BT today announced it will use artificial intelligence (AI) from QiO Technologies to help customers optimize energy use across their operations and reach sustainability targets.

According to the operator, the integration will allow BT to help its customers avoid 60 million metric tons of carbon emissions by the end of the decade.

"I believe we have a very important role to play in addressing the climate crisis. By partnering with customers, we can help them achieve net-zero carbon emissions,” BT Chief Product and Digital Officer Hriday Ravindranath said.

BT's edge compute devices paired with QiO's Foresight Optima AI bring real-time data from IoT sensors, databases, machinery control settings, energy sources, and external data to isolate and optimize each variable. With this solution, BT says its customers can reduce energy consumption while improving productivity and quality.

QiO's AI uses an energy efficiency index (EEI) when assessing each variable. The EEI examines past configurations of various processes and identifies the instance when that variable was most energy efficient and why. The EEI also takes into account location and equipment to identify best practices.

The AI is hosted on BT's edge compute devices, which the company says ensures data will be securely processed by the AI physically nearby its location of origin. And because it's on these edge devices, BT says it's able to connect to all relevant systems, hardware, and assets to provide complete visibility into the processes being measured and optimized.

“Data is key,” Ravindranath added. “Too many organizations still gather carbon data manually, making reporting difficult and limiting its usefulness in improving operations. Our solution collects data securely, and by using QiO’s AI, recommends steps to optimize processes. Moreover, customers can use this data to report on their performance in a standardized way."

BT says customers using this service will also benefit from additional digital capabilities like IoT, cloud, and secure connectivity within the same managed service.

QiO's AI has already been deployed in a variety of industries such as glass, steel, cement, and automotive. The vendor says its AI has so far provided energy savings of up to 15%. For instance, a large glass manufacturer lowered energy consumption by 6% and carbon emissions by just under 22,000 metric tons of CO2, according to the company.