Six Facilities, Three Countries, One Culture w/ Darragh de Stonndún

The Manufacturing Executive · 11 Aug 2026 · 32m · Episode 322

What this episode covers

Darragh de Stonndún, CEO of Automated Industrial Robotics (AIR), explains how he scaled the company across six facilities in the US, UK, and Ireland by prioritizing cultural alignment over technology in acquisitions. He details AIR's 'wall-less' operating model, where subject matter experts are assembled globally to solve customer problems rather than assigning work to the nearest facility. De Stonndún also discusses his philosophy on AI in manufacturing, viewing it as a tool to optimize efficiency and augment human engineers rather than replace them, and defines success as building a self-sustaining culture.

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