558: Maintenance Reimagined, with Samsara

Sean McGee of Samsara talks about maintenance; tackling key pain points; the impact of automation; flexibility, and driving successful change management.

IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: [02.15] An introduction to Sean, his role at Samsara, and why their conference, Samsara Beyond, is the highlight of the year.

[03.31] What the landscape of maintenance has typically looked like, and why Samsara have learned to pay attention to post-it notes.

"A lot of operators are trying to figure out how to go from reactive and chaotic to proactive and planned."

[05.52] Why Samsara has gone all-in on maintenance.

"What caused us to take the next step was… getting out into the field, talking to the shop managers, and hearing the pain of how hard it is to close the loop. And AI accelerated that. A lot of the pain points we can automate now."

[07.29] The biggest pain points maintenance teams see day-to-day.

[08.37] How Samsara puts a focus on realistic adoption and usage to meet people where they are.

"We had this idea, we went out into the field and tried it… and it was an immediate fit… but we had to run the feedback loop to understand that."

[10.24] How Samsara's 'Day In The Life' process helps drive successful change management.

"We map out the process and then work into the technology piece. It's not about: 'Here's the demo – good luck!'... We co-create."

"Flexibility is so important, and what a lot of the legacy systems got wrong was they're very rigid, they're very opinionated… You almost have to fit the tool instead of the tool fitting you."