Want to help AEM address changes impacting the non-road equipment industry and brainstorm ideas on how AEM should adapt to thrive in that change?
The association’s newly relaunched Futures Council is looking for interested AEM member company representatives to comprise five “vision teams” that will guide the council’s work related to disruptive trends impacting the industry.
“The global impact that our industry has on communities and economies is well known,” said AEM Senior Director of Industry Sectors John Rozum. “Taking that knowledge and the strong commitment of our members to have a positive impact, AEM’s Futures Council is looking to take an active role in building the future of that industry. But we can’t do it alone.”
Early next year, AEM leadership will lead the development of the vision teams and establish clear guidelines for both their composition and member participation. According to Rozum, interested individuals are encouraged to volunteer for a team or nominate someone else by Friday, Dec. 10. Each vision team will have an AEM staff liaison assigned to it in order to handle administrative tasks and facilitate communication with various AEM departments.
The teams will discuss and address the following topics:
- Autonomy & Automation
- Power & Emissions
- Economic & Geopolitical
- Data & AI
- Resource Efficiency & People
“Our goal is to finalize vision team rosters in the weeks ahead, hold initial team meetings shortly after the first of the year, and then gather all participants and Futures Council representatives for a larger gathering to discuss early progress and next steps in the spring.”
This past October, AEM brought a dozen of its brightest and influential member leaders together in Chicago for the first in-person meeting of the AEM Futures Council three-plus years.
Chaired by Dr. Ray Gallant of AEM member company Volvo Construction Equipment North America and supported by AEM staff leaders from the association’s Industry Sectors teams, the council discussed plans and scope of work for the remainder of 2025 and beyond.
In addition, the council identified a prioritized list of disruption topics (listed above) that AEM and the Futures Council should bring to its membership through content, committees, or its Sector Boards; disruptions within its trades of construction, agriculture, utility, forestry, or mining, as well as disruptions in its operations of channel to market, manufacturing, or supply channel.
In 2021 and 2022, the collective expertise of the AEM Futures Council and its members helped drive one of the largest thought leadership initiatives in the association’s history: the development and launch of the Future of Food Production and Future of Building whitepapers.
Council representatives set and prioritized topics and trends for the papers, they provided a pulse check on the initiative’s progress, and they assisted as subject matter experts on key topical matters. AEM member company thought leaders then discussed, developed, and documented in the whitepapers more than 20 trends that they felt defined the future of the agriculture and construction industries.
The whitepapers were released in the spring of 2022.
For more information on the AEM Futures Council and its industry-focused work in 2026, or to join one of the vision teams, contact AEM’s John Rozum at jrozum@aem.org.
