Josh Wong is the Founder and CEO of ThinkLabs AI. He beforehand labored at GE Vernova as a Basic Supervisor, Grid Orchestration. Josh Wong attended the College of Waterloo.
ThinkLabs AI is a specialised AI growth and deployment firm. Its mission is to empower important industries and infrastructure with reliable AI aimed toward reaching international vitality sustainability. The corporate is growing its flagship product, ThinkLabs Copilot, a digital assistant that comprehends the actual world by way of proprietary physics-informed AI digital twins, offering a foundational mannequin for engineering methods.
Are you able to inform us extra concerning the imaginative and prescient behind ThinkLabs AI and what impressed its creation?
The imaginative and prescient behind ThinkLabs is a dependable, sustainable, and reasonably priced vitality infrastructure powered by reliable AI. We perceive that the grid stays on the middle of the vitality transition. To decarbonize we should electrify. To affect we’d like the grid, and the grid actually should modernize. We imagine the intersection of electrical energy methods engineering, AI, and cloud computing is the answer.
How does ThinkLabs AI differentiate itself from different AI startups within the grid administration sector?
The grid is advanced, and a lot in order that AI in itself can’t be taught concerning the advanced energy flows and operational processes that exist within the grid house. ThinkLabs mix the wealthy historical past and confidence of conventional energy methods engineering with AI, as reliable physics-informed AI, for confidence in scaled, automated inferencing and choice assist for important infrastructure. It additionally takes greater than expertise, however an skilled staff that understands the nuances of the grid and the way utilities and regulators assume. Our staff comes from the electrical energy methods house with confirmed monitor report, together with founder Josh Wong who has offered his earlier firm Opus One Options to GE, and stands on the intersection of engineering, AI, and cloud computing.
What particular challenges in grid administration does ThinkLabs AI purpose to resolve?
Automated analytics and suggestions for actual time situational consciousness throughout the grid, massive scale simulations, and steady studying and suggestions to mitigate grid constraints and optimize grid efficiency. Particular practical areas embrace:
- Insights – close to actual time state estimation of grid energy stream, detecting congestions, voltage violations and the way capital belongings are literally utilized.
- Options – optimum dispatch suggestions, together with switching, grid units and DERs, for congestion aid, mitigate DERs interconnections, scale back losses, restore outages, and many others.
- Mannequin validation – validation and corrections in utility supply information units for grid fashions, saving OpEx and growing operator confidence for grid operations.
- Operator’s Copilot – operator dispatch suggestions skilled with grid physics, enterprise guidelines, commonplace procedures, and operational expertise, empowering workforce coaching and upskilling.
What’s the ThinkLabs Copilot, and the way does it improve grid planning and operations?
ThinkLabs Copilot is a digital assistant that that understands the actual world with proprietary physics-informed AI digital twins that present a basis mannequin for engineering methods. It really works with utility planners and operators, to mannequin the grid into its “AI digital twin”, carry out excessive velocity and huge scale analytics together with in close to actual time, and make suggestions on grid operations, plans, and designs.
Are you able to clarify what a physics-informed AI digital twin is and the way it advantages grid reliability?
AI by itself can’t be taught such a posh system because the grid with measurement information solely. AI digital twins of the actual world are skilled by, work for, and work with engineering methods, therefore “physics-informed”. Coaching is completed utilizing massive quantities of artificial information generated from engineering simulation. Conventional physics-only, impedance-based digital twins are deterministic and mathematically optimized, but challenged by information high quality, excessive computing energy wanted, and gradual response time. Conversely, normal AI methods promise velocity, but sparse information, hallucinations, and “black box” results considerations mission important grid operations. A physics-informed AI digital twin provides clear and reliable analytics, resilient and strong in opposition to unhealthy information, quick response and motion appropriate for actual time operations, preparedness with massive pre-trained working situations, and a closed-loop, steady studying and enchancment course of.
How does ThinkLabs AI make sure the reliability and accuracy of its AI fashions in real-world situations?
Nature of physics-informed AI retains AI grounded, tied to the actual world, and bounded by the actual world. We additionally do steady studying and monitoring of mannequin efficiency.
What makes your AI expertise notably suited to coping with the complexities of contemporary electrical grids?
Being skilled by decide engineering fashions, however dealing with the imperfect information high quality of actual world operations. AI additionally convey a wealth of optimization and generative methods unmatched by conventional engineering arithmetic.
How does ThinkLabs AI’s expertise combine with current grid administration methods like ADMS and DERMS?
ThinkLabs combine as a Copilot with current ADMS, DERMS, and AEMS, which is able to stay as the basic communications and management platform, whereas ThinkLabs will layer on extra intelligence and automation as much like a car’s driving help system.
What does the current $5M seed funding imply for the way forward for ThinkLabs AI?
This seed funding has enabled us to spinoff and launch from GE, associate with a gaggle of world class traders, spend money on our staff and product, coming to market with our first business Copilot, and work with quite a lot of channel companions to convey this into the arms of our prospects. That is the primary foundational step to subsequent growth and scale.
How do you envision the function of AI evolving in grid administration and different important infrastructures?
We see grid administration and different important infrastructure as being more and more “AI first”, particularly with physics-informed AI. Open up far higher understanding, situational consciousness, and growing automation choice making and orchestration of important actions. But, all the time stay humble and reliable as AI, being true to the inspiration legal guidelines of physics and engineering design.
Thanks for the good interview, readers who want to be taught extra ought to go to ThinkLabs AI.
