being part of a huge, international Actemium/VINCI Energies network. What’s going on in the UK is going on in other countries as well, which means we can get a lot of intelligence and support from other parts of our organisation.

We’re also doing a lot with customers in the UK who are investing heavily in upgrading legacy infrastructure. Whether it’s steel production or other traditional industries, we’re seeing them going for low carbon investment. For example, Tata Steel are upgrading their electric arc furnaces to be more energy efficient and reduce emissions. This requires more grid connections and everything else we do as a business. In this area, we connect with our sister company Omexom — we look after the low-voltage work, and Omexom look after the high-voltage work.

A lot is going on across almost every industry sector we work with. We’re choosing the right projects and initiatives to get involved with to provide the best outcomes possible.

What advice do you have for those considering a job in engineering? What do they need to bring if they want to work with Actemium?

Rob: On the automation side, we’re giving engineers the opportunity to take on a variety of work. You’ll be involved with real projects at a level and time scale that mean your input makes a difference. So, I’m looking for problem solvers. I’m looking for people who can communicate, who can work together with clients and suppliers, who are willing to learn, and who will stay with the business. Engineers need an element of sustainability in their own work and commitment to their employer. It’s about applying skills and knowledge over and over to gain experience. It takes time to become a great engineer.

Andrew: Yes, I’m looking for doers — people who do rather than delegate — and who are self-motivated to develop, so they take advantage of the training courses and opportunities we have available.

We want people who resonate with our values, particularly those who are genuinely in it for the whole team and the business, rather than the individual. Those people can thrive and develop at Actemium. If the values we have ring true with you, then there’s no better place to work.

If you have the drive, ambition and ability to deliver, then you can make a lot happen. You can steer your career where you want to go with it, with a large, supportive group backing you.