Honeywell and Google Cloud have launched a collaboration to connect artificial intelligence (AI) agents with assets, people, and processes. The goal is to accelerate safer, autonomous operations in the industrial sector.

This partnership brings together the multimodality and natural language capabilities of Gemini on Vertex AI – Google Cloud’s AI platform – and the massive data set on Honeywell Forge, Honeywell’s Internet of Things (IoT) platform for industrials. The intention is to unleash easy-to-understand insights across the enterprise.

Honeywell will offer Google’s AI tools to customers to help them reduce maintenance costs, increase operational productivity, and upskill employees. The first solutions built with Google Cloud AI will be available to Honeywell’s customers in 2025.

Here's an explanation of how Honeywell intends to utilize Google Cloud:

Honeywell noted that the mass retirement of workers from the baby boomer generation is one of the challenges Google Cloud can help with. The industrial sector faces labor and skills shortages, and AI can be part of the solution – as a revenue generator, not job eliminator. More than two-thirds (82%) of industrial AI leaders believe their companies are early adopters of AI, but only 17% have fully launched their initial AI plans, according to Honeywell’s 2024 Industrial AI Insights report. The Honeywell and Google partnership is designed to provide AI agents to augment the existing operations and workforce to help drive AI adoption and enable companies across the sector to benefit from expanding automation.

Related:AI Makes Slow but Sure Progress in Manufacturing

Purpose-built, industrial AI agents

Built on Google Cloud's Vertex AI Search and tailored to engineers’ specific needs, a new AI-powered agent will help automate tasks and reduce project design cycles, enabling users to focus on driving innovation and delivering exceptional customer experiences.

Additional agents will utilize Google’s large language models (LLMs) to help technicians to more quickly resolve maintenance issues (e.g., “How did a unit perform last night?” “How do I replace the input/output module?” or “Why is my system making this sound?”). By leveraging Gemini’s multimodality capabilities, users will be able to process various data types such as images, videos, text and sensor readings, which will help its engineers get the answers they need quickly – going beyond simple chat and predictions.

Enhanced cybersecurity

Google Threat Intelligence – featuring frontline insight from Mandiant – will be integrated into current Honeywell cybersecurity products, including Global Analysis, Research and Defense (GARD) Threat Intelligence and Secure Media Exchange (SMX), to help enhance threat detection and protect global infrastructure for industrial customers. 

Related:Honeywell Develops Technology for Large-Scale Bio-Naphtha Production

On-the-edge device advances

Looking ahead, Honeywell will explore using Google’s Gemini Nano model to enhance Honeywell edge AI devices’ intelligence multiple use cases across verticals, ranging from scanning performance to voice-based guided workflow, maintenance, operational and alarm assist without the need to connect to the internet and cloud. This is the beginning of a new wave of more intelligent devices and solutions, which will be the subject of future Honeywell announcements.