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
TOURISE Unveils 2027 Summit Under the Theme “Alliances That Move the World”16.9.2026 23:53:00 EEST | Press release
Under the patronage of His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, His Excellency Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Minister of Tourism and Chairman of TOURISE, today announced the TOURISE 2027 Summit, taking place in Riyadh from March 23-25, 2027. Building on the inaugural TOURISE Summit in November 2025 and a year of collaboration since, the 2027 edition will run under the theme “Alliances That Move the World.” Over three days, leaders will focus on the partnerships, investments and actions needed to advance the global tourism agenda over the next 50 years. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260916467896/en/ The Summit will convene public and private sector leaders across tourism, technology, investment, sustainability, culture, mobility and government to tackle the sector’s most pressing opportunities and challenges and help shape the next era of global tourism. At the inau
Brightfin Names Dan McNamara Chief Customer Officer16.9.2026 20:13:00 EEST | Press release
Brightfin, the leading platform for total spend intelligence in enterprise IT, today announced that Dan McNamara has joined the company as Chief Customer Officer (CCO). The appointment comes as Brightfin extends its platform into a broader vision of financial truth and operational clarity across the entire enterprise technology stack, and as more IT and finance leaders turn to Brightfin to make sense of fast-growing, fragmented spend across cloud, mobile, and emerging AI tooling. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260916064892/en/ Dan McNamara, CCO of Brightfin McNamara has built his career on meeting increasingly complex customer expectations. Twice, he has joined a customer organization in the middle of rapid growth and left it with a stronger customer base. As Chief Customer Officer at Apryse, he helped grow annual recurring revenue from $40 million to $250 million while the company completed more than 15 acqu
Jazwares Partners With Sanrio to Expand Its Hello Kitty and Friends Range to EMEA16.9.2026 19:00:00 EEST | Press release
Jazwares, one of the world’s leading toy companies, today announced a licensing agreement with Sanrio GmbH, extending Jazwares successful Hello Kitty and Friends toy line to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). The agreement will bring Sanrio’s beloved Hello Kitty and Friends characters to even more fans in the region through playful, imaginative products designed for kids and collectors. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260916913201/en/ Jazwares partners with Sanrio to expand its Hello Kitty and Friends range to EMEA Available across key EMEA markets, the collection of trendy plush and figures, playsets, vehicles, and seasonal items reimagines Hello Kitty alongside fan-favorite friends including Cinnamoroll, Kerokerokeroppi, Pompompurin, Tuxedosam, My Melody, Kuromi, Pochacco, Bad Badtz-Maru, and Little Twin Stars. “Hello Kitty and Friends commands a truly multi-generational, global fanbase, cementing i
Schneider Electric Concludes Innovation Summit Middle East & Africa, Highlights Energy Intelligence as the Next Phase of the Energy Transition16.9.2026 16:30:00 EEST | Press release
As AI, electrification and industrial expansion reshape energy demand across the Middle East and Africa, Schneider Electric today concluded Innovation Summit Middle East & Africa by positioning energy intelligence as the next phase of the energy transition - where infrastructure becomes more connected, resilient and software-defined. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260916593883/en/ Walid Sheta, President, MEA Zone at Schneider Electric, releasing the company's 2026 Industrial AI in CPG Study for the UAE, at Schneider Electric Innovation Summit MEA (Photo: AETOSWire) Held at ADNEC in Abu Dhabi, the two-day summit convened over 2,500 attendees, including government leaders, industry analysts, customers, partners, students, and media, under the theme ‘Advancing Energy Tech to Power Intelligence and Resilience.’ Industry leaders explored how electrification, AI-ready data centers, cybersecurity, and digital innova
The Opening of Jayasom Wellness Resort Advancing AMAALA’s Wellness Vision16.9.2026 15:23:00 EEST | Press release
Red Sea Global (RSG), the regenerative tourism developer, has opened Jayasom Wellness Resort AMAALA, bringing a distinctive holistic health offering to the destination. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260916231950/en/ Outdoor relaxation area at Jayasom Wellness Resort AMAALA, where serene design and sea-facing spaces create a setting for rest and renewal. Designed by Heah & Co., with interiors by Studio Carter, Jayasom Wellness Resort AMAALA is located on Triple Bay’s largest cove and comprises 153 keys alongside 24 residences. The resort forms part of AMAALA’s secluded wellness core on the Red Sea coast, where nature and hospitality come together in a setting designed for reflection and renewal. “As we launch the first Jayasom globally, we are bringing a new dimension to AMAALA’s wellness offering. Its dedicated, all-inclusive wellness retreats combine contemporary, evidence-based practices with Arab and East
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