Bearing World is an important forum for our industry, bringing together research, development, engineering and application expertise, putting industry leaders into one conversation to share progress and shape the future direction of bearing technology and rotating equipment.

This year’s conference in Dresden, Germany, clearly reflected that ambition, with a strong focus on advanced tribology and lubrication, smart monitoring technologies, electrified and high-speed systems, and energy efficiency, carbon footprint, refurbishment and life extension—all critical to where our industry is headed. SKF’s presence reflected this breadth as well. We contributed through the opening keynote, active participation in the conference and the scientific community, and technical contributions that show how materials and performance expertise continue to matter alongside digital progress. I was pleased to open the conference with a keynote on “Intelligent and Clean Bearings.”

Because today, customers are under increasing pressure to reduce energy use, improve uptime, and make faster, better decisions. That means the value of a bearing can no longer be defined only by geometry or load ratings. It must be measured by how it helps customers improve efficiency, enable insight, operate predictably, and reduce environmental impact. As industries become more digital, more electrified, and more sustainability-driven, expectations are changing. Bearings remain fundamental, but their role is evolving. Collaboration is becoming a competitive advantage  One of the strongest takeaways is that progress in our industry will increasingly be shaped through collaboration. No single company can define the future alone. For SKF, this reinforces the importance of co-creating with customers, working closely with academic partners, and engaging with a broader ecosystem of like-minded innovators to move faster from insight to application.  This is true not only in bearing research, but also in AI. Our recent partnership with Sferical AI reflects this mindset — combining industrial expertise with high-performance AI infrastructure to accelerate work in predictive maintenance, quality control, R&D, and next-generation digital products. Bearing World itself is a strong example of this model, where science and industry come together to solve real challenges and create tangible value. AI is moving from concept to practical industrial value  Another clear takeaway is that AI is becoming operational. At Bearing World, AI-powered condition monitoring and modelling were part of the broader technical discussion, reflecting a shift in how our industry approaches performance, reliability, and decision-making. The focus is moving from experimentation to AI as a practical way to improve diagnostics, make sense of complex data and support better maintenance decisions.

Our condition monitoring solutions combine sensors, analytics, and AI-based tools to detect issues earlier and help customers act before failures occur. Our collaborations show how AI can support real operating environments where data volumes are high, and conditions are demanding and actionable insight matters more than raw information.  For me, that is the real promise of AI in our industry, where technology makes industrial knowledge more scalable, more accessible and more useful to customers.  “Intelligent and clean” must translate into customer value  The third and most important takeaway is that intelligent and clean solutions must be anchored in customer needs. Across industries, customers are under pressure to reduce energy consumption, increase reliability, and deliver on decarbonization targets without compromising performance. This is why topics such as friction reduction, lubrication, and life extension were so prominent throughout the Bearing World event. For SKF, this is where customer-centric innovation becomes critical. “Intelligent” means helping customers move from reactive to predictive by turning bearing and machine data into earlier insight and better decisions. “Clean” means designing for efficiency, reducing friction, extending life and enabling circularity from the start.  Together, these capabilities help customers reduce energy losses, simplify maintenance, extend asset life, and advance decarbonization in measurable ways.

Looking ahead  So what is the way forward?  We must continue to bring together customer-centric innovation, deep application engineering, AI and digital capabilities, and lifecycle thinking to solve real industrial challenges. I leave Bearing World encouraged. We have the expertise, the curiosity, and the collaborative spirit, and we will continue to move this forward by co-creating with customers, research communities, and industrial ecosystems.  Because the next chapter will be about using everything we know, from materials science and tribology to digitalization and AI, to deliver real impact. That’s how we help customers move from reducing friction to reducing uncertainty, from components to intelligent systems, and from ambition to operational impact.  That is how we help build a more intelligent, more energy-efficient, and more sustainable industry. And that is a future worth engineering, together.