Tata Tech Puts AI in Driver’s Seat to Power Smarter Manufacturing

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Tata Technologies is putting AI and automation at the heart of how global manufacturers innovate, adapt, and grow, Sriram Lakshminarayanan, President and Chief Technical Officer, told MIT Sloan Management Review India in an interview.

Discussing the role of AI and automation in helping organizations adapt and grow, Lakshminarayanan said the global manufacturing industry is being disrupted by evolving consumer expectations, a dynamic ecosystem, and the rapid transformation of mobility.

He said consumers today expect “enhanced customer experience” and are exploring new ownership models, while the ecosystem is being shaped by “non-traditional entrants, newer markets, compressed timelines, evolving regulations, and a growing emphasis on sustainable mobility, which has become the new norm.”

He emphasized that from automotive and aerospace to industrial machinery, manufacturers are turning to technology as “a powerful catalyst to navigate unprecedented product complexity, compressed development cycles, and the imperative for sustainability.”

He said, “AI and intelligent automation are critical enablers, helping businesses accelerate innovation, drive operational agility, and create customer-centric, software-defined products and platforms.”

“At Tata Technologies, we offer end-to-end solutions for New Product Introduction (NPI) across engineering, manufacturing, and aftermarket, and we operate on the first principles of an AI-first framework,” Lakshminarayanan said. “We are harnessing AI and automation to deliver transformational value across the engineering and manufacturing lifecycle.”

In product engineering, he said, AI-driven design, simulation acceleration, and predictive analytics help optimize designs for performance, cost, and environmental impact.

He outlined what he called the three pillars of Tata Technologies’ AI and automation journey: “Speed, Synergy, and Scale are the pillars on which our AI and automation journey is built to bring value to customers.”

Tata Technologies has developed a platform and framework to define AI use cases across the product lifecycle and is building prebuilt applications for manufacturing, Lakshminarayanan added.

“On the shop floor,” he said, “our AI-powered digital twins, predictive maintenance, and intelligent quality systems drive productivity, reduce downtime, and enable sustainable operations.”

He also spoke about the company’s efforts to drive an AI-first engineering culture: “Through our TechVarsity platform, thousands of our engineers are upskilling in AI/ML, data science, and intelligent systems.”

He noted that Tata Technologies has implemented several automation and knowledge-based engineering solutions to improve productivity, and is piloting intelligent automation in delivery operations “to enhance productivity, creativity, and speed.”

“By embedding AI into how we innovate and deliver, we are accelerating our own digital transformation, while shaping the future of global manufacturing in partnership with our customers,” he said.

Discussing Tata Technologies’ efforts to create an AI ecosystem, he said the company is working with “many start-ups and universities to set up an AI Innovation Lab” and is leveraging its partner ecosystem to strengthen its AI capabilities.

“Innovation that matters to engineer a better world. We have also won recognition from analysts and Tata Group innovation forums for Gen AI innovations delivered to leading customers. Innovista, our flagship hackathon program, aims to solve real business problems through AI and automation,” he added.