New Ovation AI Agents enable operators to resolve complex issues in a fraction of the time for faster, smarter plant operations
- New Ovation AI Agents include Sequence Assistant Agent, Alarm Insight Agent, Predictive Maintenance Agent, Root Cause Agent and Loop Performance Monitor Agent.
- Designed to seamlessly integrate with the Ovation Automation Platform 4.0 release, the new Ovation AI Agents are embedded into native operational workflows and tools, eliminating the time-consuming need to switch between systems.
- Contextual recommendations are delivered directly within the operator's control, alarm and maintenance workflows, replacing standalone analytics or manual data correlation for faster, in-the-moment action.
- AI agents compress diagnostic and analysis time from hours or days to minutes, addressing industry challenges including workforce transitions, increasing operational complexity and operator information overload.
- Human-in-the-loop design ensures operators always retain command; AI agents operate proactively in the background, analyzing plant conditions and recommending optimizations.
PITTSBURGH, July 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Global automation leader Emerson (NYSE: EMR) today introduced new Ovation™ AI Agents for the power and water industries, expanding the AI capabilities of the Ovation Automation Platform 4.0 release. The five new agents - Sequence Assistant Agent, Alarm Insight Agent, Predictive Maintenance Agent, Root Cause Agent and Loop Performance Monitor Agent - will empower plant personnel with critical insights by continuously monitoring, analyzing and recommending actions across critical plant operations.
This expansion builds on the success of Ovation Virtual Advisor and delivers new capabilities to Ovation's growing portfolio of AI solutions for the power and water industry, transforming how operators make decisions. While Ovation Virtual Advisor provides real-time, AI-driven insights through natural language interaction, the new AI Agents are time synchronized with the Ovation 4.0 system and work autonomously in the background, continuously monitoring plant and equipment conditions and recommending optimizations.
"Ovation AI Agents deliver a major step change in our AI portfolio, representing a significant advancement in how we help our customers build more intelligent, efficient and resilient operations," said Bob Yeager, president of Emerson's power and water solutions business. "The AI-enabled agents handle complex data analysis and pattern recognition to monitor asset health, run simulations, forecast failures and prioritize interventions. These powerful tools enable operators to shift from reactive to proactive planning without disrupting daily workflows."
The Ovation AI Agents will be deployed in phases, with the following included in the first wave:
- Sequence Assistant Agent: Provides AI guidance for sequence-function-driven control logic tools by generating context-aware prompts from real-time deviations and historical failures. During a steam turbine startup, for example, the agent can pinpoint why a sequence has stalled and alert an operator with recommended corrective action, resolving issues in seconds that traditionally could take hours of manual investigation.
- Alarm Insight Agent: Prioritizes and summarizes alarm context during alarm floods, helping operators focus on the most critical alarms and recommended actions rather than being overwhelmed by hundreds of alerts simultaneously.
- Predictive Maintenance Agent: Acts as an early-warning system for critical plant equipment, detecting degradation, prioritizing maintenance and helping prevent unplanned failures.
- Root Cause Agent: Performs real-time root cause analysis that goes beyond the control system itself to analyze the running plant process. By correlating alarms, trips and live equipment conditions, the agent identifies root causes of critical asset issues - enabling maintenance teams to shift from reactive to proactive actions.
- Loop Performance Monitor Agent: Continuously analyzes control loop performance to identify poor-performing loops, including for issues such as oscillation, deadband and deficient tuning, and generates evidence-backed recommendations for engineering review.
Real-World Impact and Integrated Architecture
Unlike chatbot-style interfaces or external analytics layers, Emerson's new AI agents are designed to seamlessly integrate with the Ovation 4.0 Automation Platform - governed within the platform and backed by decades of power and water industry expertise. Built with human-in-the-loop design, the agents operate proactively, running in the background and alerting issues to operators - taking action with human approval. Every recommendation flows through human operators who retain full control.
Early deployments demonstrate measurable impact. In one scenario, the Sequence Assistant Agent identified a failed permissive condition in seconds - a diagnosis that would have previously consumed hours of manual investigation across logic diagrams and point values. At another major utility, the Predictive Maintenance Agent captured subtle equipment anomaly before it became critical, preventing costly unplanned downtime.
Strategic Alignment with AI-Enabled Operations
The five new Ovation AI Agents will launch this Fall, enabling customers to start deploying individual agents tailored to their operational priorities and expand their portfolio over time as needs evolve. The broader roadmap includes an additional 28 planned agents spanning operations, maintenance, optimization, instrumentation and control, management and cross-domain functions. Emerson will also showcase the Ovation AI Agent Builder at this year's Ovation Users Group Conference, demonstrating how it will help users design, deploy and customize unique agents specific to their operations - creating a dynamic and scalable pathway for AI-driven optimization.
The Ovation AI Agents are part of Emerson's continued commitment to innovation, introducing new capabilities that provide AI-powered insights to help customers improve decision making and create business value.
Additional resources:
About Emerson
Emerson (NYSE: EMR) is a global automation leader delivering solutions for the most demanding technology challenges. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Emerson is engineering the autonomous future, enabling customers to optimize operations and accelerate innovation. For more information, visit Emerson.com.
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/emerson-expands-ovation-ai-portfolio-with-new-intelligent-agents-302833750.html
SOURCE Emerson
Denise Clarke, 512-587-5879, Denise.Clarke@omc.com; Media: Contacts: Emerson Global Media Contacts: https://go.emersonautomation.com/en-public-relations-inquiries