Johnson Controls buys FogHorn to integrate edge AI platform and focus on smart buildings

Vijay Sankaran of Johnson Controls

Johnson Controls, a global specialist in smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, has completed the acquisition of FogHorn, a developer of Edge AI software for the industrial and commercial Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.

The Edge AI platform brings intelligence to the source of data inside the building, enabling secure, real-time machine learning driven solutions that address the pressing challenges of sustainability, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and smart, secure buildings.

Johnson Controls has acquired Foghorn’s Edge AI for its OpenBlue smart buildings platform.

“Value is increasingly being created by applying intelligence at the edge-device level to create real-time, secure, actionable insights,” says Johnson Controls CTO, Vijay Sankaran. “By pervasively integrating Foghorn’s world class Edge AI throughout our OpenBlue solution portfolio, we are accelerating the pace towards our vision of smart, autonomous buildings that continuously learn, adapt and automatically respond to the needs of the environment and people.”

As the number of sensors and amount of data in buildings continues to grow exponentially, the value of processing data and applying intelligence at the edge, without having to send data to the cloud, becomes increasingly pronounced.

Sastry Malladi, who served as chief technology officer at Foghorn, will join Johnson Controls, reporting to Sankaran as vice president, OpenBlue Artificial Intelligence.

“We are thrilled to bring the Foghorn team and edge AI capabilities to Johnson Controls and OpenBlue,” says Malladi. “By combining our respective strengths, Johnson Controls can make an even bigger impact on continuing to address some of the pressing challenges of decarbonisation, sustainability and energy efficiency, indoor air quality and smart, secure buildings.”

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. FogHorn’s technical team will be integrated into the OpenBlue Solutions organisation. FogHorn’s headquarters in Sunnyvale, California will function as an ‘AI Hub’ for Johnson Controls.

Comment on this article below or via Twitter: @IoTNow_OR @jcIoTnow

RECENT ARTICLES

Carson City upgrades to Iteris’ advanced Vantage Apex sensors

Posted on: April 26, 2024

Iteris has announced that Carson City, Nevada has chosen to upgrade the city’s intersection detection sensors to Iteris’ Vantage Apex hybrid sensors.

Read more

Make the Intelligent Choice: Embed X103 in Smart City Outdoor Devices

Posted on: April 25, 2024

The adage “less is more” is the current state of digital transformation, starting with existing technology that has already proven successful – and then further adapting and streamlining. The “smart

Read more
FEATURED IoT STORIES

What is IoT? A Beginner’s Guide

Posted on: April 5, 2023

What is IoT? IoT, or the Internet of Things, refers to the connection of everyday objects, or “things,” to the internet, allowing them to collect, transmit, and share data. This

Read more

The IoT Adoption Boom – Everything You Need to Know

Posted on: September 28, 2022

In an age when we seem to go through technology boom after technology boom, it’s hard to imagine one sticking out. However, IoT adoption, or the Internet of Things adoption,

Read more

9 IoT applications that will change everything

Posted on: September 1, 2021

Whether you are a future-minded CEO, tech-driven CEO or IT leader, you’ve come across the term IoT before. It’s often used alongside superlatives regarding how it will revolutionize the way

Read more

Which IoT Platform 2021? IoT Now Enterprise Buyers’ Guide

Posted on: August 30, 2021

There are several different parts in a complete IoT solution, all of which must work together to get the result needed, write IoT Now Enterprise Buyers’ Guide – Which IoT

Read more

CAT-M1 vs NB-IoT – examining the real differences

Posted on: June 21, 2021

As industry players look to provide the next generation of IoT connectivity, two different standards have emerged under release 13 of 3GPP – CAT-M1 and NB-IoT.

Read more

IoT and home automation: What does the future hold?

Posted on: June 10, 2020

Once a dream, home automation using iot is slowly but steadily becoming a part of daily lives around the world. In fact, it is believed that the global market for

Read more

5 challenges still facing the Internet of Things

Posted on: June 3, 2020

The Internet of Things (IoT) has quickly become a huge part of how people live, communicate and do business. All around the world, web-enabled devices are turning our world into

Read more