Several members of the Tonic3 team attended the Convergence AI Dallas conference this month. In addition to celebrating our own Leader of Emerging Technologies Preston McCauley, we also observed some fresh results proving how AI is rapidly moving beyond traditional knowledge work to profoundly impact the physical world, especially for field operations, maintenance crews, healthcare workers and other frontline operations teams. The examples shared, from predictive maintenance at DFW Airport to energy optimization in higher education, offered compelling insights into how intelligent, well-orchestrated AI can have an immediate impact on real-world operations.
We’ve outlined a few take-aways for any leader looking to harness this potential: you can get to the operational data now with the right orchestrated AI thinking, and don't wait to integrate your Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT) data. But more importantly, the true power of AI in physical operations is unlocked only when it's designed with the human at its core – a critical factor for driving adoption to achieve tangible results.
Human-in-the-loop AI: Why it’s time for Operations and IT leaders to team up
The event underscored that applying AI in the physical world, particularly for operational teams, unlocks significant business impact. This isn't just about theoretical gains; it's about improving efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing customer experience by leveraging AI to unify OT and IT data, providing actionable insights and predictions.
As Josh Ridley, CEO and Co-founder of Willow, highlighted, the strategic approach is to start with operational improvements and then expand to revenue-generating opportunities. His insights focused on "digital twins" – unified views of operations integrating diverse data sources. This enables operational teams to query data, access information from manuals and various databases, and make informed decisions, leading to significant improvements in efficiency and cost savings.
In his panel discussion with Carlton Dossman, Corporate Vice President of U.S. Commercial Industries at Microsoft, Ridley emphasized a crucial point about AI agents: they are "full-stack engineering beasts" requiring deep integration and coordination across multiple layers of technology. The user may see it as simple, but under the hood, it's anything but. This complexity means that simply deploying AI isn't enough; success hinges on translating powerful AI into usable, impactful tools that truly elevate frontline team performance. This requires a nuanced understanding of how humans will interact with these complex systems.
Real-world Examples: Where Business and AI Converge
The AI Leaders from Microsoft and Willow shared compelling evidence of AI's direct impact:
- Significant Cost Reduction: DFW Airport, for instance, projects a 25% reduction in maintenance costs over 10 years by using AI to predict and proactively address maintenance issues on critical infrastructure like jet bridges. Early results show potential for even greater savings (30%).
- Improved Energy Efficiency: AI is helping higher education institutions achieve 7-9% reductions in energy consumption. This is accomplished by using AI to analyze occupancy data and optimize heating and cooling systems, thereby avoiding energy waste in empty buildings. This AI-driven optimization integrates physical building plans with IT data, such as key card scans, to determine building occupancy.
- Enhanced Operational Efficiency: AI empowers frontline workers to quickly diagnose and resolve equipment issues (e.g., error codes on compressors) by providing precision answers from integrated manuals and live data, reducing downtime and improving service. This shifts from reactive, experience-based fixes to proactive, data-driven solutions.
- New Revenue Opportunities: By centralizing and analyzing operational data, businesses can identify new monetization opportunities, such as optimizing retail concessions in airports based on passenger flow and preferences.
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Practical Use Cases for HITL Agent Orchestration in Action:
- Predictive Maintenance at DFW Airport: AI analyzes telemetry data from jet bridges (hydraulic, cooling, power systems) to predict failures, enabling proactive maintenance and avoiding disruptions and passenger delays. Frontline workers quickly query the system for root cause analysis, repair history, and guidance, improving first-time fix rates.
- Energy Optimization in Higher Education: Overlaying occupancy sensor data with HVAC system data allows for automated adjustments to heating and cooling in campus buildings, reducing energy consumption in empty spaces.
- Improved Diagnostics for Pipeline Workers: AI provides pipeline workers with the ability to query maintenance history, live data, and equipment manuals to quickly diagnose issues like overheating or hydraulic problems, leading to faster and more effective repairs.
- Water Leak Detection: Analyzing pressure data in water pipelines allows for early detection of leaks in large campuses like DFW airport, preventing significant water loss and potential catastrophic failures.
Your Roadmap to Operational AI Success: Key Considerations
The consensus advice for implementing AI in these operational contexts is clear:
- Engage leadership at the C-level to approach it as a platform rather than point solutions.
- Focus on high-pain areas (like energy costs) to justify the investment.
- Critically, integrate OT and IT data to unlock comprehensive insights.
Successfully navigating these steps requires a partner who understands not just the technology, but how to ensure its seamless integration into human workflows, building trust and driving adoption.
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Tonic3's Perspective: Orchestrating Data and Elevating Performance for Real ROI
At Tonic3, we don't just acknowledge these realities – we build upon them. Our UX+AI+Code philosophy is specifically designed to address the complexities of AI in the physical world, ensuring your investments deliver tangible, sustainable value.
We specialize in designing and building custom AI solutions that integrate software-specific agents with universal/agnostic agents for internal business processes. We understand the intricate infrastructure required to deliver seamless UX simplicity for frontline users, ensuring your AI investments drive real business value.
By partnering with Tonic3, organizations can:
- Accelerate processes and elevate performance: We unify OT and IT data, elevating frontline worker performance with human-centered AI that streamlines workflows and boosts efficiency.
- Prioritize and build proactive compliance: Our approach embeds robust data governance and controls from the ground up, ensuring secure and compliant AI agent operations, especially in data-sensitive environments.
- Achieve short & long-term ROI on IT investments: We focus on delivering AI solutions that are adopted, trusted, and truly elevate your workforce's performance, translating into measurable business outcomes.
Don't wait to integrate OT and IT data. Unlock the data NOW with the right orchestrated AI thinking and a human-centered approach.
Ready to elevate the performance of your frontline problem solvers with human-centered AI that drives efficiency, ensures compliance, and delivers measurable ROI? Contact Tonic3 today.
