Embracing strong AI partnerships
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Through strong partnerships, we work towards to embrace strong AI partnerships.
We work with partners from business, academia and civil society to unite perspectives from AI research and practice.
Technological expertise and practical knowledge can help make targeted use of the potential of artificial intelligence. AI is developing dynamically, and the competencies required for it are no longer developed within individual organizations alone.
For this reason, Wilo relies on selected partnerships that bring together different perspectives. We combine our experience in water and technology topics with academic expertise and AI know-how in selected fields of application. In this way, new ideas emerge, applications are tested, and approaches to specific challenges are developed together.
Global WATER AI Academy as a platform for AI partnerships
The Global WATER AI Academy is a platform of the Wilo Group for collaboration at the intersection of water, digitalization, and AI.
It brings together companies, research institutions, universities, technology partners, and experts from different countries. Together, they discuss new technologies, identify fields of application, and develop innovative approaches to solutions.
This is not only about knowledge transfer. The Academy creates concrete spaces for co-creation, joint projects, and international networking. Different perspectives are brought together in order to support the transfer of development approaches into practical applications and to develop new approaches for future requirements in the water sector.
Bringing together academia and industry
Progress arises when scientific insights meet practical challenges. For this reason, Wilo brings together research and industrial application in selected partnerships.
The Global WATER AI Academy works with selected universities and research institutions, among others, to connect scientific expertise and AI-related perspectives with real requirements in the water sector. Partners include Heriot-Watt University, TU Dortmund University, and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
Practical example: Wilo Group and Heriot-Watt University
One of the first partnerships of the Global WATER AI Academy is with Heriot-Watt University. Together, Wilo and Heriot-Watt University are developing an educational offering.
The collaboration combines academic knowledge with industrial application while also creating new opportunities for students and experts to engage with water-related topics in a professional context. The partnership is intended to support competency development and the exploration of new approaches.
Connecting AI expertise with water technology
Well-founded domain knowledge can help align AI applications more specifically with technical requirements. For Wilo, this means that the development of intelligent solutions begins not with the technology itself, but with the specific requirements of infrastructure.
This is where our AI partnerships come in. Wilo contributes many years of knowledge in water technology, physical interdependencies, and real systems. Technology partners complement this knowledge with specialized expertise, for example in machine learning, reinforcement learning, simulation, and data-driven decision support.
Practical example: Partnership with InstaDeep
This approach is particularly visible in the partnership between Wilo and InstaDeep. Since March 2026, the two companies have been working together to connect water technology and AI in joint development projects. The aim of this multi-stage development partnership is to develop an AI platform designed for different application scenarios.
Here, Wilo’s experience and expertise in water technology meet InstaDeep’s expertise in AI applications, particularly reinforcement learning and simulation environments. Together, AI-supported approaches to selected questions relating to complex water systems are being developed and initially tested in simulations before potential use in selected real applications is assessed.
Shaping the future together
The future of water and artificial intelligence does not emerge in isolation. It emerges where people, companies, academia, and technology combine their strengths.
For this reason, Wilo is building selected partnerships that go beyond traditional company boundaries. The Global WATER AI Academy serves as a platform for selected cooperation and exchange formats. Collaborations such as the partnership with InstaDeep illustrate how joint development work on specific AI application questions can be organized.
