Microsoft, Siemens announce AI copilot for industrial automation

On Oct 31, Microsoft announced an AI-powered assistant for industrial enterprises developed in partnership with Siemens. Called the Siemens Industrial Copilot, it is designed to bolster human-machine collaboration and productivity in manufacturing.

The tool will enable users to rapidly generate, optimize, and debug complex automation code, effectively transforming a task that previously might have taken weeks into a matter of minutes. It achieves this by ingesting automation and process simulation information from Siemens’ open digital business platform, the Siemens Xcelerator, and enhancing it with Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service.

Apart from allowing customers to maintain full control over their data, a striking feature of the Siemens Industrial Copilot is it enables the productivity and efficiency of the industrial lifecycle to be boosted. It does this by providing maintenance staff with detailed repair instructions and engineers with quick access to simulation tools using natural language.

Multisector initiative

A broader vision of the partnership is the creation of AI copilots to assist professionals in various sectors, including infrastructure, transportation, and healthcare. Several copilots are already in the pipeline for manufacturing sectors, such as automotive, consumer package goods, and machine building.

Schaeffler AG, a leading automotive supplier, is an inaugural adopter of this technology. The company plans to incorporate Siemens Industrial Copilot into its operations, aiming to reduce downtime significantly. Klaus Rosenfeld, CEO of Schaeffler Group, sees the venture into this new age of productivity and innovation as a way for their team to work more efficiently, reduce repetitive tasks, and unleash creativity.

Furthermore, the companies announced the upcoming general availability of the Siemens Teamcenter app for Microsoft Teams in December 2023. This integration is positioned to simplify the virtual collaboration of design engineers, frontline workers, and other teams across business functions, accelerating innovation across the product lifecycle and “enabling the industrial metaverse.”