Schneider Electric acquires Cognite for $3.1B in industrial AI push
French multinational energy giant Schneider Electric SE said today it’s buying an industrial artificial intelligence company called Cognite Holding B.V. in a $3.1 billion all-cash deal, with an eye to strengthening its AI software and industrial data business.
The deal highlights the evolving nature of industrial AI, which for years simply followed what was happening industrial facilities such as power plants, recording outputs and flagging problems that required maintenance. Nowadays, industrial AI is becoming far more autonomous, able to make decisions and take actions on its own, and Schneider has decided it needs to own that.
“Cognite has built something rare, a truly industrial-grade AI platform,” said Schneider Chief Executive Olivier Blum. He said the acquisition will help put his company at the center of “the next phase of industrial intelligence.”
The company has developed AI software that pulls messy industrial data from across facilities into one place, so that intelligent agents can act on it autonomously. It was founded in 2017 and has grown to employ more than 800 staff across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
