He is referring to the onset of the fourth industrial revolution, which the World Economic Forum predicted "will fundamentally alter the way we live, work and relate to one another. In its scale, scope and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before." Fueled by advances in artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and computing speed, businesses -- from auto to aerospace to retail -- are changing the fundamental building blocks of how they operate. By 2030, machine learning could contribute nearly $16 trillion to the global economy, research shows. For Mrosik and Siemens, the revolution is well underway.

Today machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies are helping solve some of the biggest problems facing companies across the industrial spectrum. Boosting efficiency and production output in areas such as predictive maintenance and repair, defect detection and the optimization of supply chains, they are also starting to impact automated systems. In an increasingly digitized and hyper-connected world, almost every company generates and collects data. Ever more sophisticated machine learning (ML) algorithms can analyze this data to make predictions and refine processes. Combined with other advanced technologies such as the IoT, this is helping manufacturers gain a foothold in today's Industry 4.0 revolution.

Since 2007, Siemens has invested $10 billion in US software companies to drive digital transformation in various industries including manufacturing, energy management, and transportation. Siemens has increased its research and development spending by 30% since 2014 in a push to develop new technologies. In 2017, it will spend an additional $300 million on R&D, to reach $5.4 billion. Siemens hosted an Innovation Day on Monday to showcase new technology, including MindSphere, its cloud-based, open IoT operating system. "Siemens is driving the digital transformation globally and in the US," said Roland Busch, CTO and member of the managing board of Siemens.

For decades, industrial control systems have been generating enormous volumes of data, but in many cases that data hasn't been fully employed to help companies reduce operating costs, improve reliability, and increase productivity--three goals that amount to the holy grail of manufacturing. Until recently, the path forward has been blocked by insufficient compute power, storage, and machine learning technologies to allow companies to harness the richness of the data they generate. Today, all of this is changing. Thanks to the rise of the Industrial Internet of Things, dramatic advances in computing systems, and the rapid maturation of machine learning algorithms, manufacturers now have the ability to collect, store, and analyze huge amounts of data in real time to turn it into actionable information. They can use this information to enhance operations, remedy equipment issues proactively, improve plant availability, and meet countless other goals that drive toward better margins for the business.

IBM (NYSE:IBM) jointly announced with the German conglomerate Siemens (OTCPK:SIEGY) that they are planning to include IBM's Watson in Siemens's industry analytics platform MindSphere. Siemens is Europe's largest manufacturing and electronics company with a worldwide presence. Siemens operates in the industrial sector with lots of on-premises software suites, which the company is willing to send to cloud. As a result, IBM's Watson will get a significant boost. This article investigates how IBM's Watson platform will benefit from the development.