Redefining Industrial Transformation with Converged Technologies
Facing mounting pressures from rising energy costs, aging legacy systems, and a growing talent gap, industrial operations are in urgent need of innovative solutions. At Hannover Messe 2026, Schneider Electric stepped forward to address these challenges head-on, demonstrating how the strategic convergence of electrification, open software-defined automation, and industrial AI-powered intelligence is reshaping the economics and competitiveness of modern industry. Rather than simply offering incremental improvements, Schneider Electric is enabling manufacturers to fundamentally rethink what’s possible.
A Vision of Tangible Outcomes, Delivered at Scale
“Industry has been promised transformation for years,” remarked Gwenaelle Huet, Executive Vice President of Industrial Automation at Schneider Electric. “What we’re showing at Hannover Messe 2026 is something different: real outcomes, at scale, that customers benefit from today.” This focus on actionable, scalable results reflects Schneider Electric’s commitment to turning digital ambition into operational reality—helping customers not only solve immediate challenges but also build a foundation for long-term resilience and growth.
Strategic Collaborations Accelerating Industrial AI
- Schneider Electric’s presence at Hannover Messe was defined by a series of strategic partnerships, each designed to accelerate and de-risk the adoption of next-generation industrial technologies:
- Combining Deloitte’s consulting and change management expertise with Schneider Electric’s domain knowledge and AI-enabled operational technology, this collaboration helps organizations navigate the full scope of digital transformation—turning strategy into sustainable operational outcomes.
- Through the Industrial Copilot, powered by Azure AI, Schneider Electric and Microsoft are collapsing silos and introducing agentic manufacturing capabilities. This closed-loop, software-defined workflow automates routine design decisions, maintains traceability, and adapts in real time—reducing engineering efforts by up to 50% and compressing production change timelines from weeks to hours.
- From resilient local OT systems to AI-ready digital twins, this partnership provides a secure, scalable infrastructure foundation for industrial AI. By integrating ProLeiT, Aveva, NVIDIA Omniverse, and Dell’s modular data center solutions, Schneider Electric is helping industries adopt AI with greater speed and confidence.
- Showcasing virtualized control and open software-defined automation running on standard servers, this collaboration reimagines data centers as scalable, resilient automation platforms—ideal for modernizing cooling, HVAC, and industrial infrastructure in the AI era.
- Schneider Electric demonstrated how open, software-defined automation spans seamlessly from edge to cloud using EcoStruxure Automation Expert and soft dPAC on AWS. This approach simplifies deployment across distributed environments, reduces latency, and enables vendor-agnostic, AI-assisted engineering at scale.
Real-World Impact: Turning Structural Pressure into Advantage
Beyond technology showcases, Schneider Electric is already delivering measurable outcomes for customers across industries—helping them convert structural pressures into genuine competitive advantages:
- Royal Avebe, a farmer-owned cooperative, is electrifying heat-intensive processes through a unified power-and-process architecture. This enables real-time energy intelligence, dynamic load management, and prosumer capabilities—supporting Avebe’s goal of a 30% emissions reduction by 2030 without requiring additional grid capacity.
- H2E Power is leveraging open, software-defined automation to transform high-temperature solid-oxide electrolyzers into self-optimizing assets. The system has surpassed 6,000 hours of stable operation and demonstrated just-in-time predictive maintenance, with the potential to cut electricity consumption in green hydrogen production by up to 10%.
- Suez is modernizing water and waste infrastructure through integrated electrification, automation, and digital solutions—enhancing energy efficiency, operational resilience, and sustainability performance.
- Evonik is collaborating with Schneider Electric to improve process efficiency and support circular economy innovation in chemical and materials production, leveraging advanced automation and digital technologies.
Forging a Resilient and Intelligent Industrial Future
Industrial challenges are complex, but Schneider Electric’s integrated approach—powered by electrification, open automation, and AI—offers a clear way forward. By turning real-world pressures into competitive strengths, Schneider is helping industries not only adapt today, but also lead tomorrow.