The field of autonomous systems has advanced so rapidly over the past few years that it is ahead of what is happening in the field of automation for industrial systems. Today’s automation technology for industrial systems has reached a level of autonomy somewhere between “occasional” and “limited”. To advance to the next levels of autonomy across the entire lifecycle, the architecture and design of tomorrow’s autonomous industrial systems will need to support autonomous engineering, operation, and maintenance. This talk will make an effort to define the levels of autonomy for industrial systems, to outline a path towards achieving full autonomy in industrial systems, and to present the challenges and future directions of research in this domain.