The Missing Layer in Reshoring: Andy Jenks on AI Diffusion in Manufacturing

In this episode of U.S. Manufacturing Today (powered by Veryable), host Matt Horine talks with Andy Jenks, co-founder and CEO of Jakib, about the overlooked software layer behind reshoring and its role in helping American manufacturers scale. Jenks traces his path from Alexa Internet and building Amazon’s first recommendation engine to Drive Capital in Columbus, where a 2021 demo of an early large language model changed how he saw AI. He explains the “diffusion gap”: buying AI licenses isn’t the same as putting AI to work, and real adoption usually starts with basic engineering that gets disconnected systems talking to each other. His view is that AI has started a build-software revolution, not a buy-software one. Jenks describes how Jakib embeds engineers to shadow employees, ships production software within weeks, and then hands it off while helping clients hire their own teams. Examples include a 3PL that grew revenue without adding headcount, a U.S. wireless module maker working to bring critical design work back from China, and AI-enabled walkie-talkies on a factory floor where phones are banned. Timestamps 00:00 Welcome to the Podcast 00:42 Software Behind Reshoring 01:51 Andy Jenks Origin Story 04:31 Seeing AI Early 09:57 The Diffusion Gap 13:51 Build Not Buy 17:52 Jakib Accidental Start 20:54 Abundance Over Cost Cuts 23:44 Deployed Engineers Playbook 28:01 Reshoring Chip Modules 33:06 Factory Floor AI Example 35:39 Monday Morning Plan 38:11 Wrap Up and Resources Links Andy on LinkedIn Jakib.AI Matt on LinkedIn Revitalizing US Manufacturing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign Up on the Veryable Platform