thyssenkrupp and GlobalLogic forge a strategic alliance to accelerate industrial transformation through Physical AI
thyssenkrupp AG and GlobalLogic Inc., a Hitachi Group Company, announced
the commencement of a strategic alliance, designed to recalibrate the
operational core of heavy industry by driving the deployment of autonomous
robotics and Physical AI.
This alliance combines thyssenkrupp’s deep industrial and operational
expertise with Hitachi’s unique end-to-end innovation stack to help accelerate
digital transformation across the industry. This “Lab-to-Scale” pipeline
integrates foundational breakthroughs from Hitachi America R&D, digital
strategy and design from Method as well as enterprise-grade software
engineering from GlobalLogic. The pipeline connects on-site data seamlessly to
AI-driven autonomous control, thereby eliminating engineering bottlenecks and
enhancing operational safety, while establishing a leading-edge global model
for the heavy industry sector.
Moving beyond digital experimentation, the two global conglomerates are
planning to co-create a suite of “Physical AI” solutions that translate complex
data into measurable industrial ROI. The solutions will focus on safety,
servitization, and acceleration of the global energy transition.
Realising the “Implementation Year”
The partnership focuses on high-stakes, frontier innovation across two
primary workstreams:
· The Data
Intelligence Layer and Autonomous Operations: To bridge the gap
between factory floor operations and business logic, GlobalLogic will deploy a
data intelligence layer for thyssenkrupp based on its Unified Data Layer (UDL)
architecture. The UDL provides a common data and semantic foundation that
integrates and links operational technology (OT) data from the field with IT
data from business operations. It is an essential technology for ensuring the
smooth operation of autonomous robotics and drones that require real-time data
processing, semantic understanding, and AI-driven decision-making. This
infrastructure serves as the prerequisite for a new generation of autonomous
robotics and drones. In the hazardous environments and production sites of
thyssenkrupp, autonomous “Robocams” and drones are to be deployed to handle
high-risk inspections and precision measurements to prevent worker injuries.
Designed to enhance safety and efficiency, these systems augment the workforce
by removing employees from dangerous zones and providing them with
higher-fidelity data to manage complex industrial processes.
· Speed to Decarbonisation Meeting ambitious
decarbonization targets requires a significant increase in engineering speed.
The alliance is planning to deploy an intelligence platform to automate the
capture of “offline” and unstructured complex technical data. By translating complex
documentation into actionable intelligence, thyssenkrupp aims to shorten the
“Quote-to-Cash” and technical engineering cycles for its green energy projects.
This digital acceleration will ensure that the administrative and technical
complexity of the energy transition does not become a bottleneck for execution.
“thyssenkrupp is in the midst of its most significant transformation in
history. By joining forces with Hitachi and GlobalLogic, we are ensuring that
we are backed by the world’s most advanced digital capabilities. This alliance
is a cornerstone of our strategy to lead the industrial sector into a
sustainable, data-driven future,” says Miguel López, CEO of
thyssenkrupp AG and thyssenkrupp Decarbon Technologies. “Decarbonizing
heavy industry is a race against time. The integration of advanced AI allows us
to better manage the immense technical and administrative complexity of the
energy transition, moving from unstructured documentation to actionable
intelligence at a pace that was previously impossible.”
“The future will be defined by organizations that can seamlessly harness
the power of advanced AI, edge computing, data and inference, and combine it
with deep industrial expertise.” said Srini Shankar, President &
CEO of GlobalLogic and CEO of Hitachi Digital Services. “Our extensive
credentials in Physical AI, from servitization to industrial automation to
operations intelligence, will complement thyssenkrupp’s leadership in heavy
engineering to create a lasting competitive advantage.”
“Physical AI marks the next step in industrial transformation – bringing
intelligence from the digital world into real-world operations. By enabling
machines to sense, decide, and act autonomously, it unlocks entirely new levels
of efficiency, safety, and scalability,” said Nadja Håkansson, COO of
thyssenkrupp Decarbon Technologies and CEO of thyssenkrupp Uhde. “For
thyssenkrupp Decarbon Technologies, physical AI is not just an innovation
topic, but a core driver of our future business and our ability to deliver sustainable,
high-performance solutions. Our collaboration with Hitachi accelerates this
path and strengthens our leadership in next-generation industrial
technologies.”
“Real innovation happens at the intersection of empathy and engineering.
We are bringing together brilliant minds from all involved organizations to
de-risk these complex industrial transformations, ensuring that technology
always serves the people on the front lines of global industry,” said Timothy
Morey, Head of Method, a GlobalLogic company.
Leave A Comment