Construction equipment giant Caterpillar has developed an AI client that helps turn insights into action, transforming the worksite experience for customers, operators and technicians.

The Cat AI Assistant was unveiled at last week’s CES in Las Vegas and allows Cat customers to engage with Caterpillar’s equipment and portfolio of digital applications. With Cat AI Assistant, Caterpillar says it is making it easier for customers to buy, maintain, manage and operate its equipment no matter where they are.

It unifies Caterpillar’s portfolio of digital applications and vast amounts of high-quality data into one simple, conversational experience. It operates against the entire Caterpillar knowledge base and serves as a proactive partner for customers, providing personalised data and insights, and enabling faster, smarter decisions.

“Caterpillar’s strong digital foundation, including our Helios data platform that manages over 16 petabytes of data, is helping us move fast and deploy new AI capabilities to help our customers succeed,” said Ogi Redzic, Caterpillar chief digital officer. “Cat AI Assistant is a major leap forward in how Caterpillar supports customer success through best-in-class digital solutions, whether they’re working from corporate headquarters or at a remote jobsite.”

For business owners, Cat AI Assistant is an extra set of eyes on their equipment, evolving alongside their operations, continually refining insights and recommendations to help turn unplanned incidents into planned maintenance and to match the pace of their growing businesses.

For a technician, Cat AI Assistant can, with a simple voice command, and without interrupting the task at hand, access the right section from a library of thousands of instruction manuals. It provides step-by-step guidance on repairs, highlights common issues and suggests additional parts needed to complete the job, saving time and resources.

For an operator, it connects every step of the workday from machine start-up to shift handoff. It’s a coach in the cab, providing operators with information to work smarter and safer without switching screens, returning to the yard or losing focus.

Cat AI Assistant leverages the Nvidia Jetson Thor (www.nvidia.com/en-gb/autonomous-machines/embedded-systems/jetson-thor/) platform to run speech recognition and AI models and can even assist with directing the machine, at the edge, where work is done.

With industries facing talent and skills gaps, and customers managing increasing jobsite complexity, Cat AI Assistant can help a less experienced operator improve productivity, or help a Cat dealer provide better, more tailored insights to customers.

Caterpillar plans to bring the off-board Cat AI Assistant (www.caterpillar.com/en/news/caterpillarNews/2026/cat-ai-assistant.html) live in the first quarter of this year and is in the final stages of validation for in-cab applications, which should help machine operators work more safely and efficiently.

With 2024 sales and revenues of $64.8bn, Caterpillar (caterpillar.com) is a manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives.