Honeywell Technologies Hones Automation Focus Following Split of Honeywell

The June 29 split of Honeywell into Honeywell Technologies (HT) and Honeywell Aerospace will enable HT to reemphasize industrial automation as its core product. Honeywell Aerospace will continue to support its aviation clients with Cabin and Cockpit, Control, and Black Box technologies. HT will eye Artificial Intelligence (AI) and autonomous operations, likely bringing these technologies into field operations to reinforce its position as the operator-centric automation company. For other horizontally deployed automation companies like Siemens, HT could threaten current positions, especially as outcome-based technology sounds like Siemens’ new goal-based automation promise.

The reorganization of industrial automation companies is an existing trend. Siemens has spun off non-automation companies like Siemens Energy and Healthineers, and ABB is divesting its Robotics division to SoftBank (see ABI Insight SoftBank Acquires ABB Robotics: Death Knell or Lifeline for an Industry in Decline? for more). Honeywell’s spin-off, as well as its other smaller divestitures of its Warehouse and Workflow Solutions and Productivity Solutions and Services, are following suit. The ifficult transition of industrial automation into a digital age is a process that demands more focus than suppliers previously believed, and all suppliers must alter course to meet these clients’ needs.

HT’s number one priority will be to foster AI across the operations environment it specializes in. Honeywell Forge has been its AI and Internet of Things (IoT) platform since 2019, but has fallen behind in adopting AI agents and Model-Context Protocol (MCP) compared to its peer group. Augmenting Experion Highly Integrated Virtual Environment (HIVE) will be a critical role of the Aptica platform, designed to make Software-Defined Automation (SDA) more modular and incremental for HT systems, adopting a platform like ABB’s Automation Extended campaign.

For a horizontally integrated supplier in the class of Emerson Electric, Rockwell Automation, Siemens, and Schneider Electric, HT has taken an extensive interest in Operational Technology (OT) cybersecurity, effectively carving out a niche in a crowded market. In exchange, it has fallen behind in other aspects of its digital transformation platform, which the new entity should be able to remedy. For example, it has announced an emphasis on developing edge AI devices, which falls into its definition of Physical AI.

For HT’s competitors, the specialized entity poses a large threat. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vimal Kapur, a process industry veteran, will be looking to lead the pure automation player back into the spotlight. Currently, it sits at a 1.3% market share for its SDA offering (see ABI Research’s Industrial Automation: Software-Defined Automation (SDA) market data (MD-SDA-101), but gaining ground in this space through extensive support for customers struggling to transition could become a lever to gain market share as SDA accelerates around AI. HT’s competitors should analyze the extent to which they are supporting their transforming customers, as well as strengthen relationships with system integrator partners that extend solutions beyond the Tier One strategic accounts suppliers typically focus on.