Schneider Electric, a global leader in energy technologies, showcased new developments in its strategic partnership with Microsoft at Hannover Messe, demonstrating how their combined technologies help manufacturers modernize operations, accelerate engineering processes, and enhance sustainability.
Schneider Electric provides the industrial foundation for this collaboration through EcoStruxure Automation Expert—its open, software-defined automation platform that operates seamlessly in on-premises, edge, and hybrid environments. Microsoft extends this foundation with Azure cloud services and artificial intelligence solutions that analyze and optimize industrial processes. The result is a unified approach to agent-driven manufacturing, open automation, and end-to-end sustainability.
Today, manufacturers face increasing product variability, supply chain volatility, and heightened pressure to modernize safely. Schneider Electric addresses these challenges by combining engineering design with real-time operations. Their joint platform enables teams to standardize reusable logic, validate automation through simulation, ensure traceability throughout the entire lifecycle, and scale interoperable operations across different sites and equipment.
Schneider Electric is collaborating with Microsoft to develop the next generation of agent-based, software-defined manufacturing—an integrated workflow spanning design, engineering, construction, commissioning, and operations. At its core is EcoStruxure Automation Expert, which allows manufacturers to create, model, test, and deploy automation logic once and run it anywhere without additional reconfiguration. Schneider Electric’s deep expertise in safety, compliance, and industrial integration ensures reliability in highly regulated environments.
“From agent-based design to software-defined operations, Microsoft and Schneider Electric demonstrate a unified, interoperable workflow that enables the consistent verification, simulation, and deployment of automation logic both in the cloud and at the edge,” said Gwenel Yue, Executive Vice President of Industrial Automation at Schneider Electric.
While traditional automation software requires separate tools and handoffs between stages—design, simulation, commissioning, and operations—the shared platform unifies them into a single, transparent workflow. Specialized AI agents, coordinated by a centralized control system, automate routine engineering tasks and verify logic before implementation, reducing time from design to launch and increasing efficiency on the first attempt. Schneider Electric’s industrial copilot for manufacturers, powered by Azure AI, is already delivering results in the field: engineering teams report a 50% reduction in time spent configuring control systems and preparing documentation, and changes to production lines that previously took weeks are now completed in hours.
In one project to implement autonomous green hydrogen production in real-world conditions in collaboration with H2E Power, an Indian pioneer in the green hydrogen sector, the platform delivered over 6,000 hours of stable autonomous operation in one of the most demanding industrial environments — high-temperature solid oxide electrolysis for green hydrogen production — reducing the levelized cost of hydrogen by 10%, equivalent to approximately €500,000 per year for a typical 10 MW plant.
“Thanks to agent-based design, we close the loop from engineering concept to operational reality by automating solutions, ensuring early validation, and delivering reusable automation packages that Schneider Electric can model and consistently deploy both in the cloud and at the edge,” said Dayan Rodriguez, Corporate Vice President of Manufacturing and Mobility at Microsoft.
At their booths at Hannover Messe 2026, Schneider Electric and Microsoft presented hands-on demonstrations of early-stage joint innovation capabilities, including live demos, engineering AI, and an ecosystem of open standards, as part of a large-scale program to develop the next generation of manufacturing.
About Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric is a global leader in energy technologies, driving efficiency and sustainability through the electrification, automation, and digitalization of industry, business, and residential spaces. The company’s technologies enable buildings, data centers, factories, infrastructure, and power grids to function as open, interconnected ecosystems, enhancing productivity, resilience, and sustainability.
The company’s portfolio includes smart devices, software-defined architectures, AI-based systems, digital services, and professional consulting services. With 160,000 employees and 1 million partners in over 100 countries, Schneider Electric consistently ranks among the world’s most sustainable companies.
Learn more at https://www.se.com/ua/uk/
