Full Steam Ahead: CIO Kopal Raj of WABTEC on staying ‘on-track’ with AI, IoT and sustainability goals

This data coming in through the machine sensors, assembly lines and nifty components ensures that the entire team doesn’t need to be on the shop floor to know what is going on. It allows us to perform timely remote intervention on the alerts and signals received, thus supporting the on-site engineer.

IoT software in the machines connected to the sensors gives information on the strength or durability of the brakes while the locomotive is in use. There is an initiative to develop autonomous locomotives as well, which we are very confident about executing skilfully on fixed tracks.

Technologically, we’re looking at drone-based monitoring of railways in the future. This would help track maintenance, yard planning and oversee the whole track area during flooding and other natural calamities.

We are bringing these new technologies to India too, because railways are such an integral part of the country and its economy. The largest budget proposals were made by railway ministers this year, under the leadership of Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Minister for Railways and Information Technology. India’s Vande Bharat trains are powered by WABTEC’s technology. With this unwavering government support and recognition, it’s a great time to be in this space.

What are some of the steps that you are taking to foster a culture of innovation and experimentation amongst the employees and customers, and encourage them to move towards digital transformation in in their work?

There can be parts of the industry which are still working on redundant legacy systems. For instance, some software developers still use Windows 2007 servers, which are completely end-of-life, and don’t have the necessary security patches.

Thus, we insist on customers to upgrade, because if someone sitting in a faraway location is using our software but haven’t upgraded underlying operating systems of the locomotive, then it poses a security risk.

Even with the all the essential security upgrades, the cyberthreat has been real in the last 2 years, and everybody has become more sensitive to it. Customers including private and government counterparts question us when it comes to the safety of their data.

Ultimately, we are as much a technology company as we are a locomotive company. The board is committed to this too, evident by the investment increased by 10 million dollars annually just around cybersecurity.

Our strong CTO structure and advanced technology teams are committed to problem solving. We are asking the right questions – about what railroads will look like in the future, and how the design of the locomotives needs to evolve.

We’re using generative AI use cases to train the drivers to fix problems. We allow a lot more freedom of experimentation for our engineers, which helps us raise our innovation standards while still protecting the production environment where the customer is running their locomotives.

What does sustainability look like for WABTEC? What are the steps you’re taking as part of the leadership to ensure that the sustainability goals are met?

As a major transportation player in the industry, we have signed up to reduce the carbon footprint generated by locomotives and passenger trains.

We have also launched programs like ‘Winnovate’, under which teams aim to solve age-old problems, like new designs for battery cooling, or a particular recent innovation which is a novel system to capture and repurpose the tremendous heat energy that is released when you deconstruct a locomotive or a huge train and putting it back into the battery.

We have a chief sustainability officer, and we’re making efforts in green technology, hydrogen fuel cells, bringing down diesel consumption and now, manufacturing electronic locomotives as well. In India, the mandate dictates that by 2030, we need to shift to electronic locomotives.

When you reflect on your career, what’s a decision that you’ve taken during your tenure that you’re most proud of?

I believe that stretching myself to reset every time I embarked into a new domain is something that I am very proud of. Whether it was dabbling in network, chemicals, data projects, power plants, or locomotives, I’ve changed several teams and have ensured that I emerge successful in my domain so that people can vouch for my expertise.

Earlier, a business leader would simply delegate an IT intervention to somebody down in the department and cease to be involved after that. I have been triumphant in gaining the confidence and involvement of the senior leadership in IT endeavours. I have developed a keen sense of foresight for impending mistakes or failures. Now, I do not launch projects till I have buy-in from the leadership. My vast experience enables me for these nuances of the role.