In the last 60 years, Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) have become central to manufacturing systems, driving real-time control, data acquisition, safety management, and machine communication. Their reliability and deterministic behaviour contributed to their ongoing importance, even as Industry 4.0 evolves. Simplified programming languages such as GCODE, IEC 61131, and IEC 61499 were developed to make complex behaviour programming accessible to non-experts. Technology providers also created proprietary languages or adapted standards to match hardware advancements. These languages balanced expressiveness and lightweight execution to meet the limited computational power of 1970s technology. However, as intelligent industrial systems increasingly integrate concepts like collaboration, cognition, and self-management, traditional automation languages showing their limitations. Enhanced computational power is shifting the focus from lightweight languages to more expressive ones. This paper highlights the urgent need for new automation programming languages that align with the sophisticated requirements of modern intelligent manufacturing systems. Such languages must harness today’s computational advancements to ensure future systems are robust, efficient, and adaptable to the complexities of contemporary industrial environments. Based on these statements, a research agenda is proposed, composed of three main steps: efficient machines-agents design, cognitive work analysis and definition of enriched languages.