TECH & AI
KONE is a global leader in the lift and escalator industry . KONE operates across sixty countries , with a maintenance base of 1.6 million elevator and escalator units in 2023 .
Supplying Wacker , Finland at Dubai Expo 2020 , Beijing Daxing International Airport in China and Nausicaá- Europe ’ s largest aquarium- the company is driven by a mission to improve the flow of urban life .
Three megatrends drive growth and change in KONE ’ s industry verticalurbanisation , technological development and sustainability . It ’ s these three megatrends that have informed the company ’ s investment in Gen AI .
“ Urbanisation brings 200,000 new people into cities each day globally ,” notes Amy .
“ Digitalisation is driving a change in our cities as everything becomes connected . KONE moves more than one billion people per day , and we play a crucial role in how cities and buildings work .”
The movement of these people and the subsequent design of buildings to facilitate them has critical sustainability implications . Estimates indicate that urban areas are responsible for a shocking 70 % of global CO2 emissions , with buildings among the largest contributors .
Additionally , the number of people moving to urban centres continues to rise , with the UN reporting that around 2.5 billion more people will be living in cities by 2050 . That ’ s two out of every three people .
“ As cities are continuously growing , this will bring a new kind of pressure to create ease in people flow ,” Amy adds .
“KONE moves more than one billion people per day , and we play a crucial role in how cities and buildings work ”
AMY CHEN SVP AND FIRST CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER , KONE
“ We believe that with the help of new and future technologies , we will be able to build our cities better .”
Gen AI is one of these technologies , which KONE started pursuing through bottom-up Proof of Concepts ( PoC ’ s ) before focusing on which projects acquired traction .
Amy notes they also had steadfast support from senior management , both on promoting Generative AI and fully pursuing its implementation . At KONE they believed generative AI had the capacity to elevate their operations and employee experiences , channelling this belief into creating and piloting their Technicians AI assistant .
This assistant enables KONE ’ s service technicians to access information and knowledge about previous maintenance and equipment faster . KONE technicians could now access the specific product
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