Selecting references for PhD applications: are industry references OK?
Industrial references are fine when your colleagues have good academic credentials.  It may suggest that you will be good at finding applications for research.

Generic references are not fine in academia: unlike industry, academics generally aren't interested in verifying that you have held the posts your CV says you have held, and they do mark down candidates whose references are less than stellar.  It is well worth asking a referee what they will say about you.

The easiest way to avoid referees writing something generic about you is to tell them what you have been doing, ideally in writing, when you ask for the reference.  Referees generally appreciate this kind of help when writing references, which is a quite significant drain on the time of many academics.