Hitachi and Microsoft Enter Milestone Agreement to Accelerate Business and Social Innovation with Generative AI
4.6.2024 04:00:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501) and Microsoft Corporation announced a projected multi-billion dollar collaboration over the next three years, that will accelerate social innovation with generative AI. Through this strategic alliance, Hitachi will propel growth of the Lumada business, with a planned revenue of 2.65 trillion yen (18.9 billion USD)*1 in FY2024, and will promote operational efficiency and productivity improvements for Hitachi Group’s 270 thousand employees.
Specifically, Hitachi will embed the Microsoft cloud, Azure Open AI Service, Dynamics 365, Copilot for Microsoft 365, and GitHub Copilot into Lumada solutions to provide innovative solutions for the energy, mobility and other industries to deliver better outcomes for businesses and society. In addition, the two companies will promote joint projects to address pressing business needs such as bolstering cloud services, enhancing security, and mitigating the environmental footprint of data centers, which have become an increasing area of focus with the growing use of generative AI.
“Hitachi has been driving transformation by applying AI across the Hitachi Group to improve productivity and will invest 300 billion yen (2.1 billion USD)*1 in GenAI to capture new growth opportunities in FY2024. Hitachi and Microsoft have already been working on a variety of co-creation projects including the development of next-generation digital solutions for the manufacturing and logistics fields*2, and the development of a field-extended metaverse that runs on Microsoft Teams,” said Keiji Kojima, President and CEO of Hitachi. “Under this new agreement, we are excited to further accelerate social innovation by expanding our efforts to social infrastructure areas such as energy and mobility, and by applying generative AI, to improve the productivity of frontline workers, which will become even more important in the future. By combining our capabilities, we can help solve the issues faced by our customers and society, and contribute to a more sustainable future.”
“We are entering a new era of AI with the promise to deliver transformative business outcomes across every role and industry,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “Our expanded partnership with Hitachi will bring together the power of the Microsoft Cloud – including Microsoft Copilot – with Hitachi’s industry expertise to improve the productivity of 270,000 Hitachi employees and help address customers’ biggest challenges, including sustainability.”
Hitachi’s Business Transformation
Hitachi’s Generative AI Center*3 and Microsoft will collaborate to improve operational efficiency and application development within the Hitachi Group by using Copilot for Microsoft 365 and GitHub Copilot. Hitachi will also use Azure OpenAI Service to enhance its customer service. As part of Hitachi’s group-wide transformation, Hitachi will combine Azure OpenAI Service and GitHub Copilot with its systems development expertise to maintain high quality and improve productivity for mission-critical system development. Hitachi’s internal validation confirmed that when its detailed system design knowledge was incorporated with Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and GitHub Copilot, the application source code could be properly generated 70-90% of the time, resulting in high quality output.*4
Hitachi Rail is leveraging GenAI for predictive maintenance, enhancing equipment monitoring and refining forecast accuracy. This proactive approach prevents breakdowns, increases service quality, reduces operating expenses, and augments safety. For example, a cloud-based platform on Microsoft Azure was utilized to streamline data visualization and analysis, empowered by AI to furnish data-driven insights to digitally monitor rail infrastructure. These insights were translated into actionable steps for Network Rail, enhancing decision-making for predictive maintenance of overhead lines.
Develop innovative digital solutions
Hitachi is enhancing its Lumada solutions by incorporating the capability of generative AI. As part pf the initiative, Hitachi has already started to use Microsoft’s Generative AI for JP1 Cloud Services, a SaaS version of JP1, its integrated operations management software with approximately 20 thousand customers. This will accelerate response times to address failures, and enable improved operational efficiencies for IT departments, financial and public institutions. In an internal verification test conducted earlier, Hitachi confirmed that the time required for the operator to make an initial response to an alert was reduced to approximately two-thirds by using generated AI to respond to the alert and displaying the source of the citation, such as a manual, that provided the basis for the response.
In addition to this, Hitachi and Microsoft will also support the energy transition with improved access to and strengthening of digital solutions for asset performance management, energy trading, and risk management to reduce downtime and increase profitability. Increased computing power and cloud infrastructure are both critical to scaling these applications. Hitachi Energy’s Enterprise Software Solutions technology and its partnership with Microsoft is key to optimizing the energy network, from generation, through transmission and distribution, and ultimately in delivering reliable and sustainable energy to customers.
Joint projects to promote sustainable growth
Multiple Hitachi Group Companies including GlobalLogic, Hitachi Digital Services, and Hitachi Solutions, deliver a wide range of digital engineering, IT & managed services, and application services for the cloud. Additional development efforts through this partnership will focus on enhancing this broad range of services with the aim of sustainable innovation with Microsoft.
As the impact of CO2 emissions from AI on the global environment increases, Hitachi and Microsoft will work toward zero carbon, starting with a data center project in Europe, to reduce environmental impact.
Strengthen digital skilling and talent development
Hitachi will train more than 50 thousand GenAI Professionals. As part of the partnership, Hitachi will incorporate training to acquire advanced software development skills using GitHub Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service into the program to develop GenAI Professional, talents who support customers’ transformation using AI.
*1 | Forecast as of April 26, 2024, calculated at 140 yen to the U.S. dollar. |
*2 | Hitachi News Release (June 26, 2020) “Hitachi and Microsoft form a strategic alliance to advance next-generation digital solutions for manufacturing and logistics across Southeast Asia, North America and Japan” |
*3 | Hitachi News Release (May 15, 2023) “Hitachi Establishes New ‘Generative AI Center’ to Accelerate Value Creation and Improve Productivity in the Lumada business by promoting the use of Generative AI” |
*4 | Hitachi News Release (May 21, 2024)“Hitachi to Accelerate System Development Transformation with Generative AI" |
About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi drives Social Innovation Business, creating a sustainable society through the use of data and technology. We solve customers’ and society’s challenges with Lumada solutions leveraging IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products. Hitachi operates under the 3 business sectors of “Digital Systems & Services” – supporting our customers’ digital transformation; “Green Energy & Mobility” – contributing to a decarbonized society through energy and railway systems, and “Connective Industries” – connecting products through digital technology to provide solutions in various industries. Driven by Digital, Green, and Innovation, we aim for growth through co-creation with our customers. The company’s revenues as 3 sectors for fiscal year 2023 (ended March 31, 2024) totaled 8,564.3 billion yen, with 573 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 270,000 employees worldwide. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s website at https://www.hitachi.com.
About Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) creates platforms and tools powered by AI to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers. The technology company is committed to making AI available broadly and doing so responsibly, with a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240603649131/en/
Contact information
Media Contacts
Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777,
rapidresponse@we-worldwide.com
Corporate Communications, Digital Systems & Services, Hitachi, Ltd.
koho@itg.hitachi.co.jp
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Cessna Citation CJ3 Gen3 Achieves First Flight, Advancing Next-Generation Light Jet Toward Certification29.7.2026 19:31:00 EEST | Press release
Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, recently achieved a key milestone as the Cessna Citation CJ3 Gen3 prototype aircraft completed its first flight, advancing the next-generation light jet toward certification. With this milestone, all three next-generation Citation light jets — the CJ4 Gen3, CJ3 Gen3 and M2 Gen3 — have entered flight testing, demonstrating continued momentum across the Cessna next-generation light jet portfolio. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260729333762/en/ Cessna Citation CJ3 Gen3 achieves first flight, advancing next-generation light jet toward certification. (Photo credit: Textron Aviation) “This achievement continues the forward momentum of the CJ3 Gen3 program and reflects the discipline, innovation and commitment of this team,” said Chris Hearne, senior vice president, Engineering & Programs. “Comprehensive flight testing will now begin for this aircraft with ri
SES Launches Multi-Orbit Satellite Connectivity on LATAM Airbus, Embraer Fleet29.7.2026 18:30:00 EEST | Press release
SES, a leading space solutions company, was selected by LATAM Airlines to provide multi-orbit inflight connectivity service to its growing fleet of Airbus and Embraer aircraft, solidifying SES’s position as the top provider of multi-orbit broadband service in the Americas and around the world. “LATAM’s passengers will soon benefit from reliable, multi-orbit satellite connectivity that will provide the same fast and dependable internet access they enjoy at home no matter where or when they fly. SES’s partnerships with airlines like LATAM highlight how carriers throughout the Americas are leading the way when it comes to the most advanced connectivity. SES is a trusted partner that powers inflight connectivity,” said Mike DeMarco, SES President of Mobility. More than 60 Airbus (A320NEO and A321XLR) and Embraer aircraft (E195-E2) will be equipped with SES services in the coming years. LATAM will be the largest airline in the region to offer service using SES’s new electronically steered a
Carta Rearchitects Private Capital Operations with Plugins for Claude29.7.2026 17:01:00 EEST | Press release
Carta, the connected platform and AI-native ecosystem for private capital, today announces broad availability of its suite of Plugins for Claude following the initial launch in April 2026. With more than 1,500 companies and firms already using the plugins, Carta is changing the way private capital teams — from founders to CFOs — fundamentally operate, bringing fund administration, cap table management, and dealflow analytics directly into the spreadsheets, presentations, and workflows they already use every day. "For the last decade, private capital operation teams have been held back by a hidden tax: the constant, manual handoff of data between disconnected systems," said Henry Ward, Carta CEO. "Carta is eliminating that broken loop entirely by embedding intelligence directly into the tools teams already use. We are not waiting for an AI-native future for private capital — it is running on Carta today." Carta didn't just give Claude a pipe to its data. Carta built its private-capital
VDyne Announces First Patient Treated in TRIVITA US IDE Pivotal Study of the TriNova™ Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Replacement System29.7.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
VDyne Inc. (“VDyne”), a privately held medical device company developing an innovative transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR) system, today announced that the first patient has been enrolled and treated in the TRIVITA US IDE pivotal study of the TriNova™ system. The randomized controlled study will compare TriNova head-to-head with the commercially available Edwards EVOQUE™ TTVR system. The TRIVITA trial (NCT07516444) initiation marks a significant milestone in advancing treatment for tricuspid regurgitation (TR). The prospective, global, multicenter, randomized (1:1) controlled study is designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the TriNova TTVR system in patients with severe or greater tricuspid regurgitation who are suitable for valve replacement. The study will be conducted in the US and Europe with up to 70 sites participating. The first patient was enrolled at the Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, and tre
Grid Dynamics Accelerates Enterprise AI-Native Transformation With Workforce Certification and GAIN Platforms Rollout29.7.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Grid Dynamics Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: GDYN) (“Grid Dynamics”), a leading provider of technology consulting, platform and product engineering, and AI-driven digital transformation services, today announced significant momentum in the adoption of its enterprise agentic AI solutions. Organizations across retail, financial services, manufacturing, CPG, and logistics industries are increasingly deploying Grid Dynamics’ agentic AI-native platforms and Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE)-led services to accelerate software delivery, improve operational efficiency, and transform business processes at scale. Grid Dynamics is widely recognized for its enterprise AI expertise and delivery capabilities across Fortune 1000 organizations. Grid Dynamics has partnership agreements with Anthropic and OpenAI to accelerate the adoption of these platforms within enterprises. By the end of October 2026, Grid Dynamics plans to have 90% of its engineers trained and certified on these platforms. Built to suppo
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom