IT/OT Integration Summit 2026
Intelligent brownfield networking
Many industrial companies are struggling with established plant structures and proprietary interfaces. Stefan Klaus' presentation will show in a practical way how brownfield environments can be efficiently networked with open technologies and made fit for Industry 4.0.
The IT/OT INTEGRATION SUMMIT brings together experts from industry, software development and automation to discuss the future of networked production. The focus is on strategies and technologies that companies can use to efficiently merge their production and IT worlds - from data integration and edge and cloud architectures to AI-supported applications in the factory.
A practical insight into the challenges and opportunities of IT/OT integration in medium-sized industrial companies is provided by the presentation "IT/OT integration in medium-sized companies - from the brownfield plant to the networked factory" by Stefan Klaus, Principal Product Owner at XITASO.
The presentation will focus on the question of how established brownfield structures can be transformed into modern, networked production environments. Digitization projects often fail, especially in medium-sized companies, due to proprietary interfaces, heterogeneous system landscapes and a lack of data consistency. Using the example of BHS Corrugated, Stefan Klaus shows how a modular and vendor-neutral integration platform based on open technologies brings together sensors, edge systems and cloud applications in a standardized architecture.
This is not just about technological concepts, but above all about concrete practical experience: How can the complexity of interfaces be reduced? How can companies improve the quality of their production data? And how can development and deployment cycles be significantly accelerated?
The presentation also provides valuable lessons learned from real Industry 4.0 projects and shows which organizational and technological requirements are necessary to establish flexible and scalable production IT.
The speaker: Stefan Klaus from XITASO
Stefan Klaus is a graduate computer scientist and Principal Product Owner at XITASO GmbH. He has many years of experience in software development and product management as well as extensive expertise in IT/OT integration projects in mechanical and plant engineering. His projects include work for BHS Corrugated, Reinhausen and MULTIVAC.
His professional focus is on the development of industrial data platforms, brownfield connectivity and agile product management of complex technical systems. He also has extensive experience in requirements engineering, workshop moderation and control and HMI-related software development.









