This week I had the opportunity to attend a media event hosted by John Deere to learn about the latest automation and maintenance systems for its agricultural equipment, as well as the new AI assistant it is launching within its farm management system known as JD.
With this technology, the company is hoping to answer a question the mobile equipment and other industries have been asking for years — how to make sense of all the data now being collected about an operation or a machine.
John Deere explained during the media event that instead of having to search through several dashboards and reports, farmers can ask the AI assistant questions, and it will provide answers based on the farmer’s own data which is collected and stored in the farm management system. This ensures the information and analysis provided by JD is suited specifically to an individual farmer’s operational needs and not based on generalizations made by processing data from several other farmers.
John Deere is not the first mobile equipment manufacturer to introduce an AI tool. Bobcat and Caterpillar both introduced AI tools for their customers in construction at CES 2026 which aid with maintenance and some automation functions. John Deere’s is the first tool I’ve seen come into the market to aid with data analysis — something many have said is one of the better use cases for AI.
But really what this introduction does is demonstrate the broader industry trend of bringing AI to various applications and how it can be employed. Although it feels like AI is everywhere these days, using it where it actually makes sense is still a work in progress in many cases, particularly industries like fluid power and its customer markets. Through its new AI assistant, John Deere is offering an example of a use case where AI has the potential to make sense and offer benefits to customers.
How are you seeing AI being used in the market? What opportunities, and challenges, do you see with this tool? What are the best use cases for it in fluid power and its customer markets? You can take our quick poll here or reach out to me directly at [email protected] to offer your thoughts.
Sara Jensen, Editor, Power & Motion
