Hexagon is a technology company that provides precision measurement, positioning, and AI-driven solutions that help industries build, navigate and innovate to improve quality, productivity, and autonomous operations.
Hexagon recently spun off Octave into a standalone company. What was the strategic rationale behind that decision, and how does it sharpen Hexagon's focus?
The spin-off was a logical step given how both businesses had evolved. What is now Octave grew from the Intergraph business into a large enterprise industrial software platform through years of organic growth and acquisitions. At the same time, Hexagon continued to strengthen its position as a leader in precision measurement technologies and the downstream workflows that turn measurement data into actionable insights using AI.
Separating the two businesses allows each to focus on what it does best while providing customers with a clearer value proposition. Octave is now dedicated to enterprise industrial software, while Hexagon remains focused on precision sensors, measurement technologies, software workflows, and increasingly physical AI. Both companies benefit from a sharper strategy and a stronger customer focus.
Hexagon has been applying AI to its measurement technologies for several years. Where are customers seeing the clearest return on investment today?
AI has been part of our products since 2012, long before generative AI became mainstream. We first applied machine learning to improve surveying accuracy by helping systems distinguish between valid measurement targets and surrounding objects. As our sensors evolved into multi-sensor platforms combining LiDAR, cameras, and inertial measurement systems, deep learning enabled us to process billions of data points from reality capture far more efficiently.
Today, AI has expanded those capabilities by combining measurement data with digital models and documentation. In construction, for example, AI compares scanned measurement data with Building Information Models to verify that structures are being built correctly. Across industries, AI improves productivity, reduces errors, increases quality, and delivers significant time savings. Whether in manufacturing, construction, mining, or infrastructure, those gains translate directly into measurable ROI.
Hexagon has built its reputation on precision measurement. How are your customers adopting the AI capabilities you've embedded into your latest solutions?
The latest generation of our products includes AI directly at the sensor level. Customers purchase the measurement technology with AI already embedded because it improves productivity without changing the way they work. While many AI functions can technically be disabled, we rarely see customers choosing to do so because the benefits are immediately apparent.
We're seeing a clear shift from automation toward autonomy. Traditional automation performs predefined tasks and requires human intervention when conditions change. Autonomous systems can make decisions independently within defined limits. Adoption varies by industry, but overall the trend is unmistakable—customers increasingly trust AI to automate more of the manual elements of their workflows.
How close are we to fully autonomous systems, and what role will digital twins play in enabling them?
Physical AI depends on accurately grounding the data used to train AI in the real world. That starts with creating a highly accurate digital twin of the environment. We then use technologies, in partnership with NVIDIA, such as reinforcement learning to train robots inside those digital environments before applying imitation learning, where robots learn human actions through observation and repetition. Those three elements—digital twins, reinforcement learning, and imitation learning—form the foundation of modern physical AI.
From a technology standpoint, many autonomous capabilities already exist. We have autonomous laser scanners, autonomous surveying systems, and robots that can navigate and perform complex tasks.
In many cases, the biggest limitation is no longer the technology itself but regulation.
Industries such as open-pit mining, where regulations allow for faster adoption, are already demonstrating much higher levels of autonomy than sectors operating in more tightly controlled environments.
As Hexagon expands its physical AI capabilities, where do you see the greatest opportunities for future growth?
Our strategy remains centered on being a trusted provider of precision measurement technologies while extending those capabilities through AI and end-to-end workflows. Physical AI requires accurate, continuously updated digital twins so AI systems remain grounded in reality rather than generating unreliable outputs. That combination of measurement, digital twins, and AI opens opportunities well beyond our traditional markets.
We're already applying these technologies in entirely new industries. Our Aura facial scanner adapts automotive scanning technology to create highly detailed digital twins of the human face, enabling AI-driven analysis for medical aesthetics and dermatology. In Hollywood, our reality capture solutions support virtual production by scanning actors, props, and environments so digital content aligns perfectly with physical camera perspectives. These examples demonstrate how the same core technologies can be applied across a wide range of industries while maintaining the precision and accuracy that have always defined Hexagon.
