Microsoft said on September 15 that manufacturers can gain competitive advantage by connecting fragmented expertise, processes, data, and systems into “industrial intelligence” that puts AI into daily workflows. Ben Grimes, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for US Manufacturing & Mobility, tied the message to IMTS 2026, described as the largest manufacturing technology show in North America, where he delivered the keynote “Industrial Intelligence Unlocked.”

Microsoft framed industrial intelligence as the combination of business knowledge and trusted AI systems that understand how work gets done, how business impact is measured, and how enterprise knowledge connects. Grimes said “Frontier Firms” do not simply buy more AI tools; they build secure, compliant, and observable foundations for agents, with identity, clear boundaries, and accountability for outcomes.

Microsoft said three forms of intelligence must come together in manufacturing operations. Work intelligence uses conversations, meetings, and documents to recognize patterns and carry context forward. Data intelligence gives people and agents the same source of truth for metrics, performance, and tradeoffs. Operational intelligence grounds AI in policies, standards, and operating procedures so guidance reaches the right person at the right moment.

Microsoft cited customer deployments at IMTS as evidence of current operational returns. Riddell’s AI assistant, RIA, connects SAP data to Microsoft Teams and answers natural language questions about pricing, delivery dates, and order status, returning more than 21,000 hours to the team each year by reducing searches across disconnected systems.

AGCO is scaling employee-built AI agents through Microsoft Copilot Studio and Microsoft 365 Copilot, with a maker community that has grown to roughly 2,000 people and several hundred enterprise agents in production. Microsoft said some AGCO quality reviews that once took weeks can now be completed in about an hour.

Siemens, Rockwell Automation, PTC, RSM, MCA Connect, and Insight showed AI innovations involving the intelligent digital thread, product lifecycle, AI-powered engineering and factory operations, and more adaptive supply chains. Microsoft said IMTS conversations about the digital thread, physical AI, and agents at scale pointed to industrial intelligence becoming part of how entire manufacturing organizations work, rather than remaining inside isolated teams.

Microsoft said on September 15 that manufacturers can gain competitive advantage by connecting fragmented expertise, processes, data, and systems into “industrial intelligence” that puts AI into daily workflows. Ben Grimes, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for US Manufacturing & Mobility, tied the message to IMTS 2026, described as the largest manufacturing technology show in North America, where he delivered the keynote “Industrial Intelligence Unlocked.”

Microsoft framed industrial intelligence as the combination of business knowledge and trusted AI systems that understand how work gets done, how business impact is measured, and how enterprise knowledge connects. Grimes said “Frontier Firms” do not simply buy more AI tools; they build secure, compliant, and observable foundations for agents, with identity, clear boundaries, and accountability for outcomes.

Microsoft said three forms of intelligence must come together in manufacturing operations. Work intelligence uses conversations, meetings, and documents to recognize patterns and carry context forward. Data intelligence gives people and agents the same source of truth for metrics, performance, and tradeoffs. Operational intelligence grounds AI in policies, standards, and operating procedures so guidance reaches the right person at the right moment.

Microsoft cited customer deployments at IMTS as evidence of current operational returns. Riddell’s AI assistant, RIA, connects SAP data to Microsoft Teams and answers natural language questions about pricing, delivery dates, and order status, returning more than 21,000 hours to the team each year by reducing searches across disconnected systems.

AGCO is scaling employee-built AI agents through Microsoft Copilot Studio and Microsoft 365 Copilot, with a maker community that has grown to roughly 2,000 people and several hundred enterprise agents in production. Microsoft said some AGCO quality reviews that once took weeks can now be completed in about an hour.

Siemens, Rockwell Automation, PTC, RSM, MCA Connect, and Insight showed AI innovations involving the intelligent digital thread, product lifecycle, AI-powered engineering and factory operations, and more adaptive supply chains. Microsoft said IMTS conversations about the digital thread, physical AI, and agents at scale pointed to industrial intelligence becoming part of how entire manufacturing organizations work, rather than remaining inside isolated teams.