Avathon’s Industrial AI to Power Petrol Pumps, Planes
Avathon, an enterprise robotics company, formerly known as Sparkcognition, has rebranded itself with an ambitious plan to triple its workforce in India within two years and transform Industrial AI in sectors such as Energy, aviation, and Supply Chain Management. This rebranding underscores Avathon’s focus on advancing legacy infrastructure through AI, turning traditional systems into autonomous, sustainable, and resilient ecosystems. With over $100 trillion of ageing infrastructure globally under strain from supply chain disruptions, workforce shortages, and escalating security threats, Avathon is poised to tackle these challenges as a leader in industrial AI solutions. The company claims that its AI platform now powers 20% of India’s petrol pumps and ensures safety at over 17,000 retail outlets nationwide. The company is strengthening its India presence to attract premier AI and engineering talent. Furthermore, Avathon’s AI is contracted to enhance safety at major oil and gas facilities in India, including 83 airport terminals and 15 airport fueling stations. With key partnerships with technology leaders like NVIDIA and Qualcomm, Avathon continues to deliver cost-efficient products tailored to client needs. In line with this expansive mission, Avathon’s digital twin technology has been designed to operate beyond isolated factory floors, encompassing the entire supply chain. Johar compared Avathon’s platform to NVIDIA’s Omniverse, explaining, “While many digital twins focus solely on individual factories, our approach includes every step of the supply chain to optimise quality control and problem-solving,” Pervinder Johar, CEO of Avathon told AIM. “We’re bridging the physical and computational aspects of AI,” Johar elaborated. Avathon is now positioned as a robust platform that integrates mechanical engineering advancements with AI innovations, a concept Johar believes is becoming increasingly relevant as industries shift toward intelligent, autonomous systems. Digital Twin for Aviation Industry Avathon’s digital twin solution addresses quality inspection issues not only at a factory level but also extends to tier-one suppliers and beyond. By deploying computer vision and other AI techniques, Avathon helps clients detect defects in parts like aeroplanes or car components early in the supply chain, avoiding costly recalls and logistical challenges. “If a part has a flaw, identifying it before it even reaches the assembly line saves time, resources, and ultimately, customer satisfaction,” Johar noted. The expertise of Kunal Kislay, India president at Avathon, significantly strengthens Avathon’s computer vision and low-code AI platform. Kislay joined the company following the acquisition of his company, Integration Wizards. With a rich background in computer vision and AI engineering, Kislay now helps the company scale AI-driven industrial applications. Johar shared broader industry insights and examples of Avathon’s impact. He illustrated how clients such as HPCL and IOCL leverage Avathon’s platform for everything from safety monitoring to productivity improvements. For HPCL, Avathon’s computer vision monitors security and safety on-site, identifying potential hazards before they occur. Highlighting the economic impact, Johar estimated that Avathon’s solutions have the potential to influence trillions of dollars in asset value across industries. “Just in aviation, our AI can provide predictive maintenance for fleets, allowing airlines to extend the life of their planes, which represents billions in capital investment savings,” he explained. Even with a marginal cost improvement of 10%, clients can see significant returns on their investments. In sectors like aviation, this could mean substantial operational savings and improved efficiency for airlines managing vast fleets. AI as a Copilot Avathon’s emphasis on collaborative AI solutions extends to predictive and prescriptive maintenance for complex assets. The company’s AI copilots provide essential guidance, even for technicians unfamiliar with specific machinery. This capability is particularly valuable in industries like aerospace, where technicians may only specialise in certain types of equipment. “Parts may be interchangeable between Boeing and Airbus planes, but often mechanics aren’t trained across both,” Johar pointed out. “Our AI copilots step in to bridge that knowledge gap, saving time and avoiding the need to fly specialists worldwide.” Looking towards the future, Johar envisions an AI-driven evolution across industries, particularly with the advent of humanoids and physical AI in manufacturing. He referenced the work of Avathon’s joint venture with Boeing, SkyGrid, which focuses on autonomous air traffic control for a future filled with autonomous aircraft. “As air traffic grows, we need a system that can manage the skies without relying on human controllers,” he explained. Similarly, Avathon is working toward creating autonomous supply chain planning systems that not only support human planners but could potentially automate decision-making processes entirely, as the supply of mechanical engineers is getting slow globally. Sparking an Idea Originally founded as Sparkcognition 11 years ago, Avathon emerged from the University of Texas at Austin, where it was initially a niche AI project led by UT Austin’s PhD student and Dr. Bruce Porter, the university’s former computer science dean. “Back then, AI was just beginning to gain traction. We were ahead of the curve, focusing on applying AI to real-world problems long before AI became the trend it is today,”. This foundation in academia drove a decade of innovation, especially for large-scale clients in Fortune 500 companies, as Avathon carved its niche in the AI-driven infrastructure space. Over time, Johar realised that its original mission— ‘sparking an idea’ —was evolving into a more comprehensive vision. With a focus on building a sustainable platform that would serve industries for decades, they rebranded to Avathon, a name Johar explained as stemming from two Greek words that mean ‘to bind together.’
The company claims that its AI platform now powers 20% of India’s petrol pumps and ensures safety at over 17,000 retail outlets across the country.
Avathon, an enterprise robotics company, plans to triple its workforce in India within two years.
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["AI", "computer vision", "Aim", "RAG", "copilots", "R", "Go", "Scala", "Git", "API"]
Mohit writes about AI in simple, explainable, and often funny words. He's especially passionate about chatting with those building AI for Bharat, with the occasional detour into AGI.