- Long-standing strategic collaboration showcases new milestones that help manufacturers boost efficiency and resiliency across the complete lifecycle
- Industrial copilot, powered by Azure AI, cuts engineering time by up to 50% with production changes that once took weeks now completed in hours
HANNOVER, Germany, April 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Schneider Electric, a global energy technology leader, will spotlight new milestones in its strategic collaboration with Microsoft at Hannover Messe, demonstrating how their combined technologies are enabling manufacturers to modernize operations, accelerate engineering, and strengthen resiliency.
Schneider Electric provides the industrial execution backbone for the collaboration through EcoStruxure Automation Expert, its open, software-defined automation platform that runs consistently across on-premises, edge, and hybrid environments. Microsoft extends this foundation with Azure cloud and AI services that orchestrate, analyze, and optimize industrial processes. The result is a unified approach to agentic manufacturing, open automation, and end-to-end sustainability.
Manufacturers today face increasing product variability, supply chain instability, and mounting pressure to modernize safely. Schneider Electric addresses these challenges by connecting engineering intent with real-time operational execution. Their combined platform enables teams to standardize reusable logic, validate automation through simulation, maintain traceability throughout the lifecycle, and scale interoperable operations across diverse sites and hardware.
Schneider Electric is working with Microsoft to develop the next generation of agentic, software-defined manufacturing, an integrated workflow spanning design, engineering, build, commissioning, and operations. At the core is EcoStruxure Automation Expert, which allows manufacturers to author, simulate, validate and deploy automation logic once and run it anywhere without retooling. Schneider Electric's deep expertise in safety, compliance, and industrial integration ensures reliability in highly regulated environments.
"From agentic design to software defined operations, Microsoft and Schneider Electric demonstrate a single, interoperable workflow that validates, simulates, and deploys automation logic consistently across cloud and edge," said Gwenaelle Huet, EVP Industrial Automation at Schneider Electric.
Where traditional automation programs require separate tools and handoffs at each phase - engineering design, simulation, commissioning, and operations, the joint platform collapses these into a single traceable workflow. Specialized AI agents, coordinated by an orchestrator, automate routine design decisions and validate logic before deployment, reducing design-to-build lead times and improving first-pass yield. Schneider Electric's industrial copilot for manufacturers, powered by Azure AI, is already delivering results in the field: engineering teams report up to 50%-time savings on control configuration and documentation tasks, with production line changes that previously required weeks now completed in hours.
In one live autonomous green hydrogen deployment with H2E Power, an Indian green hydrogen pioneer, the platform has maintained more than 6,000 hours of stable autonomous operation in one of the most demanding industrial environments - high-temperature solid oxide electrolysis for green hydrogen production - cutting the levelized cost of hydrogen by up to 10%, equivalent to around €500,000 per year for a typical 10 MW plant.
"With agentic design, we're closing the loop from engineering intent to operational reality, automating decisions, validating early, and handing off reusable automation packages that Schneider Electric can simulate and deploy consistently across cloud and edge," said Dayan Rodriguez, Corporate Vice President, Manufacturing and Mobility, Microsoft.
At their respective booths at Hannover Messe 2026, Schneider Electric (Hall 13, Stand C34) and Microsoft (Hall 17, Stand G06) will offer hands-on demonstrations of early-stage co-innovation capabilities, spanning live demonstrations, engineering-grade AI, and an open-standards ecosystem, as part of a growing program to advance the next generation of manufacturing.
Press contact: media.relations@se.com
About Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric is a global energy technology leader, driving efficiency and sustainability by electrifying, automating, and digitalizing industries, businesses, and homes. Its technologies enable buildings, data centers, factories, infrastructure, and grids to operate as open, interconnected ecosystems, enhancing performance, resilience, and sustainability. The portfolio includes intelligent devices, software-defined architectures, AI-powered systems, digital services, and expert advisory. With 160,000 employees and 1 million partners in over 100 countries, Schneider Electric is consistently ranked among the world's most sustainable companies.
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