We’ve all seen some eye-bulging numbers in recent years about the internet of things (IoT). Since 2011, General Electric has publicly stated it would spend more than $1 billion on developing sensors, wireless devices, and related software to install on its aircraft engines, power turbines, locomotive trains and other machinery. Companies such as Ford, Toyota, and Caterpillar have invested heavily as well. And our own survey of 795 large companies (average revenue of $22 billion) in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America found average per-company spending on IoT initiatives — $86 million in 2015 — was projected to grow to $103 million by 2018.