Every year, Propulsion gathers the visionaries, builders, and problem-solvers shaping the future of manufacturing. And this year, that energy reached a new peak.
With the first public demo of Propel One and a front-row seat to groundbreaking customer stories, the event delivered more than just inspiration—it offered a blueprint for action.
Across every presentation, breakout session, and hallway conversation, one message rang clear: innovation isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. Especially in a world defined by volatility, labor shortages, tariff swings, and technological disruption.
For Propel customers, this moment is about taking control, with systems that unify, simplify, and amplify their work across the entire product lifecycle.
Real-World Wins: How Customers Are Driving Impact with Propel
This year’s customer-led sessions spotlighted a simple but powerful truth: transformation is happening, and it's happening fast.
From phased rollouts to full-platform replacements, customers across industries shared how they're navigating disruption—and seeing results.
Allegro MicroSystems ditched the spreadsheet sprawl and saw a 75% reduction in approval cycle times. Their connected product-customer data model brought clarity and speed to a high-tech environment.
VAST Data implemented Propel in just five weeks, cutting change order times from 50 days to 30—proof that fast doesn’t have to mean fragile.
Teladoc Health unified QMS operations across multiple acquisitions and slashed cycle times from 17 to 3 days, all while maintaining regulatory rigor.
Ascensia Diabetes Care took a pragmatic, phased approach to transformation, resulting in change processes that are 6x faster.
Surmodics shaved ~205 days off its change management cycle and demonstrated how strategic, incremental rollouts drive enterprise-wide adoption.
What these stories have in common is a commitment to balancing speed and compliance, innovation and risk, local needs and global scale.
Propel’s flexible single platform solution allows these companies to modernize on their terms, without compromising quality.
Propel One Agentic AI and the Intelligent Product Thread
In an opening keynote that blended urgency with optimism, CEO Ross Meyercord set the tone: 2025 demands agility.
His call to action? Get off cruise control and take the wheel. Because survival isn’t about avoiding disruption—it’s about outmaneuvering it.
Propel One, unveiled during the keynote, is a transformative step forward. Built on Salesforce's Agentforce, this AI-powered layer introduces a new generation of role-based agents designed to automate low-value work, accelerate launches, and unify product data across functions. And with native integration in Propel’s single platform, these capabilities come with enterprise-grade security and control.
As Ross put it:
“Agentic AI isn’t about replacing people—it’s about elevating them. Freeing your teams from repetitive tasks so they can focus on innovation.”
The launch was brought to life through a live demo with Kevin Crothers and Jill Mueller, showcasing:
- Deep BOM Cloning: Reuse and reconfigure product structures in seconds
- 3D Annotations & Collaboration: Turning notes into visual conversations
- Smart notifications: Keeping teams informed without the noise
- Product Spotlight: Providing sales and service with complete product visibility
Later, in the Product Roadmap keynote, CPO Eric Schrader doubled down on Propel’s innovation strategy, revealing how customer feedback, industry change, and AI innovation are shaping the future of the platform. Joined by Kevin Crothers and Mike Prom, the team walked through:
- Traceability & Risk Insights: Better visibility from requirements to release
- Component Insights: Part intelligence at scale for smarter sourcing
- Design Hub (coming soon): A single collaborative workspace for CAD, discussion, and iteration
These aren’t just features—they’re strategic capabilities designed to support faster launches, stronger collaboration, and data-driven decision-making across the entire product lifecycle.
Expertise on Stage: Strategy Meets Execution
Propulsion also delivered thought leadership that challenged assumptions and offered real-world guidance for manufacturers navigating change.
- Veteran PLM consultants September Higham and Tina Murray delivered a masterclass in change management, underscoring the role of executive sponsorship in successful rollouts.
- Salesforce’s Nanda Chitrala outlined the shift toward integrated, service-based models and how manufacturers are rethinking tech stacks to unlock new revenue.
- Kacey Heller, also from Salesforce, introduced the concept of Agentforce as digital labor—purpose-built AI agents that reduce burnout and increase throughput, especially in field service and customer engagement.
Their messages were clear: The winners in this next era will be those who build systems that are not only intelligent but also human-centric, secure, and adaptable.
A Community Built on Action
Of course, Propulsion wouldn’t be Propulsion without the in-between moments: the side conversations at coffee breaks, the “aha” moments during demos, the connections made over dinner 100 stories up in Chicago's famous Willis Tower.
These are more than networking opportunities—they're catalysts. They reinforce the value of shared experience, of learning from peers who’ve solved the same problems, asked the same questions, and emerged stronger.
What’s Next: From Vision to Velocity
At Propulsion 2025, product innovators came together to stop asking “if” and started planning “how.”
How to unify data. How to accelerate launches. How to scale without chaos. How to make AI actionable. And perhaps most importantly, how to take control of their futures.
For those who joined us, thank you for being part of this journey. For those who couldn’t make it, the recordings are available now—and they’re packed with practical strategies, bold visions, and the kind of insight that turns aspiration into execution.
Here’s to building what’s next. Together.
