Honeywell, TCS partner to drive AI-led IT-OT convergence

Honeywell and Tata Consultancy Services have agreed to a strategic partnership to connect information technology (IT) systems with operational technology (OT) in buildings and industrial sites, using cloud services and artificial intelligence.

The work will focus on "autonomous operations" for building operators and industrial customers. It combines Honeywell's automation software and OT systems with TCS' IT services, cloud capabilities, and consulting.

Many building and industrial environments still run IT and OT as separate domains. IT typically covers business applications and data platforms, while OT includes control systems and the equipment and software used to monitor and run physical processes. These systems can sit on different networks and follow different maintenance and security practices.

The partnership aims to bring both domains into a single infrastructure to provide real-time visibility, improve decision-making, and apply AI-based analytics to operational data. It also supports predictive maintenance.

Technology stack

TCS will support IT modernisation and cloud integration, and advise customers on how to use OT data within IT systems. Honeywell will provide Honeywell Forge, its internet of things platform used in industrial and building settings, including analytics and dashboards.

Honeywell Forge includes suites for industrial operations and building management. It aggregates data from connected systems, presents it in dashboards, and uses analytics to identify performance issues and patterns in equipment behaviour.

A key part of the approach is bringing OT data flows into customers' IT systems. This can create a single source of operational data for facilities and industrial teams and help organisations standardise performance monitoring across sites.

Operational focus

Honeywell and TCS said the goal is operations that can "perceive, analyse, act, and learn" in real time. In practice, this points to more automated decision-making in areas such as equipment optimisation and process control, with human operators overseeing outcomes.

OT cybersecurity will also be part of the initiative. As connectivity increases and more operational data moves to cloud platforms, industrial and building control systems have become a larger focus for security teams. An integrated approach can make cyber controls more consistent across IT and OT environments, though it can also expand the number of connected assets that need monitoring.

The partnership builds on earlier work between the companies, though they did not provide details on existing customers or deployments. The initiative will launch in India and then expand to other regions, including the US and the Middle East.

Market context

IT and OT convergence has become a major theme for industrial groups, building management providers, and IT services firms. Organisations are under pressure to improve energy use, reduce downtime, and increase asset visibility. They also face ageing building systems, legacy industrial controllers, and fragmented data sources.

Cloud platforms and edge computing have expanded options for handling industrial data at scale. At the same time, AI tools are increasingly used for monitoring and maintenance, often through anomaly detection and predictive models that flag potential failures before they occur.

Honeywell has expanded its software business over the past decade, including through the development of Honeywell Forge and related offerings in industrial operations and building management. TCS has built a large practice in cloud migration, data platforms, and industry-specific consulting, including work with manufacturers and facilities operators.

"Our partnership with Honeywell is centred on helping enterprises unlock the benefits of autonomous workflows and redefine autonomy at scale. By combining the deep industry expertise of both Honeywell and TCS with our strong digital and AI capabilities, we are enabling organizations to run more connected, efficient, and sustainable operations. This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to long‐term value creation and helping customers make more intelligent decisions as they become truly future‐ready," said Anupam Singhal, President - Manufacturing, TCS.

Ashish Modi, President, Honeywell India & Asia Pacific, linked the collaboration to wider changes in connectivity and computing. "Our customers run incredibly complex operations. Historically, OT and IT have been run as separate domains, but with new capabilities in 5G connectivity, cloud computing and AI, we can now accelerate the OT/IT convergence to improve operations and data analysis through one cohesive system. This is anticipated to make it easier for our building and industrial customers to run their operations with greater safety, efficiency and agility and reveal new actionable insights on the performance of their infrastructure," he said.

Honeywell will also contribute OT cybersecurity products and AI-based industrial and building technologies to the joint work. The offering will roll out in India first, followed by the US and the Middle East.