Jayson Myers and the Rise of Canada’s Next Manufacturing Era

Originally published in the   

Canada does not lack ideas. It lacks adoption.

That is the blunt assessment driving Jayson Myers, CEO of Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen), as he works to reposition the country’s industrial base for a world where competitiveness is determined less by invention and more by execution.

For years, Canada has produced world class research, promising technologies, and breakthrough concepts. Yet productivity growth in manufacturing has lagged peers, and too many innovations stall before reaching factory floors. Myers has made closing that gap his mission.

He is not simply advocating modernization. He is building the conditions for it to happen.

Under his leadership, NGen has become a national convener that brings manufacturers, technology firms, researchers, and governments into collaborative projects designed to move innovations out of labs and into production lines. The approach is pragmatic and results driven. Instead of debating what Canada could become, Myers focuses on what companies must implement now to remain globally competitive.

His message to CEOs is clear: the future of manufacturing will be decided by who can adopt advanced technologies securely, responsibly, and at scale.

Advanced Manufacturing Is No Longer About Machines

Myers rejects the outdated notion that advanced manufacturing is primarily about equipment upgrades or automation investments. In his view, the real transformation is organizational.

Advanced manufacturing is an integrated system of people, processes, and technology aligned around business outcomes. Companies that treat modernization as a hardware purchase risk falling behind those that treat it as a strategic capability.

This distinction matters because Canada’s manufacturing sector is dominated by small and medium sized enterprises. Many are deeply embedded in global supply chains yet lack the resources of multinational competitors. For them, investment decisions must be precise and tied directly to productivity gains, market access, and resilience.

Myers believes this constraint can become an advantage. Canadian firms, unburdened by legacy megasystems, can leapfrog competitors by adopting targeted technologies that solve real operational problems rather than chasing trends.

It is a leadership philosophy rooted in discipline rather than hype.

Cybersecurity Moves From IT to the Boardroom

Perhaps Myers’ most consequential insight is that cybersecurity has shifted from a technical concern to a business survival issue.

In advanced manufacturing environments, cyber incidents do not merely expose data. They halt production, disrupt supply chains, and threaten worker safety. The consequences are immediate and tangible.

This is why Myers emphasizes workforce awareness and operational readiness as much as technical defenses. Tools alone cannot protect a factory if employees are not trained to recognize threats, follow protocols, and maintain continuity during disruptions.

He frames cybersecurity as business continuity planning for the digital age. Companies must assume an incident will occur and prepare to keep operating when it does.

For boards and executive teams, this reframing is critical. Cyber risk is now operational risk, reputational risk, and revenue risk combined.

The Rise of Industrial AI Risk

Artificial intelligence and robotics promise dramatic productivity gains, but Myers warns they also introduce a new category of vulnerability: cyber physical risk.

When software controls machines, integrity failures can translate into physical consequences. Hijacked robotics, manipulated automated vehicles, or compromised industrial systems can endanger workers and halt production.

This convergence of digital and physical risk requires governance that extends beyond IT departments. Senior leadership must understand how technologies interact with real manufacturing processes, where dependencies exist, and how failures could cascade across operations.

Too many digitization initiatives, Myers argues, are launched as technology projects rather than operational transformations. Without executive oversight grounded in business realities, those initiatives can introduce more risk than resilience.

Supply Chains Are Now Trust Networks

Global manufacturing is increasingly defined by interconnected supply chains where the vulnerability of one partner affects all others.

Large manufacturers are raising cybersecurity and data protection requirements for suppliers, turning digital maturity into a prerequisite for doing business. Companies that cannot demonstrate resilience risk exclusion from high value contracts.

For smaller Canadian firms, this shift is existential. Many assume they are too small to attract attention from cybercriminals, yet they are often targeted precisely because they represent weaker links in larger networks.

Myers describes modern supply chains as trust networks. Participation depends on proving that your systems, processes, and people can be relied upon not to disrupt the whole.

This is where cybersecurity intersects directly with economic opportunity.

Breaking Canada’s Innovation Silos

A recurring challenge in Canada’s industrial landscape is fragmentation. Research institutions, technology developers, manufacturers, and policymakers frequently operate in parallel rather than in partnership.

Myers has positioned NGen as a bridge across those divides.

By funding collaborative projects that combine advanced materials, AI, automation, and cybersecurity, NGen aims to accelerate adoption while reducing risk for individual firms. The model spreads knowledge, builds trust among partners, and creates pathways for smaller companies to access capabilities they could not develop alone.

It is an ecosystem strategy designed to move the entire sector forward rather than producing isolated success stories.

Trust as the New Industrial Currency

Underlying Myers’ agenda is a belief that trust has become the decisive factor in modern manufacturing.

Trust determines whether partners share data, whether customers award contracts, and whether employees embrace new technologies. It also determines whether companies can innovate without fear that a single incident will erase years of progress.

In this sense, cybersecurity is not merely about protection. It is about enabling collaboration and growth.

Manufacturers that can demonstrate reliability, transparency, and resilience will gain access to opportunities that others cannot. Those that cannot will find themselves increasingly sidelined.

A Canadian Leadership Moment

Jayson Myers is emerging as one of the country’s most consequential industrial leaders not because he promises a technological revolution, but because he is orchestrating the conditions required for one.

His work recognizes a reality many leaders prefer to avoid: Canada’s future prosperity depends on translating innovation into productivity, and productivity now depends on secure, trusted, digitally enabled manufacturing.

The stakes extend far beyond factories. Advanced manufacturing underpins economic sovereignty, supply chain resilience, and national competitiveness.

Myers’ leadership suggests Canada still has a window to reclaim momentum. But that window will not remain open indefinitely.

The choice facing the country is stark. Continue celebrating innovation while others scale it, or follow the path Myers is laying out, disciplined adoption, collaborative execution, and trust as the foundation of industrial growth.

In a world where capability determines relevance, that choice will define Canada’s place in the next era of manufacturing. You can connect with Jayson here.