Caterpillar is bringing to AI deployment what it learned from automating mining
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Caterpillar is applying lessons from its mining automation business to broader AI deployment across construction and enterprise operations, according to its CTO Jaime Mineart. The company sells autonomous haul trucks, drills, and remote-controlled equipment, and now offers tools like the Cat AI Assistant, which helps field technicians use voice commands for repair procedures and troubleshooting. Caterpillar's AI leverages proprietary data from about 1.6 million connected assets and over 16 petabytes of structured data. The company is also using AI for digital twins, manufacturing analysis, and software development, including AI agents that modernize legacy code. Mineart emphasized that the hardest part is integrating AI into customer jobsites and workflows, not just building the technology. To support the transition, Caterpillar plans to spend $100 million over five years training its 118,000 employees in AI, autonomy, and robotics. The company's quarterly revenue hit an all-time high of $20.5 billion, driven by strong demand for power-generation equipment used in data centers, with that division's sales up 72%.
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