IFS progresses from ‘promise to performance’ on Industrial AI
No longer ‘just’ the ERP company that we perhaps once thought of, IFS has over the last decade shown itself to be aligned to a defined set of specific verticals for the provision of field service management, enterprise asset management, enterprise resource planning and a variety of other related business functions.
Now self-styling itself as a provider of “Industrial AI Software”, the company says its sustained growth is down to its ability to follow trends established withing the world’s largest industrial enterprises, who are now moving from AI experimentation to deployment across their most critical operations.
With so many AI projects apparently stalling at the prototype phase (MIT’s already-infamous failure analysis being the benchmark thought in this space this year), IFS insists that it is delivering “meaningful and measurable” technology services for customers.
Outcomes, obviously
NOTE: Of course, IFS didn’t say technology services, it said “outcomes” because this is marketing, but these outcomes of course manifest themselves through software.
IFS.ai lists users including: Arcelor Mittal, Boralex, Callaway, Collins Aerospace, Dixstone, Hitachi Energy, Japan Airlines, OFI, TotalEnergies and Westinghouse.
“IFS’s Industrial AI capabilities are purpose-built for the operational complexity of industries that manufacture goods, maintain critical assets and manage service-intensive operations. This domain expertise, combined with AI innovation, enables IFS to deliver outcomes that traditional vendors cannot match,” said the company, in a technical statement.
The team point to IFS’s recent acquisition of 7Bridges, which it says adds advanced AI-driven supply chain, logistics and transportation optimisation capabilities.
“Our 22% ARR growth and increase in average deal size is driven by our AI investments and reflects a clear market shift: the world’s largest industrial enterprises are done experimenting with AI: they’re deploying it at scale,” said Mark Moffat, CEO of IFS. “They’re choosing us because Industrial AI purpose-built for their operations delivers outcomes they can measure and scale. That’s only possible because of our deep industry expertise that has enabled IFS to stand out in asset and service management. That proven value drives expansion. As they see returns, they invest more, and that dynamic is accelerating.”
Nexus Black, IFS’s AI innovation accelerator, is already delivering breakthrough AI products and customer results. Forward-deployed engineers are said to be converting customer requirements into AI services and IFS says it is differentiated here as these AI solutions are productised for speed and at scale.
Disciplined execution
Matthias Heiden, CFO of IFS points to recent healthy figures and says that his firm’s results demonstrate “disciplined execution” and a strengthened business model and competitive position.
IFS Loops agentic ‘digital workers’ autonomously manage complex workflows that previously required extensive manual intervention, operating seamlessly across any enterprise data source, be it IFS or any other vendor. Early deployments are demonstrating significant efficiency gains and faster decision-making.
As previewed on the Computer Weekly Developer Network already, the company is hosting a dedicated special event in New York this year, known as Industrial X Unleashed. The event will feature live demonstrations of how AI, large language models, robotics and enterprise software are being applied to operations across the world’s critical industries.
Image credits (below): IFS
