In our latest interview from IMTS 2026 in Chicago, IEN's David Mantey has a conversation with Sid Rajaram, co-founder and CEO of Primary, a specialized talent marketplace built for the manufacturing sector.
In the interview, Rajaram dives deep into the changing landscape of skilled labor and how technology is reshaping the workforce.
Highlights include:
- 0:40: Why roles like "fractional CNC programmer" are suddenly becoming a reality.
- 2:04: How skilled manufacturing experts are gaining leverage to dictate their terms, hours and pay in a new kind of gig economy.
- 2:39: Why companies are paying top dollar for industry veterans to transfer their expertise into AI systems.
- 4:17: Why CAM programming for injection molding is currently the hardest AI model to train.
- 7:46: Are we actually moving atoms faster yet, or is AI just helping with the administrative side?
For machine shops looking to fill roles or build their own private AI systems, as well as experts looking to open a new revenue stream by training AI, this could be a new opportunity.
