Subvolts take Siemens CEO explains how automation reshapes jobs and global industry. Feb 9, 2026 - Business
- Understand how a major industrial automation company views job impacts and global trade shifts.
This is a solid interview with the CEO of a major industrial automation company discussing broad economic and job impacts.
Siemens CEO's mission to automate everything
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From Subvolts
Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.
Decoder with Nilay Patel features Siemens CEO Roland Busch discussing the company's mission to automate industrial processes. They explore the impact of widespread automation on jobs and how global trade shifts affect a company like Siemens. The conversation touches on Siemens' role in providing the hardware and software for automation and its collaborations.
Siemens makes the machines and software that help factories run automatically. The episode discusses how this automation affects jobs and what it means for global business when countries change how they trade with each other.
This episode offers insight into how a major industrial player like Siemens approaches automation and its societal implications. It's for business leaders, policymakers, and anyone interested in the future of work and manufacturing. The discussion on automation's impact on jobs and global trade connects to ongoing AI debates about economic disruption and reshoring, relevant to how frontier AI labs are developing tools for enterprise.
- HostNilay Patel
- GuestRoland BuschCEO, Siemens
- Guest: Siemens CEO Roland Busch
- Show: Decoder with Nilay Patel
- Length: 63 minutes
- Siemens USA Training Goal: 200,000 electricians by 2030
Siemens is one of those absolutely giant, extremely important, fairly opaque companies we love to dig into on Decoder. At a very basic, reductive level, Siemens makes the hardware and software that let other companies run and automate their stuff.
We spent a lot of time talking about what happens to jobs when Siemens automates everything — and what happens to a company like Siemens when the free trade era we’re used to gets turned on its head.
Read the full interview transcript on The Verge.
Links:
- Siemens Energy CEO attends Trump meeting at Davos | Reuters
- PepsiCo, Siemens, Nvidia announce digital twin collaboration | PepsiCo
- Siemens spins off Healthineers majority stake | Reuters
- Siemens USA to train 200,000 electricians by 2030 | Siemens
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Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Decoder is produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and edited by Ursa Wright. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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Questions people ask
- What does Siemens do?
- Siemens makes the hardware and software that allows other companies to run and automate their operations.
- What topics are discussed besides automation?
- The episode also covers the impact of changing global trade dynamics on a company like Siemens.
Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the audio, artwork and notes belong to The Verge.