Sini Rytky

Across industries, organizations are asking industrial systems to perform in conditions they were never designed for. The world has changed faster than the core logic of these systems, yet expectations continue to grow that AI will make them flexible, predictive, and reliable under uncertainty. Data volumes continue to increase, but understanding does not keep pace. Tacit knowledge remains locked in people, operational data is fragmented across siloed systems, and many AI initiatives focus on optimizing isolated functions rather than preparing organizations to operate as coherent, adaptive wholes. This pattern repeats across industrial, defense, and space operations, where rare events, degraded conditions, and time-critical decisions are part of everyday reality. As systems become more autonomous and AI-enabled, success depends not only on technical performance, but on whether humans are prepared to perceive what matters, learn from experience, and act coherently under real-world pressure. Without deliberate cognitive readiness, intelligence alone does not translate into resilience, trust, or safe operations. This session positions AI within the broader concept of human cognitive readiness and traces its evolution—from static, procedure-based training to simulation-driven preparation, and toward AI-enabled, adaptive readiness systems, where preparation for even the most unexpected events takes place primarily in simulated environments rather than through costly real-world exposure. Drawing on real-world work across industrial, defense, and space environments, Sini Rytky demonstrates how AI already improves cognitive readiness in practice, for example by: Enhancing perception through multimodal data fusion and rich situational awareness Supporting learning by identifying and understanding human behavioral patterns in complex operational contexts Building on this foundation, the presentation outlines current market demands for readiness, including faster onboarding into complex roles, preparedness for rare and high-impact scenarios, and the ability to manage complex operations remotely. Finally, the session introduces key research directions being explored within a leading research institution to address emerging readiness gaps, including: AI-driven knowledge capture, enabling critical experiential expertise to be externalized and transferred Synthetic data for AI model configuration and compatibility, supporting robust performance across evolving systems and environments Distributed situational awareness, enabling shared, real-time understanding across humans, AI systems, and autonomous assets Attendees will leave with: Practical examples of how AI can contribute to cognitive readiness systems, and how readiness expectations are evolving across safety-critical domains A clear, actionable checklist for initiating cognitive readiness planning in their operations, including key questions to assess the maturity of human preparedness, knowledge gaps, and simulation-based readiness systems