HANNOVER, Germany, May 5, 2026 /CNW/ — At Hannover Messe 2026, SUPCON (688777.SH, SUPCON.SW), a global leader in industrial automation and AI, demonstrated how the process industry can move beyond simple data analysis to real-time and autonomous execution. By unveiling its latest advancements in Agentic AI and software-defined automation, SUPCON provided a tangible roadmap for the transition to fully autonomous operating plants.

A central theme of the showcase was bridging the industry’s “execution gap”. While many plants generate vast amounts of data, the challenge remains in acting on that data in a timely, reliable manner. SUPCON’s integrated solution featuring the Universal Control System (UCS), Time-series Pre-trained Transformer (TPT2), and UNS-based IIOT Data Platform (Tier0), enables industrial plants to not only analyze information but to execute closed-loop optimization in real time.

“Industrial AI has reached a critical turning point. It is no longer just about generating insights, but about embedding them within closed-loop controls to achieve peak performance,” said Kenneth Lim, Director of Strategy and Marketing at SUPCON International Business. “Our role is to provide the industry with an open, reliable foundation that allows our customers to scale at their own pace, ensuring that today’s investments remain future-proof for decades of innovation ahead.”

Technical Keynote Highlights: The Path to Autonomous Operating Plants

Through a series of technical keynote sessions, SUPCON reframed autonomy not as a single hardware upgrade, but as a strategic operating model designed to empower the modern workforce.

Real-time Field Intelligence (Smart Field Instrumentation & Ethernet-APL): Moving beyond legacy protocols like HART, SUPCON showcased how Ethernet-APL brings high-speed connectivity directly to the field, turning passive instruments into active sources of real-time intelligence.Building the Unified Namespace (Tier0): To eliminate the “integration tax,” SUPCON introduced Tier0, a UNS-based platform using MQTT pub/sub and semantic structures to create a shared, event-driven data layer that prevents vendor lock-in and unifies fragmented systems.Agentic Application Development (AppBuilder): The Tier0 AppBuilder demonstrated how factory teams can build industrial applications up to 10x faster using natural language and domain-aware agents, moving from costly customization to rapid, user-centric creation.The Autonomous Workforce (Robotics & AI): By utilizing autonomous robots as “mobile sensors” for hazardous tasks like leak detection, SUPCON proved that technology isn’t about replacing humans, but about liberating engineers for high-value creative problem-solving and strategic oversight.Software-Defined Controls: The Universal Control System (UCS) represents a new era of efficiency. By revolutionizing traditional controls architecture, it reduces physical footprints and cabling by up to 90%, directly helping partners meet carbon neutrality goals without sacrificing productivity.Time-Series Pre-Trained Transformers (TPT): Unlike standard Large Language Models, the TPT is purpose-built for industrial time-series data. It consolidates fragmented use cases like equipment health forecasting and bottleneck analysis into a single AI layer for faster scaling.Autonomous Operating Plants (AOP): SUPCON framed “Zero-Touch Operations” not as a single hardware upgrade, but as a total strategic transformation. Addressing the “hidden” barriers of fragmented data and multi-OEM complexity, Autonomous Operating Plants (AOP) are achievable when open architectures and next-generation control systems are designed as a unified foundation from the outset.Self-Optimizing Plants via Closed-Loop AIO: SUPCON introduced Artificial Intelligence Optimization (AIO) as a revolutionary step beyond traditional DCS and APC systems. By enabling AI to learn from real-time plant data and feed optimized decisions back into control systems autonomously. This closed-loop approach serves as a practical pathway for manufacturers to optimize throughput, energy, and safety simultaneously without manual intervention.

A Partner in Industrial Evolution

By connecting smart field instrumentation, open data platforms, and software-defined control, SUPCON is providing the industry with a practical blueprint for safer, more resilient, and self-optimizing plants. The vision presented at Hannover Messe 2026 establishes that autonomous operations are achievable today when open architectures and next-generation intelligence are designed as a unified foundation.

Resources & Media

Resource Hub & Presentations: global.supcon.com/events/hannover-messe-2026Highlights Video: View on YouTubeNext Event: Join us at Gastech 2026 | 14–17 September 2026 | Bangkok, Thailand

About SUPCON

SUPCON (688777.SH, SUPCON.SW) is a global provider of industrial automation and industrial AI, offering control systems, digital platforms, robotics, and software solutions that power the world’s process and energy industries. Headquartered in Hangzhou, China, with the SUPCON Internal Business Headquarters in Singapore and the regional hubs around the globe, SUPCON is well-positioned to elevate industrial intelligence and drive customer success. Trusted by more than 250 leading enterprises and 39,000+ customers worldwide across major process industries such as oil & gas, chemical and petrochemical, as well as other industries such as power, pulp and paper, building materials, and more, SUPCON is driving the evolution from automation to autonomy–enabling safer, smarter, and more sustainable industrial operations.

For more information, please visit https://global.supcon.com/

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SOURCE SUPCON International Business Pte Ltd

The collaboration aims to help redefine the future of finance by combining agentic AI with human supervision, enabling finance teams to govern, improve, and scale AI agents over time.

NEW YORK, May 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — PwC today announced an expanded collaboration with OpenAI to help create the first of its kind AI native finance function at enterprise scale, combining agentic AI with human supervision to reshape how finance work gets done.

Together, PwC and OpenAI are building AI agents around the core operating rhythms of finance, from planning, forecasting, and reporting to procurement, payments, treasury, tax, and the accounting close. What sets this collaboration apart is its focus on building in the real world, not just designing in theory. For example, PwC and OpenAI are building a procurement agent inside the OpenAI finance organization, and are applying those learnings to additional agents across core finance workflows. That hands-on model is intended to speed innovation, prove the value of an AI native finance function in practice at OpenAI, and continuously improve the offering based on learnings.

Powered by OpenAI native finance capabilities and PwC’s deep expertise in finance, risk, and transformation, the collaboration is intended to move finance beyond task automation toward an operating model where AI agents can execute complex work, collaborate across workflows, and support faster, more insight-driven decisions.

“Finance is at an inflection point, where organizations are moving from process efficiency to intelligent, decision-centric operations,” said Tyson Cornell, US Advisory Leader. “Through our collaboration with OpenAI, we’re helping clients embed agentic AI into the core fabric of the finance function, enabling more proactive insights, stronger controls, and a more adaptive operating model.”

In this new operating model, the role of finance professionals evolves from primarily executing processes to supervising, governing, and improving AI agents over time. Finance teams remain accountable for judgment, controls, and outcomes, while helping define the guardrails, policies, and organizational memory that allow agents to perform more effectively and responsibly. Through MCPs and reusable skills, agents can connect to enterprise systems with the right controls, produce more reliable outputs, and follow consistent operating patterns across finance processes.

At the same time, domain experts can use Codex and OpenAI emerging product surfaces to build bespoke applications for targeted finance workflows — accelerating solutions for accruals, close activities, reconciliations, reporting, and other operational needs without relying solely on traditional software development cycles. This is the foundation of a new kind of finance function: AI native by design, human-governed actions, continuously improving over time.

“Finance has always been about judgment, trust, and making decisions in environments filled with complexity and constant change. AI gives finance leaders a much deeper ability to see around corners and act faster,” said Sarah Friar, CFO at OpenAI. “I believe we’re now entering a moment where the finance function itself gets reimagined to shape decisions in real time. The opportunity here is far bigger than efficiency, it’s about giving finance leaders the tools to operate with greater foresight, agility, and strategic impact across the business.”

This collaboration reflects a broader shift toward an OpenAI native finance operating model, where work begins with intent and is executed by AI agents acting across systems, workflows, and data environments. Through hands-on collaboration, PwC and OpenAI are creating a continuous feedback loop between emerging innovation and real-world execution. This model allows both organizations to rapidly test, refine, and scale capabilities in ways that are practical, enterprise-ready, and closely aligned to the evolving priorities of CFOs.

Co-developing the future of Intelligent Enterprise for Finance

The focus of this collaboration is on practical, high-value workflows where AI agents can execute and coordinate work under human supervision. This includes:

Procurement agents that guide intake, create requisitions, answer policy questions, record item receipt and support procurement workflowsSpecialized agents that accelerate contract review, perform risk assessments, and power other autonomous finance operationsBespoke applications that help automate accruals, accelerate close activities, streamline reporting, and deliver customized dashboards — enabling domain experts to build targeted solutions around enterprise platforms faster and better serve stakeholders.

By leveraging Workspace Agents, Codex and OpenAI emerging product surfaces, the collaboration aims to show how finance teams can move beyond point automation toward an enterprise operating model where agents run repeatable workflows, surface exceptions, and continuously improve how work gets done.

PwC is proud to collaborate with OpenAI in this way within the finance domain, helping shape how an AI native finance function can be deployed with the governance, transparency, and control required in enterprise environments. Together, PwC and OpenAI are translating emerging AI capabilities into enterprise-ready solutions designed to work within existing finance systems, controls, and operating models.

You can learn more about how PwC and OpenAI are helping drive impact here: https://www.pwc.com/us/en/technology/alliances/openai.html

About PwC 

At PwC, we help clients build trust and reinvent so they can turn complexity into a competitive advantage. We’re a tech-forward, people-empowered network with more than 364,000 people in 136 countries and 137 territories. Across audit and assurance, tax and legal, deals and consulting we help clients build, accelerate and sustain momentum. Find out more at www.pwc.com.

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SOURCE PwC

New capabilities help enterprises, governments, and service providers operationalize digital sovereignty with continuous compliance and control across hybrid environments

BOSTON, May 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — At Think 2026, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced the general availability of IBM Sovereign Core, a new software platform designed to help organizations build and operate AI-ready sovereign environments and verify their control — giving enterprises and governments an end-to-end approach to digital sovereignty.

As AI adoption accelerates, digital sovereignty has become a critical requirement, extending beyond data residency to include control over infrastructure, operations, and AI systems. Organizations must balance maintaining necessary authority with the pace of innovation, while facing increasing scrutiny from regulators, auditors, and boards. Yet most platforms can struggle to provide consistent, auditable answers to these requirements — creating a gap between policy and operational reality.

“AI has made sovereignty a runtime requirement, not a policy statement. With IBM Sovereign Core, organizations don’t have to choose between deploying AI at speed and verifying their control. Sovereignty shouldn’t be a constraint on innovation — with the right software foundation, it’s an enabler of it,” said Dinesh Nirmal, SVP, IBM Software.

Defining Digital Sovereignty for the AI Era
IBM defines digital sovereignty across four pillars:

Operational Sovereignty — Control over how environments are operatedData Sovereignty — Control over data at rest, in use, and in motionTechnology Sovereignty — Open, modular architecture that avoids vendor lock-inAI Sovereignty — Control over where models run and how inference is governed

Together, these pillars form the foundation of IBM’s unified approach to digital sovereignty—bringing control across operations, data, technology, and AI.

A Unified Approach for Digital Sovereignty
IBM Sovereign Core introduces a new model for operational sovereignty, where governance, compliance, and control are built into the system from the start to enable organizations to scale AI while maintaining their sovereignty, trust, and operational independence. IBM Sovereign Core delivers an integrated sovereign software platform that combines control plane, identity, security, compliance, and AI execution functions operate within a single deployment model.

Key capabilities include:

Customer-operated control plane enabling full authority over configuration, operations, and lifecycle managementIn-boundary identity, encryption, and data services, ensuring all access, secrets, keys, logs, and audit evidence remain under customer controlContinuous compliance monitoring and evidence generation, providing real-time audit readinessPreloaded regulatory frameworks to accelerate company defined compliance postures across regions and industriesGoverned AI execution, ensuring models, inference, and agent operations run within defined sovereign boundariesOpen, modular architecture built on open standards, supporting portability and avoiding vendor lock-in

Together, these capabilities establish a sovereign control plane that enables organizations to operate environments and verify their control across data, operations, and AI.

Continuous, Verifiable Compliance
IBM Sovereign Core enables organizations to move from static compliance models to dynamic continuous, verifiable compliance models that are verifiable. Integrated monitoring, drift detection, and automated evidence generation allow organizations to:

Validate compliance in real timeMaintain audit-ready evidence within the sovereign boundaryReduce reliance on manual validation and point-in-time audits

This ensures sovereignty is not only defined, but observable, enforceable, and provable at scale.

AI Governance Within Your Sovereign Boundary
As AI systems become central to enterprise operations, governance must extend beyond data to include models, inference, and agent behavior. IBM Sovereign Core enables organizations to deploy and operate AI models, agents, and inference workloads entirely within the sovereign boundary, ensuring their:

Control over where AI processing occursTraceability of model execution and decisionsGovernance over access, updates, and lifecycle management

This ensures that AI systems operate with accountability, transparency, and control, even in highly regulated environments.

Extensible Ecosystem and Deployment Flexibility

Built on open, enterprise-grade technologies like Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat AI, IBM Sovereign Core enables organizations to extend existing investments across hybrid and partner environments.

 IBM Sovereign Core includes an extensible catalog that organizations can curate for their own users, with their own applications, or populated with pre-vetted IBM, third-party and open source software and services from an ecosystem of software and infrastructure partners that includes: AMD, ATOS, Cegeka, Cloudera, Dell, Elastic, HCL, Intel, Mistral, MongoDB, and Palo Alto Networks.

CPU, GPU, and AI inference environments can be provisioned using standardized templates and automated configuration profiles, enabling teams to deploy and manage workloads consistently across sovereign regions while maintaining alignment to their compliance and sovereignty requirements.

Designed for Regulated Regions, Enterprises and Governments
IBM Sovereign Core is designed for organizations that require greater control, flexibility, and compliance across sensitive workloads.

Enterprises can run regulated applications and AI workloads within controlled environmentsGovernments and public sector organizations can support sovereign operations for critical servicesService providers and regional cloud operators can deliver sovereign cloud and AI services at scale

Across these use cases, IBM Sovereign Core enables organizations to innovate with AI while maintaining demonstrable authority over their systems, data, and operations. IBM Sovereign Core is now generally available.

Supporting Quotes
“Control and compliance have long been barriers to enterprise AI adoption,” said Marjorie Janiewicz, Chief Revenue Officer at Mistral AI. “IBM Sovereign Core delivers a ready-to-deploy foundation that allows our models to operate within trusted boundaries from day one, enabling organizations to accelerate AI adoption while maintaining full control over their data. We’re pleased to be the first model provider partner for Sovereign Core to certify our frontier models and support enterprise customers globally.”

“AI is reshaping how nations, governments and enterprises operate, making digital sovereignty not just a policy discussion, but a leadership priority,” said Philip Guido, EVP & Chief Commercial Officer, AMD. “As organizations deploy AI at scale, control over technology becomes increasingly critical. Together with IBM and Red Hat, we’re enabling clients to exercise greater autonomy and flexibility in their digital sovereignty choices across the full IT stack through an open, secure and transparent approach.”

“As organizations navigate increasingly complex compliance and regulatory requirements, we’re seeing strong demand for digital platforms and software that allows sensitive data to remain within controlled, compliant boundaries,” said Gaetan Willems, VP Cloud & Digital Platforms, Cegeka. “Partnering with IBM to offer a pre-architected solution through our in-country environment enables us to deliver enterprise-ready software to our clients, while allowing them to address local compliance standards.”

“As part of our strategic alliance with IBM, Deloitte is focused on enabling a Sovereign Core technology stack that supports clients in building secure, scalable, and compliant cloud ecosystems. Leveraging IBM’s platform capabilities alongside Deloitte’s deep regulatory and transformation expertise, we help organizations address critical imperatives such as data localization, security, regulatory compliance, and India’s DPDP requirements.”  — Vinay Prabhakar  Chief Commercial Officer Deloitte AP & National Sales & Alliances Leader Deloitte South Asia

“India deserves cloud infrastructure that is sovereign by design. At NxtGen, that has always been our operating principle and our promise to customers: superior performance, lower TCO, and zero trade-offs on compliance. The IBM Sovereign Core collaboration is a direct expression of that commitment, bringing secure, compliant cloud capabilities built for India’s regulatory reality.” — A S Rajgopal, MD & CEO, NxtGen

“The ability to establish—and prove—control over data, models and operations is quickly becoming a differentiator for trust, resilience and innovation in AI adoption,” said Bill Pearson, vice president of data center and AI software, Intel Data Center Group. “Establishing sovereign AI frameworks, spanning open hybrid architectures and transparent governance, requires a foundation built for performance, security, and control. Intel continues to innovate with technologies such as Intel Xeon 6 processors and Intel TDX to provide in‑use protection for data and AI workloads across environments with CPU and GPUs to support sovereign infrastructure initiatives like IBM Sovereign Core.”

Supporting Materials
Blog: IBM Sovereign Core: The new end to end system for Sovereign AI
IBM Sovereign Core Product Page
IBM Sovereign Core Ecosystem Catalog
IBM Sovereign Core Compliance Center
Statement of Direction for IBM Sovereign Core

About IBM
IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of governments and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

Visit www.ibm.com for more information.

Media contact:

Kate Lehman
IBM
Kate.Lehman@ibm.com

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SOURCE IBM