Page 14 - EngineerIT April May Issue 2026

ENGINEERING

Autonomy changes the role

of the engineer

By Nicola Killops

utomation has been the focus Autonomous operations extend beyond that.
for years. Reduce manual
Awork, improve consistency, Systems analyse patterns, learn from behaviour, and adapt without waiting
increase efficiency. In many for instruction. They can anticipate failures, adjust performance as conditions
environments, that phase is largely in change, and optimise processes continuously.
place.
“We’ve moved past telling systems what to do. Now we define the limits
What is changing now is how systems and let them operate within them.”
behave.
The result is a different operating model.
They are no longer limited to
executing predefined tasks. Systems New control standards
monitor performance, identify issues, As systems take on more responsibility, the role of the operator changes.
and make adjustments in real time.
The shift is subtle, but it changes how Control rooms see fewer manual interventions. More of the work happens through
operations run and how engineers monitoring, interpretation, and targeted decision-making. Engineers are stepping
work. back from constant interaction and focusing on exceptions and anomalies.

From rules to response “You’re not driving the process anymore. You’re watching it and stepping
Traditional automation runs on in when it matters.”
fixed rules. If a condition is met, an
action follows. The logic is defined in Understanding how a system behaves becomes as important as knowing how to
advance, even in complex systems. operate it.

14 | EngineerIT April/May 2026