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Industry Opinion
Foundations Before Technology: Why Technical Knowledge and Emerging Technologies Must Evolve Together
By Joe Altieri, FIT Adjunct Professor, Mentor, Educator, and Trainer
Walk into almost any apparel industry conference today, and you’ll hear conversations about Artificial Intelligence, Digital Product Creation (DPC), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), automation, robotics, and data-driven decision-making. These technologies are transforming our industry, and they should be. They promise greater speed, improved accuracy, enhanced collaboration, and entirely new ways of thinking about how apparel is designed, developed, and manufactured.
I recently had the opportunity to participate in a panel at the PI Apparel conference discussing one of the industry’s most important questions: What prevents organizations from successfully scaling Digital Product Creation?
The discussion quickly turned to familiar obstacles.
Organizations struggle with change. Employees fear failure. Some worry that artificial intelligence will eventually replace them. Others question whether the technology is mature enough to justify the investment.
When it came time to answer, my response surprised a few people. I said, “Scaling Digital Product Creation starts with people.”
The statement wasn’t intended to diminish technology. Quite the opposite. It was intended to remind us that technology succeeds only when people understand the work it was designed to support.
That observation has stayed with me ever since.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized we may be asking the wrong question. Perhaps the greatest challenge facing artificial intelligence is not artificial intelligence at all. Perhaps it is whether we are preparing professionals with the foundational knowledge necessary to give AI operational value.
I have never viewed artificial intelligence as a threat to our industry. I believe AI represents one of the greatest opportunities the apparel industry has seen in decades. But I also believe something equally important. Technology and technical knowledge are not competitors. They are interdependent. One derives its greatest value from the other.
For several years, I have argued that successful digital transformation begins with people. Today, I would refine that statement. Successful digital transformation begins with people who possess the technical foundations to understand the work they are transforming.
People must first understand the profession.
That understanding begins with foundational knowledge. Foundational knowledge develops into operational understanding. Operational understanding develops professional judgment. Technology amplifies all three. It cannot replace any of them.
This progression is not unique to apparel manufacturing. Every profession follows the same path.
Medical students begin with biology, anatomy, physiology, microbiology, and pathology long before they specialize in robotic surgery or begin interpreting sophisticated diagnostic imaging. Those foundational sciences are not taught because physicians spend their careers reciting anatomy textbooks. They are taught because they develop the understanding required to exercise sound clinical judgment.
The same is true in automotive technology.
Today’s automobiles are controlled by extraordinarily sophisticated computers. Modern technicians rely on advanced diagnostic equipment that can identify faults in seconds.
Yet every skilled technician still begins by learning the fundamentals of the internal combustion engine, ignition systems, fuel delivery, lubrication, cooling, and power transmission.
The diagnostic equipment identifies symptoms. Professional understanding identifies causes. Technology becomes powerful because the technician already understands the machine.
Why should apparel manufacturing be any different?
Students entering our profession still need to understand textiles, garment construction, pattern engineering, costing, quality systems, production management, cutting room operations, sewing methods, and manufacturing workflow. Not because they will perform every operation manually throughout their careers. But because these disciplines collectively develop something far more valuable than individual technical skills. They develop operational understanding.
Operational understanding is what allows professionals to interpret information rather than simply receive it.
A marker system can generate an efficient marker. But does the user understand why one marker performs better than another?
A PLM system can generate a complete Bill of Materials. But does the user understand how those components affect sourcing, manufacturing, quality, cost, and delivery?
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Artificial intelligence can analyze extraordinary amounts of data and recommend solutions. But can the user recognize when those recommendations conflict with manufacturing reality?
Software produces information. Operational understanding gives that information meaning. Without foundational knowledge, artificial intelligence can generate answers. Without operational understanding, those answers have little operational value. That is not a limitation of AI. It is a reminder that technology has always depended upon knowledgeable professionals.
None of this should be interpreted as an argument against teaching technology. Quite the opposite.
Educational institutions face an extraordinary challenge. They must prepare students for technologies that continue to evolve while preserving the timeless principles that enable graduates to adapt as those technologies inevitably change.
Artificial intelligence, Digital Product Creation, PLM, automation, and advanced analytics are no longer optional skills. They are rapidly becoming essential competencies for the next generation of apparel professionals. They deserve a prominent place in every curriculum. But they should not exist independently of the technical foundations upon which they rely.
Technology does not diminish the importance of foundational knowledge. It increases it.
Industry also shares responsibility.
Universities cannot recreate the manufacturing environment that once surrounded many apparel programs. When I entered the profession, manufacturing facilities were far more prevalent. Students gained invaluable experience through internships, cooperative education, mentors, factory tours, and advisors who understood how classroom learning connected to industrial practice.
Today’s educational environment is fundamentally different.
Many domestic manufacturing facilities have disappeared.
Students often complete internships eager to learn, only to spend their time performing administrative errands rather than participating in meaningful operational experiences. They are not looking for coffee runs or trips to the shipping counter. They are looking to learn. They are hungry. They are sponges, ready to absorb the knowledge that experienced professionals have spent decades acquiring.
If those opportunities no longer exist naturally, then education and industry must work together to create them.
Perhaps the future of apparel education is not a choice between teaching technical fundamentals and teaching emerging technologies. It is recognizing that each depends upon the other. Technical knowledge without technology limits innovation. Technology without technical knowledge limits understanding. Together, they prepare professionals capable of adapting throughout careers that will undoubtedly be shaped by technologies we cannot yet imagine.
The future of apparel manufacturing will absolutely involve artificial intelligence. But artificial intelligence will never eliminate the need for professional judgment. It will elevate it.
If we hope to rebuild a competitive apparel industry, we must prepare graduates who understand not only how to operate tomorrow’s technology, but why that technology matters in the first place.
Because every great profession has always understood these simple truths: Technology changes. Understanding endures.