In this episode of Smart Twins, host Jimmy Abualdenien is joined by Rob Foster, a global leader in digital twin strategy and co-founder of Geminum. With a career that spans mining, engineering, software development, and systems thinking, Rob brings a refreshingly candid and deeply experienced perspective to the world of digital twins.Rob shares the unlikely journey that led him from the Australian Army to global mining operations, and ultimately into software and digital twins. Drawing from years of hands-on work across industries, from deep-sea mining to AI-based safety solutions, Rob outlines why digital twins are more than technology buzzwords. They’re about solving real world problems.Jimmy and Rob dive into the practical side of digital twins: how to start small, iterate fast, and focus on value creation over flashy dashboards. Rob explains the difference between horizontal and vertical use cases, and why many large-scale twins fail by going too broad, too soon. He stresses the importance of human context in high-stakes environments like mining, where digital systems must support safety, collaboration, and decision making in real time.They also explore how digital twins can act as the connective tissue between siloed systems, remote teams, and even AI models, wrapping machine learning in guardrails to make it usable, explainable, and safe. Rob shares his vision for a future where digital twins and AI work hand-in-hand to enable autonomous operations, global collaboration, and better governance at scale.Rob wraps up the episode by introducing his new book, Designing Digital Twins, which distills years of experience into a practical guide for those building real-world solutions. He offers advice for teams just getting started and challenges listeners to stay grounded in the “why” behind the twin, ensuring each implementation delivers tangible value, not just technical ambition.