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
The Estée Lauder Companies Unveils Mastering Skin Longevity, a Breakthrough Scientific Innovation Platform Advancing the Next Era of Skin Science6.11.2026 16:00:00 EET | Press release
At the China International Import Expo (CIIE), The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) today unveiled Mastering Skin Longevity, a breakthrough scientific innovation platform designed to advance the next era of skin science and transformative product innovation. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261106776704/en/ The Estée Lauder Companies' Skin Longevity Clock serves as the visual representation for the Mastering Skin Longevity scientific innovation platform. Moving beyond the study of individual Hallmarks of Aging, the platform focuses further upstream on the Master Regulators of Skin Longevity. These interconnected biological pathways and proteins influence multiple hallmarks at once. By deepening understanding of these systems and how they help support skin’s ability to repair, adapt and regenerate, Mastering Skin Longevity will guide the Company’s discovery across ingredients, technologies, formulations an
IntouchCX Recognized for Operations led AI and End to End CX Transformation by HFS Research6.11.2026 16:00:00 EET | Press release
IntouchCX a global leader in AI-powered customer experience (CX) management, trust and safety, digital engagement, and back-office operations, has been positioned in the Horizon 2 end-to-end experience transformation, in the HFS Horizons Customer Experience Services 2026 report for its operations led approach to AI adoption and its model connecting advisory with delivery, from strategy through frontline executions. HFS Research evaluates customer experience service providers based on their capabilities, innovation, and potential to deliver value. The 2026 report examines how providers are helping businesses adopt AI, improve customer experiences and strengthen operations. “AI transformation delivers the greatest value when strategy, technology, and operations work together,” said Brent Stevenson, Chief Experience Officer at IntouchCX. “Our approach and expertise goes beyond technology. We identify business challenges and build the right solutions by connecting the dots between data, wo
Experian Named a Leader in 2026 IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Decision Intelligence Platforms6.11.2026 16:00:00 EET | Press release
Experian today announced it has been named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Decision Intelligence Platforms 2026 Vendor Assessment (Doc #US54118426, September 2026), which evaluates providers helping organizations design, engineer and orchestrate increasingly complex decisions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261106302874/en/ IDC MarketScape positions Experian as a Leader in its 2026 vendor assessment of worldwide decision intelligence platform providers. “As organizations embed AI into more consequential decisions, the combination of trusted data, advanced analytics and strong governance becomes increasingly important,” said Keith Little, President of Experian Software Solutions. “Experian brings those capabilities together with decisioning, fraud and identity to help organizations make better decisions with greater speed and confidence.” The Experian Ascend Platform provides a unified analytics and
Midas Atlantic Partners, in Partnership With the Najafi Companies, Has Entered Into a Put Option Agreement With Sylvamo Relating to the Potential Acquisition of Its European Operations6.11.2026 13:04:00 EET | Press release
Midas Atlantic Partners (“Midas Atlantic”), in partnership with The Najafi Companies, has signed a put option agreement with Sylvamo Corporation (“Sylvamo”) relating to the potential acquisition of its European operations (the “Business”). The transaction comprises Sylvamo’s uncoated freesheet paper mills in Saillat and Nymölla, as well as its forestry and supporting business operations across Europe. Closing is expected in the first quarter of 2027, once the required consultation processes are completed and regulatory approvals are obtained. The Business is a leading European producer of uncoated woodfree (UWF) paper for office and commercial printing. Its product portfolio spans cut-size office paper, sold under its own brands such as REY and Multicopy as well as on behalf of major OEM and office supplies customers, and paper reels for commercial printers and converters. Headquartered in Belgium, with two large-scale, vertically integrated pulp and paper mills, it serves a longstandi
Suzano Reports 36% Increase in Third Quarter Net Revenue Following Consolidation of Arbex6.11.2026 01:23:00 EET | Press release
Suzano (B3: SUZB3 / NYSE: SUZ) , the world’s largest pulp producer, announces its results for the third quarter of 2026 (3Q26), which for the first time include Arbex, the joint venture between Suzano and Kimberly-Clark established in July this year. Driven primarily by the consolidation of Arbex’s contribution, Suzano reported net revenue of BRL16.5 billion, an increase of 36% on the same period last year and a new quarterly record in the company’s 102-year history. Adjusted EBITDA totaled R$5.7 billion in 3Q26, up 9% on the same basis of comparison. Operating cash generation reached R$3.8 billion, an increase of 12%. Net income totaled R$2.1 billion. As announced following the completion of the transaction with Kimberly-Clark, Suzano holds a 51% equity interest in Arbex and will therefore fully consolidate the joint venture’s financial statements from this quarter onwards.1 “This quarter marks the beginning of a new phase for Suzano. With Arbex, we are now a broader business, both ge
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