Schneider Electric, a global technology group headquartered in Rueil-Malmaison near Paris, is one of the leading providers of energy management and automation solutions. The company develops solutions for industry, buildings, data centers, and infrastructure with the goal of using energy more efficiently and sustainably. Schneider Electric pursues a clear strategy for the digitalization of industrial processes, increasingly relying on open, software-based architectures and the use of artificial intelligence.

AI-powered automation as a key technology

At HANNOVER MESSE 2026, Schneider Electric Industries will demonstrate how AI-powered, open, and software-defined automation can transform industrial processes. The focus is on deepened collaboration with Microsoft. The goal is to facilitate the transition for industrial companies from proprietary legacy systems to flexible, scalable solutions.

Many production facilities continue to operate with hardware-bound control systems that are difficult to modernize. Schneider Electric is pursuing an approach here that decouples software and hardware, enabling faster adaptations and the integration of Industrial AI.

Open Platforms and Industrial Copilot

At the heart of the collaboration is the combination of Schneider’s open automation platform, EcoStruxure Automation Expert, and the cloud and AI infrastructure of Microsoft Azure. This enables end-to-end connectivity—from individual sensors to enterprise-wide dashboards.

A central element is the so-called Industrial Copilot. This supports engineering teams in creating control logic, system configuration, and documentation analysis. In practice, this is expected to reduce engineering effort by up to 50 percent; adjustments to production lines that previously took weeks can now be implemented within a few hours.

“What we’re seeing at h2e POWER shows the future of industrial automation,” explains Dayan Rodriguez, Corporate Vice President of Manufacturing and Mobility at Microsoft. “The system is powerful and designed for scalability. Company-wide dashboards unify data across all locations, machine learning improves with every hour of operation, and open standards make the control logic fully portable.”

Case Study: Green Hydrogen with h2e POWER

A project with the Indian company h2e POWER demonstrates how this approach works in practice. Together, they implemented an autonomously operating solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC) system for the production of green hydrogen.

The plant has been running stably for more than 6,000 hours under both partial and full-load conditions. Through the use of AI-supported control, energy consumption has been reduced by up to ten percent—a decisive factor, as electricity accounts for more than 70 percent of hydrogen production costs. At the same time, the system enables predictive maintenance and optimized operational management.

“SOECs have always offered unmatched efficiency, but true commercial scaling depends on sustainable operation, optimized energy use, longevity, predictive maintenance, and autonomous control,” says Siddharth Mayur, founder and Managing Director of h2e POWER. “With Schneider Electric’s open, software-defined automation and the AI capabilities of Microsoft Azure, our systems become smarter, more responsive, more secure, and significantly more scalable. The open architecture also allows us to deploy intelligence across sites—without the limitations of proprietary systems.”

Moving Away from Dependence on Legacy Systems

The collaboration between Schneider Electric and Microsoft aims to offer industrial companies a practical migration path. Existing equipment can continue to be used while new software solutions are gradually integrated. This eliminates the need to replace entire systems or interrupt production processes.

“Every CIO and plant manager asks the same question: Can software-defined automation hold its own under real-world industrial conditions? At h2e POWER, the answer is clear,” emphasizes Gwenaelle Huet, Executive Vice President of Industrial Automation at Schneider Electric. “The industry doesn’t need more visions; it needs concrete migration paths. Our collaboration with Microsoft and Industrial Copilot delivers exactly that—and demonstrates that even complex energy systems can be operated as intelligent, autonomous units.”

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