I’d like to start by saying I am excited and honored to begin my term as the 2025 president of the International Society of Automation (ISA). This is especially true given the incredible work done by the Executive Board last year, led by 2024 ISA President Prabhu Soundarrajan and ISA CEO and Executive Director Claire Fallon. Thanks to their dedication and the efforts of the amazing ISA staff and volunteers, our society is set up to build upon the successes of 2024.
More details on the great work accomplished in 2024 will be coming out with the 2024 Annual Report. I can’t wait for you to see it when it's published.
In the mean time, I'd like to look ahead. I thought I would share ISA's 2025-2027 strategy, which has been developed collaboratively over the past several months by the Executive Board and staff leadership.
2025-2027 ISA Strategy
The Executive Board and staff leadership has worked together to craft a strategy with objectives and metrics that ISA will be using to define and measure success for the next three years. To me, the best part about this multi-year timeline is being able to prioritize execution of more complex initiatives.
This strategy focuses on six themes. Let’s dive in:
- We will focus on growing our existing business, particularly with respect to training and standards. ISA has seen significant growth in both revenue and membership in recent years — we shouldn't stop focusing on what we do best and where we see the most growth. With that said, just doubling down on what currently works doesn’t prepare us to be what automation professionals need from us tomorrow.
- We will increase the awareness and use of ISA's content. This will include engaging with corporations, government and distribution partners, as well as developing a strategy for ISA participation in key global third-party events. We generate a lot of amazing content — let's make sure the world knows about it!
- We will increase the process speed and agility of content development — this includes standards, training, events and more. We must increase efficiencies and reduce our time to market — we want to see the amazing work our staff and volunteers do get into the world as soon as possible.
- We will identify the right technical areas for ISA's focus. In some cases, this will mean new activities or a more robust effort on an existing technical area. In other cases, this may mean looking at whether activities are aligned with ISA's strategic priorities. Help us make sure the society's focus aligns with what you care about as an automation professional.
- We will strengthen our intellectual property (IP) protection policy. We hope that we can help more people understand how to use all the amazing work that goes into ISA's IP in a way that is fair to ISA.
- And finally, we will continue to take steps to improve our ISA culture, which includes raising awareness of our core values and our code of conduct. I hope that we can get more people to truly understand what an amazing team of volunteers, staff and Executive Board members we have. We all have to work together to make ISA "THE PLACE" for automation professionals.
This Is Your Society
ISA is your society. And we are over 17,000 strong now — that’s a lot of voices and perspectives from all over the world.
We want to hear your thoughts, and we value your engagement. Every member plays a role in the success of ISA. Please feel free to reach out to me at president@isa.org. Your ideas are always welcome.
Wrapping Up
Over the past three years, ISA has grown its membership by 42% and its revenue by 59%. Those numbers are remarkable — they show that we must be doing something right! We are going to continue to leverage what we have learned over the past three years to pave the way for the next three years.
If you are not yet an ISA member, I'd like to urge you to consider becoming a part of this amazing community of automation professionals. Let's "Make a Better World Through Automation" together! For details, visit www.isa.org/join.
