A field report by Francis Latulippe, Chief Technology Officer • March 2026
I just got back from PDAC 2026, and I have to say, the energy on that floor was invigorating. More people, more projects, more urgency. But what struck me most wasn’t the size of the booths or the scale of the announcements. It was the realization, visible in conversation after conversation, that the companies that moved aggressively on their R&D two years ago are now the ones everyone is watching.
Time to market has always mattered. But at PDAC 2026, it felt less like an advantage and more like a survival condition.
Two Years Later: The Proof Is on the Floor
Two years ago, a handful of equipment manufacturers decided to stop waiting for the “perfect moment” and started building. This year at PDAC, you could see the results.
LithologIQ came to the convention this year with serious competition – close to 20 hyperspectral core-scanning solutions on the show floor, up from 5 just 2 years ago. Yet, no one else in their category has a comparable solution at scale. Their order book is full, and their competitors are still figuring out how to fit in the landscape.
Abitibi Geophysics tells a similar story. The wireless, real-time geophysical survey system they built with Axceta is now available in the field, and their competitors don’t have an equivalent to offer clients. That gap translates directly into contracts.
In both cases, the formula was the same: make the R&D investment at the right moment, bring in the right technical partner to execute, and let the market catch up to you.
These projects exemplify a typical success story: the commercial solutions, while initially meeting their objectives, evolved throughout the development phase to adapt to emerging market needs and opportunities. This ability to adjust the technology as the project progressed proved to be just as critical as the original idea itself.
Where the Market Is Right Now
The broader market is at an interesting inflection point. Across the floor, I spoke with equipment manufacturers – drill makers, core scanner producers, geophysics instrument companies, ventilation system builders – who have done their connectivity experiments. They know the technology works. Some are starting to mention it in their marketing.
But there is a significant distance between announcing a pilot and shipping a scalable, production-ready product. Most companies I spoke with are somewhere in the middle, and the honest ones will tell you they don’t quite know how to close that gap.
The Two Situations I Heard Over and Over
After enough conversations, two distinct situations kept coming up. They look very different on the surface, but they lead to the same problem.
Situation one: Business is booming. The team is flat-out delivering on a full order book. R&D is everyone’s priority in theory, but in practice, there are simply not enough hours. Innovation gets pushed back, not out of neglect, but because the day-to-day is all-consuming.
Situation two: Business is quieter. Things have slowed down, and the instinct is to wait until they pick back up before investing in new product development. This feels prudent. It isn’t. When the market turns, the window for competitive advantage will be open for a short time. If you haven’t built the product yet, you are back to “situation one,” and you will watch others walk through it.
Whether you are too busy or not busy enough, the result is the same: when the commercial opportunity fully matures, you are not ready for it.
The Vicious Cycle, and How to Break It
Structural constraints within the mining sector have historically limited the pace of innovation. Companies launch ambitious R&D projects with genuine excitement, often quietly, in the background. But somewhere between the proof of concept and a production-ready product, the momentum dies. The prototype sits on a shelf. The roadmap stalls.
Why? Going from experiment to scale requires a very specific skill set: IoT architecture, embedded systems, wireless connectivity, edge computing, productization strategy and, nowadays, artificial intelligence. Most equipment manufacturers are exceptional at what they build. That expertise is rarely available in-house. And hiring for it while simultaneously running a business is a slow, expensive road.
The companies that break this cycle did something simple: they brought in a focused, experienced team to lead the R&D execution while their own teams kept delivering on the core business. They didn’t wait to hire. They didn’t try to build the capability from scratch. They partnered, moved fast, and got to market.
So, When Is the Right Time?
Honestly? Earlier than you think. The signals that the moment is right are usually already present:
- You have a working prototype but no clear path to production. The distance between “it works” and “we can ship it at scale” is enormous, and it doesn’t close on its own.
- Your team is fully occupied with current deliverables. Waiting for a quiet period to do R&D is a strategy that rarely pays out. The quiet period either never comes or it comes too late.
- You know the technology exists, but aren’t sure how to integrate it. Connectivity, edge AI, embedded systems; these require deep, specific expertise that most manufacturing teams simply don’t have, and there’s no shame in that.
- You’re watching competitors make announcements. That’s the market telling you the window is open. LithologIQ and Abitibi Géophysique didn’t wait for that signal. They created it.
- You’re in a slower cycle and want to come out swinging. During downturns, smart companies invest in their next product generation. The ones that do are always the ones ready when demand returns.
This Is Exactly What Axceta Is Built For
Axceta is an agile R&D team with deep expertise in IoT, embedded systems, connectivity, and physical AI. We work alongside equipment manufacturers in mining, energy, and agtech who need to accelerate their product development without disrupting what’s already working.
We don’t just build prototypes and hand them off. We take products from concept to production-ready, with business model thinking built into the process from day one. We’ve done it before. The results are walking the floor at PDAC.
If your competitors don’t have a connected, intelligent product yet, that gap won’t last forever. But if you start now, by the time they catch up, you’ll be the one with the full order book.
Let’s talk.
Whether you’re in a busy season or a quieter one, Axceta can help move your product development forward without pulling your team off their core work. Reach out, we’d love to hear where you are and where you want to go.
Contact me at francis.latulippe@axceta.com
