From Blasting Rock to Leading Global Innovation: Niel McCoy’s Mining Evolution

Описание: 💬 happens when decades of hands-on mining experience meet the future of automation and AI? This powerful conversation with Niel McCoy explores how service, technology, and leadership are converging to reshape global mining operations.

Niel McCoy is Director of Aftermarket at Sandvik’s Business Unit Automation. With over 30 years in mining and deep expertise in field operations, Niel now leads global aftermarket strategies supporting automation, autonomy, and digital transformation across the industry. In this episode, he shares hard-won insights—from managing high-stakes blast zones to implementing AI-powered remote support systems.

In this episode, you'll discover:
Why change management is the hidden engine behind every successful tech rollout

The real-world impact of AI tools in mining support
How to build trust and competence across global, multilingual field teams
Lessons in leadership, ownership, and fixing your own mistakes
Why aftermarket support is now a continuous lifecycle, not a service moment

Whether you're in mining, field service, or enterprise transformation—this conversation is a masterclass in people-first innovation and global scalability.

0:00 Introduction
0:30 Niel’s journey: from mining engineer to global tech leader
1:50 Moving into Sandvik and the automation aftermarket
3:30 Empowering the rock face: team-first leadership
5:00 The value of specialist teams and servant leadership
6:00 Navigating organisational change and agility
8:00 Global vs local decision-making mindsets
9:30 Mining’s biggest shift: data, skills, and automation
11:30 What other industries can learn from mining tech
13:00 The missing ingredient in most tech rollouts
15:00 How to protect tribal knowledge (and why it matters)
17:00 Sustaining technology benefits post-implementation
18:30 Competence development vs one-time training
20:00 Tools, AI, and remote support for customers
21:45 What great aftermarket support looks like
23:30 How global service consistency is achieved
25:00 Rolling out AI: starting with the “why”
26:30 Global team training challenges and language barriers
28:00 The next frontier in automation: partnership, not product
31:00 24-month priorities: growth, AI, and team enablement
33:00 Bottlenecks: skills, funding, and internal alignment
34:30 Old-school field service values that still matter
36:00 The time Niel blew up a key mining structure (!)
40:00 Magic wand: one unified platform for everything
41:00 Final thoughts and thanks

Contact and Links
💬 For expert field service consultation and enterprise software solutions, visit:
🌐 https://leadent.digital
Connect with us for more insights and transformation strategies.
#MiningAutomation #FieldServiceLeadership #DigitalTransformation #fieldservice