Schneider brings AI to fight against energy consumption

Schneider Electric has announced a new multi-million dollar investment in machine learning tools and data science, bringing AI-assisted advising to its energy and sustainability services offer.

It improves the insights and analysis of a company's energy and sustainability portfolio, driving more efficient value and bottom-line impact in pursuit of climate change resilience and other resource-reduction related targets.

The investment optimises corporate resource consumption and reduction data during the long-overdue worldwide energy and climate transition.

Most companies today still face data challenges that limit their sustainability approach.

AI allows companies to get more value out of the data they produce and provides more accurate and efficient analyses as the foundation of an energy and sustainability strategy.

The enhancements will convert data into insights, tailor recommendations to the needs of clients, and support clients in reaching long-term environmental goals.

Users will also be able to draw more confident conclusions that help reduce costs, manage risks, harvest opportunities, and build resilience into their sustainability strategy.

"We see tremendous opportunity to use the data and insights generated by organisations today to drive more than just operational benefits. This data, combined with the expertise of our global team, can significantly enhance how companies approach sustainability," says Schneider Electric senior vice president Steve Wilhite.

"A mind-plus-machine approach has already proven itself for applications in financial advising and traditional business consulting. We've found that collaborative intelligence produced by this newest class of technology, in conjunction with our world-class consultants, helps our clients create a sustainability-based competitive advantage.

The company's investment in services leads to new opportunities for clients across industries while augmenting existing offers, like the company's best-in-class EcoStruxure Resource Advisor solution.

Enabled capabilities include:

• More tailored data paired with more customised, expedited recommendations
• New enhancements to manage distributed energy resources (DERs), commodity hedges, and connected devices
• Enhanced data collection processes, including Robotic Process Automation, that allow for the spotting of errors and detection of new savings opportunities more quickly and thoroughly than before
• Better real-time resilience and reliability of energy portfolios
• Mobile-optimised views for always-on, anytime information access

"This investment is the result of listening and responding to our client needs and capitalising on cutting edge technologies. The result is an enhanced framework to help us address energy demand, resource efficiency, and procurement on a level playing field, in a unified way for our customers," says Wilhite.

"It also frees our team to connect differently with our clients. By automating our data processes and animating our clients' results with advanced visualisations, decision-making is augmented and accelerated. Our teams lead our clients to faster, more innovative, and more sustainable solutions in this age of climate urgency, with a healthier bottom-line as a byproduct, and that's a win-win for everyone.