6-week live online course for IT & OT leaders
Learn the language, architecture, and governance to push past “just a POC” in our live online academy.
Next cohort starts Jan 23, 2026
Let’s be honest…
We’ve all been talking about Industry 4.0 for over a decade now, but the dirty secret is: we still don’t know how to scale beyond those first two flashy pilots, let alone cooperate between IT and OT.
The IT/OT Academy was created for exactly this moment. A live online course, in 6 sessions. Built by practitioners, for practitioners.
Whether you’re working in a factory, designing a solution, or advising clients: you’ll finally get the frameworks and vocabulary to bridge the gap (and it’s made it the way we wished we were trained: short, to the point and brutally real 😉 )
Or as Thomas G, IT/OT Architect at Suez puts it:
“What sets the ITOT.Academy apart is the way professionals from different industries and varying levels of maturity openly share their experiences, creating practical insights I can use in my own journey to drive IT/OT convergence.”
And in the words of Vitorio Yosifov who’s working at HiveMQ:
“We worked on a real-life use case of a company facing operational inefficiencies, which made the exercise feel relevant and hands-on. I especially valued the opportunity to collaborate with people from different industries and roles — from OT to IT — and to hear their perspectives. It really highlighted how complex OT/IT cooperation can be, with multiple steps and stakeholders involved in driving a successful project.”
Our first 40 students scored the Academy ⭐ 9 out of 10 ⭐ !
David & Willem just before we kicked off Group 1 on August 29
Trusted by IT/OT professionals from:
Who is the IT/OT Academy training for?
👨💻 I’m in IT
(and I need to work with OT)
You feel it. That cultural wall. The fear of breaking production when you propose a new solution. The meetings where “SCADA” is thrown around and you quietly Google it later.
You want to…
- Speak the OT language and earn trust on the plant floor.
- Lead digital projects that actually land.
- Future-proof your career with OT fluency.
🏭 I’m in OT
(and I’m teaming up with IT)
You’re drowning in buzzwords (UNS, IIoT, AI…) but starving for a clear roadmap. You know your systems. But cloud? Data pipelines? You’re not sure where to begin.
You want to…
- Use data to improve operations, beyond just gut feel.
- Collaborate with IT as a partner, not a bottleneck.
- Modernize your plant without compromising safety or uptime.
🛠️ I’m a Technology Vendor
(and I want to sell to both)
Your team builds great tech. But in the boardroom, the CIO loves your cloud pitch while the plant manager rolls their eyes.
You want to…
- Design products that serve both domains.
- Communicate value in the right language, to the right people.
- Be seen as a trusted advisor, not just a product pusher.
🧠 I’m a Consultant
(and I want an IT/OT playbook)
Your clients are navigating the IT/OT maze and they expect you to guide them. But too often, the strategy feels fuzzy and the delivery fragile.
You want to…
- Structure IT/OT projects with confidence.
- Avoid cultural clashes and deliver lasting results.
- Earn credibility with a certificate and real-world tools.
Next live-online cohorts start January 23, 2026
What participants from the previous group had to say:
The IT/OT Academy is a great resource for people who are trying to solve problems and build solutions in the real world overlap between IT and OT organisations and technologies. Refreshingly free from buzzwords and vendor hype it is by practitioners and for practitioners.
We worked on a real-life use case of a company facing operational inefficiencies, which made the exercise feel relevant and hands-on. I especially valued the opportunity to collaborate with people from different industries and roles — from OT to IT — and to hear their perspectives. It really highlighted how complex OT/IT cooperation can be, with multiple steps and stakeholders involved in driving a successful project.
What sets the ITOT.Academy apart is the way professionals from different industries and varying levels of maturity openly share their experiences, creating practical insights I can use in my own journey to drive IT/OT convergence.
Become a true IT/OT Insider in 6 Weeks
Session 1 – 3:
Core Program
Session 1:
Understand
Why IT and OT see the world so differently (and what to do about it).
In this session we start by getting to know each other, we talk about the different industries we focus on, we step into the IT-OT-Operations gap for the first time, talk about why IT/OT Convergence typically makes no sense (and when it can work), we discuss your best IT/OT Confusion story (always fun!) and we end with the most important differences between the IT and Operations world.
Session 2:
Cooperate
Learn the proven models that drive collaboration (and avoid those that kill momentum).
In this session we talk about the CIO-COO disconnect, why divergence is a natural consequence of all growing/large organizations, why we are going to give you a new language to talk about cooperation, we’ll introduce our cooperation frameworks to you, we’ll introduce our 4 example companies (a biotech startup, an industrial bakery, a machine builder and a big chemical company) and we’ll finally apply our cooperation models to these companies as well as your personal examples.
Session 3:
Scale (and Sustain)
Translate small wins into real change. From pilots to sustainable platforms: UNS, Industrial DataOps, AI and more.
In this session it’s all about data and AI. We’ll first talk about scaling and why that is so important, we’ll step into the AI domain and take a new and fresh look to what AI really means in a manufacturing context (and why we are only getting started), we dive into sensor data and manufacturing context (and why that context is so important for all types of AI, but especially for Agentic AI/MCP), we talk about our Industrial Data Platform Capability Map and finally end with the super important (but often overlooked) topic of Data Governance.
Session 4 – 6:
Applying the core concepts
Session 4:
Sweet Harmony Treats
Meet your playground: Sweet Harmony Treats, a large industrial bakery known for their dangerously delicious waffles (hey, we’re proud of our Belgian culinary heritage ;)).
During the course, you’ll step into both IT and OT shoes to work on a hands-on digitalization case. Your mission? Help Sweet Harmony Treats digitize their operations, without breaking what’s already working. You’ll analyze their challenges, map out opportunities, and co-create a digital roadmap with your cohort. You’ll be guided by our core frameworks and receive feedback from us and guest experts.
Because you don’t learn digital transformation from theory, you learn it by doing.
Session 5:
Practitioner Panel + Case Debrief
In this session, we invite experienced industry leaders to share how they’ve actually applied the principles we teach. For example: How do organizational models play out when the pressure is on? What does DataOps really look like on the factory floor?
No theory, no fluff. Just candid stories from people who’ve done the hard work: what worked, what failed, and what they’d do differently.
You’ll have the chance to ask questions, challenge ideas, and connect directly with the people shaping the future of industrial digitalization.
Session 6:
Ask Us Anything
Still have questions? Good.
In our final session, we open the floor entirely to you. This is your space to bring up topics we didn’t cover or dive deeper into ones that hit close to home.
Whether it’s a sticky stakeholder issue, a specific tech question, or just “How would you handle this in my plant?”, we’re here for it.
No script. No slides.
Next live-online cohorts start January 23, 2026
Meet Your Instructors
David Ariens – Data scientist turned digital transformation architect. Expert in industrial cybersecurity, MES/MOM, and OT data platforms. Loves the human factor, but is passionate about tech.
Willem van Lammeren – Chemical engineer with a love for IT. Experienced across OT, ERP, and infrastructure. Passionate about bridging strategy and execution.
Together, they host The IT/OT Insider: a podcast and blog followed by 10,000+ professionals. Now, they’re bringing their insights live to your screen.
Book your seat
Group 3
Kick-off: January 23
🕐 14:00 – 16:00 CET / 08AM – 10AM EST
🗓 Sessions: Jan 23, 30 – Feb 13, 20, 27 – Mar 06
Regular Price: €1390 / $1585
10 seats left in this cohort
Group 4
Kick-off: May 22
🕐 14:00 – 16:00 CET / 08AM – 10AM EST
🗓 Sessions starts on May 22 (**)
Early Bird Price: €995 / $1160
valid for the first 20 seats sold
Group 5
Kick-off: September 18
🕐 14:00 – 16:00 CET / 08AM – 10AM EST
🗓 Sessions start on September 18 (**)
Early Bird Price: €995 / $1160
valid for the first 20 seats sold
What you get
✅ 12 hours instructor-led learning
✅ Full recordings delivered the next day
✅ Slide decks, worksheets and bonus resources
✅ Interact with us, peers and industry experts
✅ Access to our DataOps RFP/RFI Template*
Bulk discounts are available: 3+1, 6+2 or 9+3!
VAT (where applicable) is not included – (**) Dates are still subject to change – Our T&C apply
(*) Currently under construction, access is granted once available and is valid for 1 year after purchase
Don’t take our word for it
We asked to our first 40 students: “How likely would you be to recommend the Academy to your colleagues?”
Their answer: ⭐ 9 out of 10 ⭐
We also asked them: “How likely would you recommend our blog and podcast?”
Their response: ⭐ 9.6 out of 10 ⭐
Can’t make it? Other timezone?
It’s hard to choose dates which fit everyone around the world, but we definitely want to! If you are interested in joining the Academy, but can’t make the current dates or if you are living in a completely different time zone, leave your name and email below and we’ll get back to you.
Private Cohorts
We offer a private customized training, delivered virtually, physically or as a custom e-learning embedded in your Learning Management System
Vendor?
Train your (sales) team in IT/OT terminology and sales or offer a customised training to your clients
VC?
Get a deep understanding of the IT/OT landscape and opportunities
End-user?
Pick and choose what matters most and combine with an hands-on workshop
What others say
On our road-trip to the Pyrenees I binged your 12-part podcast series. Really solid content—keep it up! My wife and kids were sound asleep, so the tech depth was clearly high enough. 😉
Recently, I discovered itotinsider.com and I am going through all of The IT/OT Insider podcast backlog.
Normally I listen to podcasts in the gym, walking, in the car – but that doesn’t work here, there is too much value and I need to make notes!!!
I want to give a shout-out to the podcast content creators David Ariens and Willem van Lammeren – their interviews with industry leaders are full of golden nuggets. I have listened to some of the podcasts multiple times.
David and Willem cut straight through the Industry 4.0 buzz. At our Barcelona Innovation Summit they turned the ‘UNS’ concept from a slide-deck acronym into a practical blueprint our engineers and customers could start wiring the very next week. Their mix of strategic clarity and hands-on data-management tactics helped the attendees see how connectivity, governance and change management actually fit together.
Questions?
Do I get a certificate?
Yes, you get a certificate of completion at the end of the program if you followed a minimum of 4 sessions live.
(and we have planned for something really cool to send in your direction – this is not going to be your average certificate…)
How can I attend the sessions?
You will receive a link to the video conferencing system before each session.
We use Zoom for the sessions (which we also record so you can replay it) and Miro for the interactive parts
Do we get bulk discounts?
Yes!
Buy 3, 4 or 5 seats and get 1 seat for free
Buy 6, 7 or 8 seats and get 2 seats for free
Buy 9 or 10 seats and get 3 seats for free
Need more than 13 seats?
Get a custom quote or book a private cohort!
Why should my company sponsor this training?
Because the return is bigger than just one employee learning new buzzwords.
When someone goes through the IT/OT Academy, your organization gains:
-
Fewer failed pilots – we help your people see beyond proof-of-concepts and actually land projects that scale.
-
Stronger collaboration across silos – your IT and OT teams stop talking past each other and start pulling in the same direction.
-
In-house expertise you can trust – instead of leaning endlessly on consultants, you build lasting capabilities inside your own team.
In short, sponsoring this training means your next Industry 4.0/Digital Manufacturing/Innovation… initiative has a far better shot at delivering real business value.
What are the dates and times of the previous groups?
Group 1 (fully booked)
Kick-off: August 29
Ideal for Europe/Asian time zones
🕐 13:00 – 15:00 CET / 16:30 – 18:30 IST
🗓 29 Aug · 5 Sep · 12 Sep · 19 Sep · 3 Oct · 10 Oct
Group 2 (fully booked)
Kick-off: September 5
Ideal for North and South American time zones
🕐 2PM – 4PM EST / 11AM – 1PM PDT
🗓 Sept 5 · Sept 12 · Sept 19 · Oct 3 · Oct 10 · Oct 17
What happens if I cannot make it to one of the sessions?
Every session is recorded and you will receive the recording and the courseware afterwards.
Do I get an invoice?
Yes, you will get a VAT invoice or a normal receipt after payment.
I need to go through purchasing first, can I get a quote?
Yes, you can request a quote via the order page or reach out directly to us via academy@itotinsider.com
Can I book this training on behalf of someone else?
Yes, you can book the training using your own name, drop us a mail at academy@itotinsider.com with the name and email address of the person who is actually following the academy
Are refunds possible?
If you have read our small print, you’ll notice that we don’t do refunds.
Why? Because once the training has started, you have access to all materials.
However, if you would be unexpectedly unavailable at the time of your cohort, we can move you into another cohort taking place now or in the future.
Do you also offer an e-learning?
Currently not, but we plan to in the future. We are now launching live classes (the recordings will be made available afterwards for you to rewatch).
The Industrial Platform Capability Map referenced in the blog and put together by David Ariens and the team at The IT/OT Insider is a great framework for thinking about deploying an enterprise ready solution. [..] Trying to solve these one at a time may seen intuitive but leads to an unmanageable mess of software applications and custom code piecing together what should be an enterprise platform that scales.
Before this training, every time I walked into the plant I felt like an outsider: i didn’t quite understand what the Operations people were talking about. On the other hand, we still had a clear mandate to start a roll out of our Fabric project. What David and Willem taught us completely changed that. I now speak the OT language without dumbing things down or stepping on toes.
David Ariens’ latest article on Industrial Data Platform Capability Maps is a must-read for anyone tackling the complexities of Industrial DataOps. With a clear breakdown of the seven main capabilities—Connectivity, Contextualization, Data Quality, Data Broker & Store, Analytics, Visualization, and Data Sharing—David brings clarity to a space that’s often overwhelming. Thank you, David, for your thought leadership in helping us all cut through the noise in IT/OT integration! 🙌