Building on its long-standing collaboration with Microsoft, ABB has launched ABB Ability Genix Copilot, a generative AI solution that helps energy, utilities and other industries improve efficiency, productivity, and sustainability by contextualizing vast amounts of data and providing actionable insights in an intuitive manner.

Genix Copilot utilizes large language models such as GPT-4, customized for industrial use cases. Unlike traditional natural language processing that works primarily with text, Genix Copilot uses real-world data from the production environment, providing insights that can be immediately implemented to improve industrial operations.

ABB estimates that by embedding Genix Copilot capabilities into its industrial digital solutions, customers can achieve significant cost savings in operations and maintenance, boost production efficiency, and drive improvements in sustainability metrics such as optimized energy use and reduced emissions.

“At ABB, digitalization and AI are at the core of delivering more value to our customers, with a substantial part of our R&D workforce dedicated to digital, AI and software. Collaboration of ABB and Microsoft on generative AI is an important step in driving innovation and shaping the future of industry, helping our customers outrun – leaner and cleaner,” said Peter Terwiesch, President, ABB Process Automation. “With Genix Copilot, we can bring a new era of user experience, collaboration and consumerization of real-time actionable insights across roles.

“Working with ABB, we’re truly pushing the boundaries of what generative AI can do for industry. Genix Copilot has the potential to transform industrial operations, offering customers a practical, easy-to-use tool that enhances efficiency, productivity and sustainability,” said Sonja Meindl, Enterprise Commercial Director, Microsoft Switzerland.

Genix Copilot architecture is designed to handle and process data from multiple sources, including shop floor operations, operator conversations, enterprise systems, unstructured data and metadata, to deliver comprehensive insights with natural language support.

The intuitive conversational interface allows users to inquire about various operational parameters, such as asset health, performance, fault analysis and more, receiving clear and concise responses. For example, a maintenance manager can request a summary of the day’s events for their plant, including insights on critical assets that may require attention, root cause analysis as well as the status of the work orders.