Industrial automation in Spain faces a decisive moment. Attracting investment and developing smart factories requires much more than incorporating the latest generation machinery. As production processes integrate artificial intelligence (AI), collaborative robotics and real-time decisions, the true bottleneck of business competitiveness moves to the network infrastructure.
According to PwC’s Global Industrial Manufacturing Sector Outlook 2026 report, industrial automation is expected to rise from 18% today to 50% in 2030. In just a few years, it will cease to be a competitive advantage reserved for technology leaders and become a central element of industrial strategy. For this transformation to be possible, it will be essential to have networks capable of transporting large volumes of data securely, flexibly and with minimal latency. For DE-CIX, the world’s leading Internet Exchanges (IX) operator, three technologies are particularly relevant to the future of smart manufacturing: AI-powered cobots, Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architectures, and software-defined networks and interconnections, capable of dynamically adapting connectivity to the needs of each industrial process.
Intelligent cobots: much more than production assistants
The new generation of collaborative robots is no longer limited to executing repetitive tasks. Thanks to artificial intelligence, cobots are capable of learning from experience, optimizing their movements, recognizing components, inspecting surfaces, monitoring processes and reacting to incidents in real time.
An example of this evolution is humanoid robots, recently used by BMW in the United States to collaborate on manufacturing tasks that require millimeter precision and the ability to react immediately. These systems must position metal parts in just two seconds and with deviations of less than five millimeters, an example of the level of precision that modern industry demands.
Their ability to interpret information from cameras, sensors and algorithms allows them to “see”, analyze their environment and collaborate safely with operators. At the same time, factors such as improved workplace safety, cost reduction and the evolution of AI are accelerating its adoption. Industry forecasts suggest that collaboration between people and machines will become increasingly common before the end of the decade.
Infrastructures prepared for an industry based on AI
The evolution of cobots reflects a deeper change that affects the entire digital infrastructure of factories. Technologies such as cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), edge computing
and artificial intelligence are replacing rigid architectures with much more dynamic environments, where networks must continually adapt to new workloads and industrial applications.
In this scenario, software-defined networks take center stage, capable of intelligently managing connectivity and prioritizing traffic according to the needs of each process. Instead of relying on static configurations, these architectures allow the software to determine how network resources should respond in real time, providing greater operational agility.
Cloud security ready for the new industry
The increasing digitalization of industrial operations is also driving the adoption of Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architectures, a model that integrates advanced connectivity and cybersecurity functions from the cloud.
Software-defined networks will cease to be a technical component and become a strategic factor
In addition to protecting communications, SASE allows applying access policies based on the identity of users, devices or applications, optimizing traffic and reducing the complexity of traditional infrastructures. For cobots to make intelligent decisions, data streams from sensors, cameras and algorithms must travel safely and with minimal latency. Only then can they respond with the speed and precision required by an industrial environment where people and machines work together.
Direct Interconnection and Software Defined Networking
Direct interconnection between networks will also be a key piece to respond to the needs of the new industry. Reducing the distance that data travels allows you to avoid the bottlenecks of the public Internet and connect in a private, secure and low-latency way with cloud providers and critical services that keep production plants operational.
However, the connectivity of the future will not only depend on faster links, but also on software-defined interconnection platforms, capable of provisioning services on demand and automatically adapting to production needs. This evolution will facilitate open, interoperable architectures prepared for increasingly distributed industrial environments.
As part of this transformation, DE-CIX participates in publicly funded European initiatives, such as NEXUS, a project developed within the framework of IPCEI-CIS that seeks to promote a sovereign cloud-edge infrastructure for Europe based on open architectures, APIs and software-defined interconnection.
“There is no point in investing millions in the most advanced machinery or artificial intelligence if the factory network is obsolete. The biggest bottleneck for the productivity and profitability of Industry 4.0 today is not robots, but connectivity. The infrastructure must be ultra-fast, secure and flexible enough for these investments to truly generate competitive advantages,” says Cesar Vega, Business Cloud & Enterprise Sales Lead Southern Europe at DE-CIX.
As artificial intelligence is integrated into manufacturing processes, industrial competitiveness will increasingly depend on the ability of companies to build intelligent digital infrastructures. In this new scenario, software-defined networks will cease to be a technical component and become a strategic factor that will make more efficient, secure and connected production possible.
