Schneider Electric Announces Plan to Acquire Cognite

Schneider Electric has announced plans to acquire 100% of Cognite Holding B.V. in an all-cash transaction valued at US$3.1bn.

As AI shifts from supporting analytics to executing operations, the energy management and automation firm plans to leverage Cognite’s abilities as an industrial data and AI software provider to position Schneider Electric as a global leader in industrial AI infrastructure.

To achieve its goal of implementing the technology within its manufacturing operations, Schneider Electric says it requires more than just models – it requires a unified, contextualised foundation of industrial data on which AI can safely operate at scale.

The energy management firm says that with Cognite’s abilities, it can establish that foundation.

The AI firm’s cloud-native platform provides a unified industrial data model with agentic AI abilities, allowing customers to operationalise AI with plant operations, asset management and engineering workflows.

According to a statement from Schneider Electric, it says the deal will “create a unified platform for the next phase of intelligence for industrial AI”.

Turning operational data into a competitive advantage

Praising Cognite’s capabilities as an AI platform, Olivier Blum, CEO of Schneider Electric, says: “Cognite has built something rare, a truly industrial grade AI platform that turns the complexity of operational data into a competitive advantage.” 

He adds that Schneider Electric’s acquisition of Cognite will help strengthen AVEVA – Schneider Electric’s industrial software company – in the highest-growth segments of the market and places Schneider Electric in a strategic position as industrial intelligence continues to gain traction. 

“I have been extremely impressed by the world-class technology team and am convinced their unique AI expertise will be a catalyst in advancing intelligence across Schneider Electric’s portfolio,” Olivier says.

He goes on to say that the company has always believed “the energy transition demands intelligence” and data and unlocking both “requires AI”.

“By bringing Cognite into Schneider Electric and AVEVA, we unite the world's most comprehensive energy management and automation infrastructure with the software and AI capabilities to make it natively intelligent,” Olivier adds. 

“Together, we go beyond connecting systems. We give them the ability to think, adapt and act. This is what industrial intelligence looks like at scale.”

Additionally, scaling AI to this degree could also benefit each firm's operations on an employee level.

As AI continues to integrate across all industries, the race is on for companies to source talent with AI-ready skills and find harmony combining AI with technology and human workers.

Discussing the use of AI at the employee level, Tina Kao Mylon, Chief Talent and Diversity Officer at Schneider Electric, says the confluence of people and technology means the company can improve "how employees take ownership and agency in their own career and skill development". 

Increased investment and share price amid the AI boom

Founded in 2017, Cognite currently employs more than 800 people across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region, specialising in cloud-native data and AI platforms.

The firm’s technology allows for the integration and contextualisation of industrial data via a unified data model and knowledge graph, supporting advanced analytics and AI-driven applications for asset-intensive industries.

In 2025, Cognite’s annual revenue exceeded US$170m, marked by a rapid adoption of the Atlas AI platform – a low-code industrial AI agent workbench that powers agents with real-time, AI-ready operational technology and engineering data.

Cognite’s scalable, open architecture combined with the capabilities of AVEVA’s CONNECT, will ensure that analytics and industrial AI can process industrial data throughout customers’ existing data ecosystems and investments.

Since the growth of the AI boom, Schneider Electric’s shares have increased, with shares rising over 26% in 2025 alone.

This success can be attributed in part to investors betting on companies to produce the infrastructure needed as the demand for AI-ready systems in the manufacturing industry continues to grow.

As of last month, Schneider Electric remains France’s fourth largest by value, with a market capitalisation approximately US$188bn.