Why Manufacturing AI Costs 10x More Than Office AI

While a marketing team might deploy a generative AI tool for $50 a month per seat, manufacturers are spending over $2 million per implementation. According to the Infosys Manufacturing Tech Index released this month, more than half of surveyed manufacturers hit that spending threshold.The Infosys report, based on responses from 650 senior manufacturing executives worldwide, found that 75% of manufacturers have formally embedded AI into enterprise strategy. This is not pilot-project territory. Three-quarters of respondents describe AI as embedded at the enterprise level.What drives the cost difference is the boundary between information technology and operational technology. IT manages data and business systems. OT controls physical equipment, production lines, pumps, machinery, and sensors. They speak different languages and run on different timelines.When a manufacturer wants AI to optimize production, the system must integrate with machine sensors and industrial IoT devices. It must communicate with legacy enterprise resource planning systems never designed for real-time data exchange. Data engineering alone consumes significant resources.Cybersecurity hardening completes the picture. The Infosys report highlights a paradox: cybersecurity and operational technology systems represent the most common AI adoption area at 57% of manufacturers, yet cybersecurity is also cited as the biggest barrier to scaling AI at 23%.