NOTQIN — OT Track

Travis Cox

8 min read

Travis Cox

Why this dossier matters for NOTQIN

Travis is one of the most recognized voices behind Inductive Automation’s Ignition platform — the SCADA / UNS reference stack NOTQIN’s sector packs are positioned alongside. His public quotes on UNS adoption, Ignition + Sparkplug B, and the industrial-AI transition would anchor the “why now” slide of any NOTQIN investor or AMICA conversation. We have no direct relationship but the path is straightforward (Inductive Automation runs a structured partner / integrator program and an Ignition Community Conference). Worth understanding before any partnership / speaker outreach.

What we already know (don’t re-research)

  • Long-tenured public face of Inductive Automation
  • Frequent speaker on UNS, Sparkplug B, Ignition deployments
  • Frequently co-presents with Walker Reynolds, Arlen Nipper, Don Pearson
  • His position quotable for the NOTQIN investor-deck “why now” slide
  • Exact current title needs verification

2026-05-30 — live LinkedIn capture (enterprise-KG)

Captured live via the founder’s authenticated Chrome session by linkedin-enterprise-kg (2nd global Lens-C→D enrichment). linkedin.com/in/traviscox-automation. Answers §1, §3, §8 of the prompt below:

  • Title VERIFIED: Chief Technology Evangelist @ Inductive Automation (Aug 2022→); 21 yrs 10 mos total at IA (ex Co-Director Sales Engineering 2012–2022 / solution-architect lead; ex Director Training & Support). Folsom CA; UC Davis CS. 7,110 followers. 2nd-degree (mutuals Walker Reynolds + Dave Griffith) → reachable.
  • Agentic stance (§3/§8 — was the open question): IA is now publicly agentic-positioned. At IA’s Data Center Discovery Day 2026 (EnergyTech podcast) Travis framed the future as UNS · MQTT/Sparkplug B · AI-ready architectures · Edge + orchestration · Agentic workflows · OT/IT convergence. The dominant SCADA/UNS platform is marketing agentic — so NOTQIN can’t differentiate on “UNS + AI” generically; lead with governed write-back + scorecard.
  • Ignition 8.3 = Deployment Modes + Git version-control (build/test/deploy lifecycle, May 2026 webinar). He does not claim the MCP module is GA → consistent with our KG fact (Ignition 8.3 MCP = Early Access).
  • New media channel: launched “Ignited” podcast with Thomas Burke (ex-OPC Foundation) — youtube @IgnitedPod, 2026. A fresh OT-community channel + a standards-world node.
  • Ecosystem partners surfaced: Barbara (Ignition Edge in Barbara Marketplace), Tiger Data/TimescaleDB (Gold Provider), SmartSights (alarm intelligence, ISA 18.2), Abelara. CEO/co-creator = Colby Clegg.
  • Pricing contrast: Ignition = unlimited tags/clients/seats per Gateway license (“friends don’t let friends pay-per-tag”) — a NOTQIN pricing-narrative reference point.
  • KG: +7 nodes / +10 edges. Added Colby Clegg, Thomas Burke, Barbara, Tiger Data, Ignition 8.3 product node.

The full deep-research prompt below remains open for the partner-program / ICC / EMEA-MENA / engagement-path depth a single profile read can’t cover.

📋 Deep Research Prompt — paste into Gemini Deep Research OR ChatGPT Deep Research

Today’s date is 2026-05-24. Copy everything between the --- markers below.

You are a senior research analyst producing a strategic intelligence dossier on Travis Cox (public face of Inductive Automation, makers of the Ignition SCADA / IIoT platform), for a small Moroccan industrial-intelligence startup called NOTQIN. NOTQIN’s sector packs are positioned alongside Ignition + a Unified Namespace architecture. We need to understand Travis’s body of work + the structured paths into Inductive Automation’s orbit.

What I already know (do NOT re-research):

  • Travis is a long-tenured executive / evangelist at Inductive Automation (the company behind the Ignition platform)
  • He’s one of the most frequent public speakers in the Unified Namespace + Sparkplug B + industrial-AI ecosystem
  • He regularly co-presents with Walker Reynolds (4.0 Solutions), Arlen Nipper (Cirrus Link, Sparkplug B co-inventor), and Don Pearson (Inductive Automation)
  • Inductive Automation runs an annual Ignition Community Conference (ICC)
  • His current exact title at Inductive Automation needs verification

What I need from you — a structured dossier covering ALL of the following, in this exact order. Use markdown headers. Cite every claim with a source URL.

1. Identity & current role

  • Verified full name, exact current title at Inductive Automation, location
  • Tenure (when did he join? years at company?)
  • LinkedIn URL, X/Twitter, personal site if any
  • Reporting structure — who he reports to; how he relates to founders Steve Hechtman / Carl Gould
  • Any other roles (board seats, advisory positions, podcast hosting)

2. Body of work (2023–2026)

  • The 10 most-watched / most-cited talks, with title + venue + date + URL
  • All podcast appearances 2024–2026 (host + episode + URL + date)
  • Articles, whitepapers, blog posts authored or co-authored in 2023–2026
  • ICC keynotes (which years, what topics)
  • Any books, formal training, or certifications he’s authored

3. Public positions — the frameworks / quotes Travis is known for

For UNS · Sparkplug B · Ignition’s role in IIoT · the “why now” for industrial AI:

  • His most quotable single-sentence positions (verbatim where possible, with source URL)
  • His view on the alternatives — HiveMQ, EMQX, plain MQTT, OPC UA-only stacks — and where Ignition fits
  • His view on Knowledge Graphs / agentic AI in industrial (a relatively new conversation; is he engaged with it or skeptical?)
  • His view on edge vs cloud processing
  • Any public position on the “build vs buy” question for customers

4. Inductive Automation — relevant company context

  • Latest disclosed company facts (employee count, revenue ballpark if known, customer count claim, latest year’s deployments)
  • Partner program structure: tiers (Premier, Authorized, Reseller, etc.), requirements to join, benefits
  • Integrator network: which integrators are Premier / regional leaders, especially in EMEA, MENA, Africa
  • Distributor structure in Morocco / North Africa / Francophone Africa — does it exist? Who?
  • ICC: when is the next one (2026 / 2027)? Speaker submission process? Cost to attend?
  • Ignition Exchange (3rd-party module marketplace) — submission process, examples of successful modules

5. Travis’s network

  • Top 10 people he most frequently co-presents / co-podcasts with
  • Top 10 people / orgs that most amplify his content
  • His connection to Walker Reynolds, Arlen Nipper, Bob Vanderoulen, Travis Cox’s peers in the broader UNS community
  • Any direct connection to academic institutions or research labs
  • Any public tension with adjacent vendors

6. Geographic focus

  • Primary markets he covers (US assumed; verify)
  • Any Morocco / North Africa / Francophone Africa / EMEA mentions in his content
  • His role in Inductive Automation’s international expansion (any speaking trips, regional case studies?)

7. Engagement paths

  • Speaker / podcast guest selection — how does Travis pick guests for any forums he hosts? Pattern?
  • Inductive Automation as an entry point — how does a small founder team in an emerging market get on IA’s radar?
    • Partner program: realistic entry tier for a 5-person Moroccan team
    • Customer case study: would IA promote a Moroccan customer if NOTQIN delivered one?
    • Ignition Exchange: would publishing a NOTQIN sector pack as an Exchange module be a credibility move?
  • ICC submission — is the next ICC realistic for NOTQIN to speak at? What does it cost?
  • Closest non-Travis on-ramp — who in IA’s orbit would intro to him?

8. Recent activity (last 6 months from today’s date, 2026-05-24)

  • His last 5 LinkedIn posts (date + 1-line + engagement metrics)
  • His last 3 podcast appearances or talks
  • Any major Inductive Automation announcement he fronted in the window
  • Any pivot in narrative (especially toward / away from agentic AI, KG, MCP)

9. Strategic read for NOTQIN

  • Best single move for NOTQIN (a Moroccan industrial-intelligence startup, pre-paying-customer) to credibly enter IA’s orbit in the next 90 days
  • Whether Travis personally is reachable for our stage, or whether we need to engage IA’s partner team first
  • The 1-line outreach pitch he’d actually reply to (vs the 1000s of fan / pitch emails)
  • Whether becoming a featured Ignition partner / Exchange contributor is plausible and worth the engineering investment

10. Sources used

  • Complete URL list, grouped by category (LinkedIn / YouTube / Podcasts / ICC talks / IA blog / Other)

Constraints:

  • DO NOT include marketing puff or vendor-supplied bios
  • DO NOT include pre-2023 material unless directly cited as foundational
  • DO NOT speculate beyond what sources support — mark uncertainty as [uncertain: source weak]
  • DO NOT skip §6 (geography) — explicitly say “no Morocco / MENA mention found” if true
  • Distinguish carefully between Travis personally and Inductive Automation as a company — the two are not synonymous

Output as a single markdown document. Target length: 2500–4000 words plus source list.

📥 Paste research results here

1. Identity & current role

(pending research)

2. Body of work (2023–2026)

(pending research)

3. Public positions

(pending research)

4. Inductive Automation — relevant company context

(pending research)

5. Travis’s network

(pending research)

6. Geographic focus

(pending research)

7. Engagement paths

(pending research)

8. Recent activity (last 6 months)

(pending research)

9. Strategic read for NOTQIN

(pending research)

10. Sources used

(pending research)

What to do once filled

  1. Update status: frontmatter from stub-pending-research to populated-v1 + today’s date
  2. Update People Map §7 row
  3. Extract the strongest 1-liner quote (§3) into the investor-deck “why now” slide source
  4. Identify the single highest-leverage move from §9 → add to NOTQIN Path-to-Pilot — Team Orchestration 2026 action items (likely Wave J or later)
  5. If §4 surfaces a meaningful EMEA / MENA partner-program path → add a new row to People Map §9 (Vendors / partners) for the IA partner team contact
  6. Re-run prompt every 6 months

See also

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