Schneider Electric, NVIDIA & HPE launch industrial AI

Schneider Electric has partnered with NVIDIA and HPE to introduce Industrial AI Agents at the edge for process and heavy industries, bringing AI applications into industrial operating environments.

The offering combines HPE Private Cloud AI with Schneider Electric's operational technology software and industrial automation expertise. It is aimed at companies running continuous industrial processes, where operators must manage plants with strict requirements for reliability, safety, cybersecurity and energy use.

The initial product set includes three types of Industrial AI Agents focused on operational technology monitoring, cybersecurity and energy optimisation. Designed to operate within industrial environments rather than rely on remote cloud processing, the agents aim to address concerns around data sovereignty, cyber risk and the cost of scaling AI.

The approach centres on deploying AI close to the source of operational data. This allows industrial operators to keep sensitive data within site or operational boundaries while reducing the need to transfer information elsewhere for inference and analysis.

HPE Private Cloud AI provides the infrastructure layer, while Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure Industrial Insights applications are intended to let customers deploy, manage and govern multiple AI agents through a single environment. Schneider Electric said this should simplify lifecycle management and security oversight while keeping control of critical systems with plant operators.

Three uses

The first category, OT Monitoring Agents, is intended to combine operational data, equipment settings, process topology, alarms, maintenance history and engineering context. Schneider Electric said these agents can identify emerging issues, assess likely operational effects, recommend or initiate corrective actions, and verify the result.

Cybersecurity Agents are designed to correlate network activity, control system behaviour, asset settings, operational events and process context. Their aim is to detect abnormal conditions, assess possible effects on industrial operations, carry out or recommend a response, and confirm that systems have returned to a stable state.

Energy Optimisation Agents focus on process data, energy consumption patterns, equipment performance, operating conditions and production requirements. The companies said these agents can identify opportunities to adjust operations and then assess the impact on energy efficiency and plant performance.

The collaboration reflects a wider effort by technology suppliers to move AI into industrial settings beyond robotics and autonomous vehicles. In process industries such as pulp and paper, chemicals and other heavy sectors, the challenge is less about mobile machines and more about monitoring and adjusting continuous operations without disrupting output.

Early example

Schneider Electric pointed to CMPC Chile as an example of the operational foundation for the new system. Part of Empresas CMPC, CMPC Chile has used Schneider Electric's Operational Technology Monitoring System in production for the past three years to monitor the health and availability of control systems in its pulp and paper operations.

According to Schneider Electric, the deployment gives CMPC teams a single view of control systems, servers, workstations and switches. It is used to identify emerging issues earlier, diagnose faults more quickly and set maintenance priorities across continuous production processes.

That deployment is now being positioned as a base for the later introduction of AI agents. Schneider Electric said the combination could help specialists investigate issues faster while leaving critical decisions to human operators.

"The next generation of industrial innovation will be driven by intelligence embedded directly into industrial operations," said Gwenaelle Huet, Executive Vice President, Industrial Automation, Schneider Electric.

"While much of today's focus is on autonomous machines, we see a significant opportunity to apply Physical AI to the industrial systems that power the world's critical industries. Together with NVIDIA and HPE, we are bringing together expertise in automation, AI and edge computing to help customers transform operational data into action, improving resilience, efficiency, cybersecurity and sustainability while laying the foundation for more autonomous industrial operations," Huet said.

NVIDIA said the project uses its Nemotron open AI models alongside HPE's private cloud system and Schneider Electric's monitoring platform. The partnership is intended to address a key barrier to industrial AI adoption: turning large volumes of operational data into actions that can be used inside plants and infrastructure.

"Industrial operations generate vast amounts of data, but turning that data into action remains one of industry's biggest challenges. By combining NVIDIA Nemotron open AI models and HPE Private Cloud AI, a turnkey AI factory solution, with Schneider Electric's industrial expertise and OTMS platform, Industrial AI Agents can monitor, reason and optimize operations in real time, accelerating the path to Physical AI for process industries," said Sri Kodali, Global Head of Developer Relations - Energy and Utilities at NVIDIA.

HPE framed the collaboration around customer concerns over data protection and control of industrial systems. It said private cloud infrastructure at the edge gives operators a way to expand AI use while retaining tighter control over data handling.

"Industrial organizations see real opportunities to use AI, and they want to be sure their sensitive data and critical systems will remain protected. Through our collaboration with NVIDIA and Schneider Electric, we're helping customers use HPE Private Cloud AI to bring AI closer to where their data is generated and decisions are made. This gives customers a way to expand AI use across their facilities while maintaining the security, privacy and control their businesses require," said Alexia Clements, SVP, Hybrid Cloud Solution Sales at HPE.

CMPC said its existing monitoring deployment has already improved visibility over the state of its control systems in continuous operations.

"For the past three years, OTMS has helped us improve visibility into the health and availability of our control systems. In continuous industrial operations, identifying issues early is critical to protecting production and avoiding costly disruption. Looking ahead, we see significant potential for AI Agents to build on this proven foundation, helping our specialists investigate issues faster and move more effectively from insight to action, while keeping people in control of critical decisions," said Matías Jory, Digital & Process Manager, Industrial Operations Vice-Presidency, CMP.