Alice Chambers |
Hitachi Group will roll out Microsoft artificial intelligence services to 270,000 of its employees over the next three years to improve operational efficiency and productivity.
It will do this by embedding the Microsoft cloud, Azure Open AI Service, Dynamics 365, Copilot for Microsoft 365 and GitHub Copilot into its Lumada solutions, which aim to turn customer data into insights.
“We are entering a new era of AI with the promise to deliver transformative business outcomes across every role and industry,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO of Microsoft. “Our expanded partnership with Hitachi will bring together the power of the Microsoft Cloud – including Microsoft Copilot – with Hitachi’s industry expertise to improve the productivity of 270,000 Hitachi employees and help address customers’ biggest challenges, including sustainability.”
Hitachi has already started to use Microsoft’s generative AI for its JP1 Cloud Services, an integrated operations management software with approximately 20,000 customers. This has reduced response times to address failures by approximately two-thirds, according to a Microsoft press release.
Plus, Hitachi Rail is using generative AI for predictive maintenance to prevent breakdowns and increase service quality. A cloud-based platform on Azure streamlines data visualisation and analysis uses AI to digitally monitor the rail infrastructure.
Looking forward, the company also hopes to improve efficiency and application development in its Generative AI Center by using Microsoft 365 and GitHub Copilot. Hitachi will use Azure OpenAI Service to improve its customer service and asset management to reduce downtime and increase profitability. The firm will also train more than 50,000 generative AI professionals to use GitHub Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service.