ABB, TCS deepen industrial AI & factory modernisation pact

ABB and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to expand their collaboration across IT infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and engineering, with a focus on factory modernisation and industrial software.

The agreement covers IT infrastructure and applications, digital and industrial AI initiatives, data centres, and other emerging technologies. It builds on earlier work to modernise ABB's global operations.

Under the arrangement, ABB contributes expertise in electrification and automation, while TCS provides technology services, systems delivery, and AI engineering. Joint initiatives include industrial AI, digital twins, vision-based inspection, and the convergence of operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) in factories.

Factory focus

Industrial AI has become a central theme in manufacturing as companies seek more standardised approaches to data, predictive maintenance, and quality inspection. Digital twins-software representations of physical assets and processes-are a core element of many modern factory programmes. Vision-based inspection uses camera systems and software models to check products and components during production.

The MoU also highlights OT-IT convergence, which connects factory-floor equipment and industrial controls with enterprise IT systems. This integration can shape how manufacturers manage security, data governance, and system upgrades, particularly across large, multi-site operations.

The MoU also includes "IT infrastructure and applications transformation," covering the foundations for business systems, software platforms, and workplace tools, as well as the processes used to operate and update them.

The aim is an IT base that is agile, secure, and resilient, alongside cost optimisation and alignment with ABB's operating model. The partners also point to operational efficiency and continuous improvement.

India infrastructure

Beyond factory programmes, the MoU includes "AI infrastructure development opportunities." This references electrification, automation, digital, and software domains linked to TCS's planned AI infrastructure development activities in India.

The announcement also connects this work to data centres, a major investment area across the technology sector. Rising demand for AI computing has increased interest in new facilities and upgrades to power, cooling, and systems management. Large industrial groups are also assessing how electrification and automation platforms fit into that investment cycle.

Morten Wierod, chief executive officer of ABB, said: "Partnering with TCS helps ABB build smarter systems, adapt faster, and scale our innovations globally. India remains an important growth market for us and the renewed partnership will position ABB as one of the key partners for TCS' ambitious data centre expansion plans."

The MoU frames the relationship as a longer-term partnership, with an emphasis on operational resilience and sustainable growth-terms that have gained prominence as manufacturers and technology services providers plan for supply chain disruption, cyber threats, and rising energy costs.

For ABB, the expanded work reflects a broader push among industrial groups to modernise IT estates built up over decades of plant-level deployments and acquisitions. Many manufacturers run mixed environments of legacy applications, customised engineering tools, and newer cloud-based services. That complexity can slow the rollout of standardised data platforms and industrial AI projects.

For TCS, the deal aligns with its wider investment in AI services and engineering delivery, spanning infrastructure, data management, and application modernisation, alongside industry-specific programmes.

"This partnership reflects our shared ambition to move beyond incremental transformation and shape the next era of industrial enterprises. By combining ABB's leadership in electrification and automation with TCS' technical expertise in AI, data, and engineering, we aim to cocreate intelligent, resilient, and future ready industrial solutions at scale. Together, we are not just modernising the technology landscapes, we are advancing a new model of AI-led industrial innovation that delivers shared value across our global operations," said K. Krithivasan, MD and CEO, Tata Consultancy Services.

ABB has around 110,000 employees worldwide and operates in electrification and automation. TCS reported consolidated revenues of more than $30 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025, and operates across 55 countries with a network of delivery centres.

The joint work will cover IT infrastructure, industrial AI, and factory modernisation programmes, alongside exploration of AI infrastructure opportunities linked to TCS's planned development activities in India.