A new agreement between research company J.D. Power and an industrial artificial intelligence and IoT software company will allow J.D. Power to “provide insight into the behaviors and failure modes of millions of connected devices,” according to J.D. Power’s president and chief executive officer, Dave Habiger.

J.D. Power and Chicago-based Uptake Technologies will team to develop new automotive industry analytics products, in addition to analytics products for the utilities and telecommunications sector.

Through the alliance, OEMs and operators in those three industries will be able to gain actionable intelligence from newly connected devices such as manufacturing plants, vehicles, smart meters and network devices, according to J.D. Power.

J.D. Power and Uptake said the collaboration will use J.D. Power’s research and industry knowledge and Uptake’s industry-specific insights and industrial IoT platform to provide independent industry benchmark studies, data and analytics products, and customized advisory services.

Habiger of J.D. Power said adding the new analytics capabilities means the company “will provide our customers with real-time insights that open new horizons of opportunity in the design, manufacture, service and insurance of vehicles.”

The use of Uptake’s industrial AI and machine learning platform, which uses data science to turn untapped IoT data across enterprises into what J.D. Power describes as “actionable insight,” is included in the alliance. That improves manufacturing quality, vehicle efficiency, dealer service and customer experience for vehicle OEMs and drivers, according to J.D. Power.

The company said Uptake’s technology uses AI and machine learning to enrich raw data to generate actionable recommendations. That allows users to make intelligent business decisions that are “linked to financial outcomes,” according to J.D. Power. 

The collaboration will also include smart home and connected real estate insight for utilities and power generation firms, J.D. Power said. It also provides connected device efficacy insight and optimization benchmark surveys for mobile network operators.

J.D. Power chief digital officer Bernardo Rodriguez said in a news release that utilities face challenges to differentiate their energy offerings with improved service and efficiency strategies to increase value for customers.

“Adding to our AI capabilities, we will leverage Uptake’s IoT AI and machine learning platform to access previously untapped data with advanced technology that will provide automotive, telecom and utility companies with new insights around customer-centric opportunities,” Rodriguez said.

Uptake founder and chief executive officer Brad Keywell said the alliance augments J.D Power’s independent industry benchmark studies and data analytics services by adding Uptake’s AI and machine learning software.

“The result is new data-informed AI-based insights and benchmarks made possible in this age of pervasive sensors and hyperconnected industry,” Keywell said.  “Together with J.D. Power, we are creating a new category of industry-specific insights and benchmarks, which we believe will make visible the path towards ever higher levels of quality, productivity, and customer satisfaction.”