Automation on dairy farms began in the late 19th century. Gustaf de Laval invented the cream separator to aid in the process of collecting cream for dairy products. Refrigeration followed in the same period and refined the dairy industry. Recently, several devices have become available to producers, from vacuum systems that support stable milk extraction, automatic take-offs and heat detection systems, automatic calf feeders, rotary parlors, and, more recently, robots. Automation can be used in daily activities to increase productivity, food safety, time management, and animal welfare. Automation collects numbers, which are converted to data that has the potential to help producers make better decisions. Data-acquiring technologies are still in their infancy. Companies are using more scientific research to create reports to analyze the data and turn it into information. Software is one of the most powerful tools. Reports can help farmers make decisions to act on cows that need attention. In addition to change management to improve health, production and reproduction. Dairy farmers and advisors rarely utilize software to its full potential. Support and training from software companies are essential to ensure the full understating of the system. Moreover, the dairy community and scientific community need to work closer to develop benchmarks and key performance indicators (KPI). Indicators should be available to dairy farmers, and advisors to improve the overall health and time management for each dairy farm. Each farm should have their own goals, and a plan to get there. KPIs need to be applicable to each dairy farm to create a plan to what needs to be monitored. Recently 3D image technology has been used to identify and manage animals. Technology is here to stay; the scientific and dairy community needs to provide data back to producers and advisors to provide information that leads to actions. Cows and calves must benefit from the information. Technology needs to be reliable so the dairyman can have conviction in the results as false positives waste people’s time and efforts. Technology will never replace the skills of a very good herdsperson but is a tool in the toolbox to add to the success of the dairy farm.