Embedded in Siemens' established Industrial Copilot ecosystem, this new technology represents a fundamental shift in AI assistants. Instead of merely responding to requests, autonomous agents proactively execute entire processes – without human intervention. Siemens' new AI agent architecture features a highly developed orchestrator: Like a craftsman, it employs a toolbox of specialized agents to solve complex tasks across the entire industrial value chain. These agents work intelligently and autonomously – they understand intent, improve performance through continuous learning, and access external tools and other agents as needed. Users retain complete control and choose which tasks they want to delegate to the AI agents.
"With our industrial AI agents, we go beyond the usual question-answer paradigm and create systems that can independently execute complete industrial workflows," says Rainer Brehm, CEO Factory Automation at Siemens. "By automating automation itself, we aim for productivity increases of up to 50 percent for our customers – fundamentally changing what is possible in industrial operations."
Automation: How the AI Agent Architecture Works
Siemens' approach distinguishes between Industrial Copilots, which are the interfaces users interact with, and the AI agents that operate in the background. Siemens also develops digital agents and integrates physical agents, including mobile robots. In this way, Siemens creates a comprehensive multi-AI agent system, where the agents are closely interconnected and collaborate. What sets Siemens' approach apart from others is the orchestration of these agents using a comprehensive ecosystem. These agents not only collaborate with other Siemens agents but can also be integrated with third-party agents, enabling an unprecedented level of interoperability.
To further accelerate the introduction and innovation, Siemens plans to establish a marketplace for industrial AI agents on the Siemens Xcelerator Marketplace. This marketplace will allow customers to access not only Siemens' own AI agents but also those developed by third parties.
The All-Encompassing Siemens Industrial Copilot
The Siemens Industrial Copilot, supplemented by industrial AI agents, addresses every phase along the industrial value chain, across process and discrete industries:
– Design Copilot: Currently available for NX CAD, it helps users explore new avenues in creativity by accelerating the product design process. Design engineers can navigate complex data, weigh trade-offs, and perform cross-functional tasks more efficiently. The AI-powered assistant enables users to ask questions in natural language, quickly access detailed technical insights, and streamline complex design tasks. All of this leads to significant efficiency gains in product development. Siemens is also developing a Hydrogen Configurator for the design process of hydrogen production plants. Users can seamlessly create block flow diagrams with precise layouts of plant units and connections.
– Planning Copilot: This solution optimizes production planning, resource allocation, and scheduling through generative AI-driven insights, helping manufacturers maximize efficiency and minimize waste. The Planning Copilot is currently in beta and is being used by initial customers.
– Engineering Copilot: It is available for the TIA Portal and will be offered as a managed service later this year, enabling engineering without repetitive tasks. As the first generative AI-powered product for automation technology, the Engineering Copilot allows engineers to generate automation code through inputs in natural language, accelerating SCL code generation and minimizing errors. In the process industry, the Copilot for P&ID digitization is already being tested by several customers. This is an AI-powered cloud service for digitizing and consolidating older P&ID diagrams.
– Operations Copilot: This Copilot, currently available for Insights Hub, provides holistic insights into the entire production facility. At the machine level, Siemens also plans to introduce an Operations Copilot for users at the field level, which will be available by the end of 2025. This new product aims to enable operators, service technicians, and maintenance engineers to work more efficiently by querying machine data and receiving troubleshooting guidance through natural language. The Operations Copilot can be easily implemented at the machine level to provide machine instructions and operator guidance.
In the process industry, the generative AI-based assistant Simatic eaSie enables technicians and maintenance personnel to access relevant plant and machine data via chat or voice interaction. This makes operations and maintenance more reliable and safer both in the control room and in the field.
– Service Copilot: The Maintenance Copilot Senseye provides maintenance teams with expert-level diagnostics without requiring specialized technical knowledge. This solution, which has recently been expanded beyond predictive maintenance to cover the entire maintenance lifecycle, supports everything from reactive repairs to predictive and preventive strategies. Pilot implementations have shown that this reduces reactive maintenance time by an average of 25 percent.
Overcoming the Skills Shortage in Manufacturing
The Siemens Industrial Copilot is already delivering measurable results, both in Siemens' own plants and at customers worldwide. At thyssenkrupp Automation Engineering, where the technology is being rolled out globally, engineers have noted improvements in code quality and development speed. At the Siemens site in Bad Neustadt, the Insights Hub Production Copilot has transformed manufacturing operations by turning scattered data into actionable insights.
"In a factory environment, our industrial AI agents connect various copilots and automate workflows across the entire value chain. This creates a unified approach that makes industrial AI accessible to everyone, regardless of their technical background or level of experience," says Brehm. "We envision a future where industrial AI agents work seamlessly alongside human employees, autonomously handling routine processes while humans can focus on innovation, creativity, and complex problem-solving."
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