Koch Engineered Solutions and Percepto Join Forces To Bring Cutting-Edge AI and Autonomous Drone Technology to Industrial Customers
With an assist from the Koch Labs® capability, Koch Engineered Solutions and Percepto partner to bring cutting-edge AI and autonomous drone technology to help industrial customers monitor and reduce emissions.
Innovate or get left in the dust. That’s the kind of thinking that brought together Percepto, the leading autonomous inspection and monitoring solution provider, and Koch Engineered Solutions into a new collaborative venture.
“This is an example of rapid transformation where there was a virtuous cycle to be had with Percepto and KES and our future customers,” says Ryley Clem, director of commercial development Equipment, Technology and Services for KES.
The partnership will allow Koch Specialty Plant Services, a KES subsidiary, to offer Percepto’s cutting-edge artificial intelligence software and autonomous drone-in-a-box solutions to its range of industrial customers. The partnership will benefit both Percepto and KES as they work to better meet the needs of their customers. It is the direct result of the kinds of connections and conversations that are facilitated by Koch’s culture of knowledge sharing and principled entrepreneurship.
As a director of commercial development, one of Ryley’s responsibilities is to seek out ways that KES can add to the services it offers to better meet the needs of industrial customers and create more value for them. Deeply understanding your customer’s challenges while staying on top of the latest innovations is a key part of that. One way Ryley stays connected to the latest ideas is by meeting with Bill Bender, Koch Labs® capability director.
Koch Labs is a capability of Koch Disruptive Technologies and looks to connect the companies it invests into the diverse ecosystem of subject matter experts, businesses and capabilities across Koch and its network of partners.
During one of those meetings, Bill and Ryley discussed Percepto, one of the companies KDT has invested in.
Percepto uses autonomous drone technologies, such as its Percepto Air Max™ and Percepto Air Max OGI™ platforms, to do remote, high-frequency, high-quality visual and thermal inspections of a wide range of industrial facilities. Then, Percepto’s Autonomous Inspection & Monitoring software creates AI-powered reports of anomalies and trends to key asset owners.
Ryley says it didn’t take long for him to recognize the opportunity that had just been presented to him.
“I thought, ‘Wow, that fits with what we’re trying to build in our new service offerings,’” he says. “We have to continue to innovate and transform and bring new products and services that create value for our customers. Percepto is bringing that.”
Shortly after speaking with Bill, Ryley set up a meeting with Ariel Avitan, one of the original founders of Percepto. The two quickly realized how valuable a partnership could be and how it would allow them to better serve their customers.
“The win-win here is that Percepto has the ability to be visible to a lot of very big clients that usually would take years to build relationships with,” Ariel says. “Now, we can take advantage of the reputation and ongoing relationships Koch Engineered Solutions has with these clients.”
And KES benefits by getting to offer a new cutting-edge service to its customers that can minimize downtime, streamline compliance, reduce operational costs, improve safety and help find ways to reduce emissions.
“We’re going to create value for our customers in ways neither of us could do by ourselves,” Ryley says.
Ariel credits being connected with the Koch Labs capability as crucial to the company’s success.
“KDT is the most added value investment we’ve ever had,” Ariel says. “It’s not just about the money, it’s about the relationships we have with Koch Labs and other Koch companies.”
He says Percepto is only just scratching the surface of potential use cases for its technology and software, and the partnership with KES and KSPS will only deepen their understanding of real-world uses and benefits.
“We’re excited to lead the revolution of unmanned inspections that helps industrial facilities optimize their operations and reach their environmental and safety goals,” Ariel says. “And this partnership with KES is a tremendous next step.”
