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The International Society of Automation (ISA) disclosed that it has maintained a multi-year growth trajectory, delivering its fourth... The post ISA Annual Report 2025 spotlights surge in automation skills, AI knowledge tools, industrial cybersecurity standards appeared first on Industrial Cyber.
Analysis Summary
# Industry News: ISA Report Confirms Strong Growth Driven by Demand for Automation Skills and Cybersecurity Standards
## Summary
The International Society of Automation (ISA) reported its fourth consecutive year of record growth in revenue and membership, underscoring a significant global upswing in demand for technical expertise in industrial automation and cybersecurity. Key drivers include increased adoption of certified training, widespread use of industrial cybersecurity standards (like ISA/IEC 62443), and the integration of new AI tools like Mimo to address the critical skills gap.
## Key Details
- Date: March 02, 2026 (Date of Article Publication)
- Companies Involved: International Society of Automation (ISA)
- Category: Market Analysis / Organizational Performance Report
## The Story
The ISA Annual Report 2025 details robust organizational performance, with professional membership climbing nearly 7% to reach 18,790, and record revenue of $21 million. Since 2021, ISA has seen membership grow by 50% and revenue by 84%. This growth reflects the urgency industries place on upskilling workforces amid rapid digital and operational technology (OT) transformation. Highlights include high engagement in certified training programs and the successful launch of Mimo, ISA’s AI-powered large language model, which fielded nearly 10,000 queries, signaling a market appetite for AI-driven expertise accessibility in OT. Strategic focus areas for the coming years include deepening core training and standards development, and enhancing organizational agility.
## Business Impact
### For the Companies Involved
- **ISA:** Financial stability and increased institutional relevance. The growth validates their focus on core offerings (training, standards), strengthening their position as the definitive professional authority in industrial automation and OT security.
### For Competitors
- **Training/Certification Bodies:** ISA's accelerated growth, particularly in AI-integrated tools for OT knowledge, sets a new benchmark for responsiveness and digital enablement that other traditional industry bodies must match to remain relevant.
### For Customers
- **Industrial Operators/Engineers:** Increased access to validated, standardized knowledge (via membership, training, and Mimo) helps bridge the widening skills gap necessary for secure and efficient digital transformation projects.
### For the Market
- **Validation of Trend:** The report acts as a strong market indicator confirming that enterprise investment in industrial cybersecurity readiness and foundational automation knowledge is not plateauing but accelerating, driven by digital transformation pressures.
## Technical Implications
The widespread adoption of ISA standards (implied via focus areas) coupled with the launch and heavy use of Mimo (an LLM trained on proprietary OT/cybersecurity content) signals the technical integration of AI into fundamental industrial knowledge delivery and best practices.
## Strategic Analysis
- **Market Positioning:** ISA is strengthening its core position, moving from a historical standards body to a dynamic, digitally evolving professional home essential for both practitioners and enterprises navigating OT complexity.
- **Competitive Advantage:** Their proprietary content, leveraged through Mimo, provides a unique, defensible advantage in delivering specialized AI-assisted learning compared to general-purpose AI models.
- **Challenges:** Sustaining the current pace of growth (membership up 50% since 2021) requires continuous investment in content relevance and managing the scaling of personalized services like AI interaction. They must also ensure cultural adaptation aligns with their diversifying, globally engaged membership.
## Industry Reactions
- **Analyst Opinions:** Analysts likely view this report as strong validation that cybersecurity and upskilling remain the top strategic concerns for Critical Infrastructure and manufacturing sectors globally.
- **Expert Commentary:** Experts emphasize the importance of the "people" element, echoing the ISA President's statement that automation success depends on skilled personnel, especially as technology accelerates.
- **Market Response:** The increased media mentions and high conference attendance suggest strong external recognition of ISA’s growing influence.
## Future Outlook
- **Predictions and Expectations:** ISA is anticipated to deepen its integration of cybersecurity standards (like ISA/IEC 62443) into all training modules, further solidifying curriculum alignment with regulatory pressures facing critical infrastructure.
- **What to watch for:** Future reports will likely track the measurable impact of Mimo on workforce competency development and the adoption rates of ISA-backed industrial cybersecurity best practices across various industry verticals.
## For Security Professionals
The surge in automation skills demand, highlighted by ISA, means security professionals must become more fluent in OT protocols and systems. The emphasis on standards and AI-driven knowledge tools suggests that future security operations will require leveraging these standardized frameworks alongside new AI assistance tools to combat increasingly sophisticated threats targeting industrial environments.