CAT Taps AI Expertise for Construction, Training Employees En Masse

Caterpillar is expanding its use of artificial intelligence (AI) after decades of experience with autonomous mining equipment. The company, which offers automated haul trucks and drilling equipment, wants to apply those lessons to construction sites and quarries where conditions can change more often.

To that end, Caterpillar plans to spend $100 million over five years to train its 118,000 employees in AI, robotics, and autonomous technology. The company's Cat AI Assistant already allows technicians to use voice commands to find repair instructions and diagnose problems using a huge amount of connected data - about 1.6 million assets worldwide and more than 16 petabytes of structured data.

Caterpillar is also using AI inside its own operations, including creating digital versions of manufacturing sites to study how operations are working. Its software teams use AI agents that can update older code and create new code, helping find problems earlier in the development process.