For more than a decade, the digital transformation of industry has been focused on the technologies that make up the Internet of Things (IoT). As AI and machine learning tech mature, a new field has appeared that combines these trends: AIoT, the Artificial Intelligence of Things, which applies AI to the data collected by IoT devices. Among the firms pioneering this space is the engineering and industrial giant Bosch, which has long been a leader in IoT.
The move to AIoT has allowed for Bosch to create smart products that either have intelligence built in, or have “swarm intelligence” in their back end that allows for the collection of data that is used to improve the products.
In April 2021, Mark Porter, CTO at MongoDB, and Dirk Slama, VP of Co-innovation and IT/IoT Alliances at Bosch, sat down to discuss AIoT. Their conversation saw them touch on what MongoDB and Bosch are working on around AIoT, and where they see the future of AIoT heading.
Bosch’s new focus on AIoT has enhanced their need for a flexible, modern data platform such as MongoDB. IoT devices collect enormous amounts of data; as Bosch adds sensors and new types of data to their products, MongoDB has allowed it to adapt quickly without having to go through a schema redesign whenever they need to implement a change to their products.
As part of their efforts to progress AIoT technology, Bosch and other companies recently created the AIoT User Group, an initiative open to anyone. The group’s goal is to bring end users working on AIoT business and use cases together with technology experts to share best practices around AIoT solutions. This co-creation approach allows for the rapid utilization of best practices to try out and develop new ideas and technologies.
Porter and Slama’s conversation covered many AIoT topics — and a glimpse at the technology’s next steps. For instance, Slama wants to see agility added to AIoT without losing control. In AIoT, there are many features that must be perfect on day one; but there are also a lot of features where you want to continuously improve system performance, which requires an agile approach.
For Mark Porter and Dirk Slama's full conversation, check out the video below!