ARM Institute Members are varied in their focus areas, sizes, and history, but one common thread unites each organization: a drive to build the future of US manufacturing. Each of these organizations leverages their strengths and areas of expertise to ensure a brighter future for the US workforce, a stronger Organic Industrial Base (OIB), and a more resilient manufacturing economy. This often involves building AI solutions for manufacturing.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been dominating headlines. That’s one reason we launched our three-part summar AI Public Webinar series (more on that here). But AI isn’t a new field for the ARM Institute. Since 2017, we’ve catalyzed countless projects that leverage AI to improve manufacturing consistency and efficiency while minimizing cost. Our Members have been on the forefront of this field right alongside us. In conjunction with our AI webinar series, we’ll also use this summer to highlight our members who offer AI solutions for manufacturing through our Five Question interviews. By demystifying AI best practices, accelerating AI robotic projects, and highlighting companies that are in a prime position to help manufacturing with AI, we take AI out of the theorectical realm and into tangible, practical impact.
For this month’s Five Questions feature, we chatted with from Nivedita Ojha CEO of Kamet AI, a start-up level ARM Member. Get to know Kamet AI in the interview below!
1. Can you tell us about your career journey and how it led you to Kamet AI?
I began my career as an intern at General Motors and took my first job at Philips Electronics. This experience provided a strong foundation for product development and manufacturing understanding. Over the years, at various organizations, I focused on creating data-driven software solutions that integrated hardware and robotics. Together with my co-founder, we recognized significant challenges within industrial businesses that weren’t being addressed as effectively as those in the software enterprise realm. This realization sparked the inception of our company.
We observed a significant underutilization of existing data sets that could enhance the adoption of automation while improving ongoing efficiencies and productivity.
Additionally, Kamet’s core team is built on a foundation of extensive expertise across Cloud, SaaS, Robotics, Risk Management, Data Analytics, AI, and Enterprise Software. We have contributed to over $2.8B in enterprise tech innovation, both at startups (such as Looker, acquired by Google; Zenprise, acquired by Citrix; and FORT Robotics) and at multi-billion dollar industry leaders (including Autodesk, Philips, and Cloud Systems Group). Through discussions with over 300 customers, we identified the opportunity to apply AI, Machine Learning, and Data Analytics to tackle the challenges manufacturers face as they embrace automation.
2. Can you tell us about Kamet AI? What industry problems does Kamet AI address?
Kamet AI has a proven track record of using AI-powered predictive efficiency analysis to help manufacturers realize the full ROI potential of industrial automation. A recent Siemens Senseye study highlighted that large manufacturing plants are losing 11% of their revenues on average due to inefficiencies and unplanned downtime. Furthermore, there is no unified platform for predictive operation performance, and no solution that evaluates interdependencies across the layers involved (machine layer, software layer, human control layer). In our own customer conversations, we also learned of failed automation projects, lengthy setup times, and numerous operational issues.
Kamet is an AI-powered platform that keeps automation running smoothly. It detects risks and challenges early, calculates potential losses, and provides real-time, AI-driven solutions to prevent inefficiencies and downtime.
Kamet AI’s beachhead is to accelerate smart machine configuration time by more than 5X. With our advanced AI models and data analytics, we maximize yields while maintaining consistent quality, predict issues, recommend corrective actions, cut recovery time from operational failures by 30%, and increase robot lifespan.
3. When organizations approach you hoping to implement AI solutions, how do you get started? What advice do you have for manufacturers looking to explore AI solutions?
We start with problem identification. Depending on where the customers want to get started, we can help either with delivering the IA model or start with the dashboard. After the pilot, we provide self-service onboarding and setup (which we can complete with incredible speed), followed by measurement and AI-powered data analysis. Kamet does not require real-time/online data; our AL and ML models can be developed and refined offline using batch data, resulting in easy, frictionless deployment with near-instant time-to-value.When considering the use of AI-based tools to increase operational efficiency, manufacturers should look at the expertise of the company’s personnel and the flexibility of their AI/ML models.
4. There are many upsides to implementing AI in manufacturing, but what are some common pitfalls manufacturers should avoid?
AI is undeniably trending today, but success in manufacturing depends on separating hype from reality. The key is to align AI initiatives with real operational problems, rather than just chasing the latest tools.
Unfortunately, technology often outpaces the actual use case. Take LLMs and GenAI, for example. These are ideal for lightweight, consumer-style applications such as chatbots, document summarization, simple dashboards, or automating repetitive office tasks. They’re fast to deploy and helpful in administrative environments.
In manufacturing, the challenges run deeper, where complexity arises from the interplay of physical systems and digital data. That’s where GenAI falls short.
At Kamet.AI, we address these complex environments using machine learning and supervised learning, not just language models. These models require careful data handling and often take several months to deliver real results. However, once tuned, they become highly adaptive and can be refined in just weeks as new data becomes available.
It’s important to recognize that not all AI provides instant results, especially in industrial settings where Vertical AI is still in its early stages. Real value comes from a thoughtful, use-case-first approach rather than shortcuts.
5. Kamet AI just recently joined the ARM Member Consortium. What do you hope to achieve through the ARM Institute and what do you want other ARM Members to know about your capabilities?
As ARM Institute Members, we hope to work with U.S. leaders in manufacturing and robotics to accelerate the adoption of smart machines and help companies realize the full ROI potential of automation. We invite members in the ARM Member Consortium to partner with us, as we have proven that we can help robot manufacturers get their products up and running with optimal configuration for peak performance, 5X faster than using currently prevalent techniques, plus we help their customers avoid unplanned downtime, maximize product yields while maintaining high quality, predict and prevent operational issues, and extend robot lifespan. Please reach out to us at [email protected].
Bonus: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
To get a quick appreciation for what Kamet AI offers, we invite our fellow ARM Members to watch this video that highlights our success with Mitsubishi Electric Automation arm robots. We are in conversation with other OEMs and their customers. Our product is available for our customers in 3 modules: 1. AI models and model Library, 2. The dashboard to predict operational challenges, and 3. The complete platform including the dashboard and AI model.
Join Kamet AI and our 450+ Member Organization in Building the Future of US Manufacturing
ARM Institute Members lead the way to a future where people and robots work together to respond to our nation’s greatest challenges and to develop and produce the world’s most desired products. By becoming a member of our 450+ member organization consortium, you’ll join thousands of subject matter experts in building the future of US manufacturing through robotics, AI, and workforce innovations. Your membership unlocks not only access to member-exclusive events and webinars, including our Annual Member Meeting, but also project funding opportunities, project outputs, networking, a digital platform for collaboration, and more.
Explore membership here
ABOUT THE ARM INSTITUTE
The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute is a Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) funded by the Office of the Secretary of Defense under Agreement Number W911NF-17-3-0004 and is part of the Manufacturing USA® network. The ARM Institute leverages a unique, robust, and diverse consortium of 450+ members and partners across industry, academia, and government to make robotics, autonomy, and artificial intelligence more accessible to U.S. manufacturers large and small, train and empower the manufacturing workforce, strengthen our economy and global competitiveness, and elevate national security and resilience. Based in Pittsburgh, PA since 2017, the ARM Institute is leading the way to a future where people & robots work together to respond to our nation’s greatest challenges and to produce the world’s most desired products. For more information, visit www.arminstitute.org and follow the ARM Institute on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).