AI assistants for operators, maintenance and engineers

Updated: 24 October 2026 · SIM Solutions

Short answer

Our AI assistants connect to the systems you already have (SCADA, historian, CMMS exports, PLC projects and documents) and answer in plain language. The Operator Assistant finds the first cause of a stop and guides through procedures. The Maintenance Assistant suggests likely causes and drafts work orders. The Engineering Assistant reads PLC and SCADA projects and drafts code and screens to your standard. Access is read-only by default and an engineer approves every change.

Operator Assistant

For the control room and the line: first cause instead of an alarm flood, procedures step by step, answers in the operator's own language and a drafted shift handover. More about the Operator Assistant.

Maintenance Assistant

For technicians in the field: likely causes from trends, work order history and the manual, checks in a sensible order and a draft work order for the planner. More about the Maintenance Assistant.

Engineering Assistant

For automation engineers: reads TIA Portal and WinCC V7 projects, finds where tags are used, drafts PLC code and Ignition screens on a development system and tests in simulation. More about the Engineering Assistant.

Demos on a fictional plant. All data shown is illustrative. No sound; on-screen text explains each step.

Our rules for AI on OT systems

Read-only access by default; data flows out of the OT network, not in
New work happens on development systems, never directly on the running plant
An engineer approves every change; safety functions stay outside AI
Your data stays your data: we agree up front which data the assistant may see

These rules follow the joint guidance on AI in operational technology published on 3 December 2025 by CISA and Australia's ACSC with NSA, the FBI and partner agencies including Germany's BSI and NCSC-NL. See secure AI in OT.

Why now

According to Eurostat, 34.5% of Belgian enterprises with 10 or more employees used at least one AI technology in 2025, against 20.0% across the EU.

Questions we get

Does an assistant control the plant?

No. The assistants read and explain. Any write action would be a separate decision with its own safeguards and approval.

Which AI models do you use?

Enterprise models from Anthropic and OpenAI, connected to your systems through our own integrations and the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

How do we start?

With one line or one team, a clear question and read-only access to the data that answers it. We measure the result before extending.

Sources

NSA: NSA, CISA, and others release guidance on integrating AI in operational technology (3 Dec 2025)
Eurostat: Dataset isoc_eb_ai: enterprises using AI technologies (15 Jun 2026)
Eurostat: 20% of EU enterprises use AI technologies (11 Dec 2025)