ZURICH, Switzerland - March 31, 2025 - ABB has announced the introduction of ABB Ability Industrial Knowledge Vault, a generative AI-driven solution designed to solve the growing challenge of knowledge loss in industrial environments. Industrial Knowledge Vault, using Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, can store, retain and safeguard critical expertise while actively transforming that knowledge into step-by-step workflows. This enables workers to quickly access and apply best practices, empowering businesses to run leaner while preserving safe operations. As experienced employees retire, the loss of decades of collective knowledge threatens operational continuity, efficiency and innovation if not properly addressed.
Traditional documentation methods are often fragmented, requiring significant manual effort to compile, interpret and apply. Industrial Knowledge Vault addresses this challenge by capturing and structuring expertise in a centralized, secure repository that is easily accessible through natural language conversations, enabling engineers and operators to perform tasks more efficiently. Developed in collaboration with Microsoft, Industrial Knowledge Vault uses ABB Genix™ CoPilot and Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to analyze and synthesize information into actionable procedures, allowing workers to retrieve insights effortlessly through an intuitive, conversational interface.
The solution enables effortless workflow generation using natural language input to create structured procedures in seconds, eliminating the need for manual document parsing. Additionally, its policy and procedure management capabilities ensure up-to-date, role-based access to critical operational knowledge, streamlining compliance and version control. It also provides real-time guidance and decision support, empowering workers with in-the-moment insights, reducing the learning curve, and enhancing operational performance. The solution can be deployed across cloud, on premise or ABB SaaS.
“Industries everywhere are facing a critical knowledge gap as a generation of experienced workers retire and take their invaluable expertise with them,” said Sanjit Shewale, global head of Digital, Process Industries, ABB. “Our Industrial Knowledge Vault tackles this challenge head-on by providing a secure and accessible platform to enable businesses to do more with digital. By capturing, preserving, and sharing this vital knowledge, businesses can ensure operational continuity and empower workforces with in-the-moment information to perform their jobs smarter, faster, and more sustainable.” Industrial Knowledge Vault continuously learns from real-world operations, refining workflows and best practices to drive continuous improvement.
By integrating with existing industrial systems, it enhances collaboration between field workers and control rooms, providing real-time visibility into job status and operational procedures which can reduce bottlenecks and improve overall process function. “Our collaboration with ABB enables industrial organizations to unlock the full potential of AI-driven knowledge management,” said Sonja Meindl, enterprise commercial director, Microsoft Switzerland. “By combining AI with deep industrial expertise, we are helping businesses bridge the knowledge gap and build more resilient, efficient operations.”
