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 geared toward attaining international vitality sustainability. The corporate is creating its flagship product, ThinkLabs Copilot, a digital assistant that comprehends the true world via proprietary physics-informed AI digital twins, offering a foundational mannequin for engineering techniques.
Are you able to inform us extra in regards to 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 heart of the vitality transition. To decarbonize we should electrify. To impress we’d like the grid, and the grid actually should modernize. We consider the intersection of electrical energy techniques 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 complicated, and a lot in order that AI in itself can not be taught in regards to the complicated energy flows and operational processes that exist within the grid house. ThinkLabs mix the wealthy historical past and confidence of conventional energy techniques engineering with AI, as reliable physics-informed AI, for confidence in scaled, automated inferencing and resolution 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 techniques house with confirmed observe report, together with founder Josh Wong who has bought 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 goal to resolve?
Automated analytics and proposals for actual time situational consciousness throughout the grid, massive scale simulations, and steady studying and proposals to mitigate grid constraints and optimize grid efficiency. Particular purposeful areas embody:
- Insights – close to actual time state estimation of grid energy stream, detecting congestions, voltage violations and the way capital property are literally utilized.
- Options – optimum dispatch suggestions, together with switching, grid units and DERs, for congestion aid, mitigate DERs interconnections, cut back losses, restore outages, and many others.
- Mannequin validation – validation and corrections in utility supply information units for grid fashions, saving OpEx and rising operator confidence for grid operations.
- Operator’s Copilot – operator dispatch suggestions educated 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 true world with proprietary physics-informed AI digital twins that present a basis mannequin for engineering techniques. It really works with utility planners and operators, to mannequin the grid into its “AI digital twin”, carry out excessive pace 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 true world are educated by, work for, and work with engineering techniques, therefore “physics-informed”. Coaching is finished 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 sluggish response time. Conversely, normal AI strategies promise pace, but sparse information, hallucinations, and “black box” results issues mission important grid operations. A physics-informed AI digital twin affords clear and reliable analytics, resilient and strong towards 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 true world, and bounded by the true world. We additionally do steady studying and monitoring of mannequin efficiency.
What makes your AI expertise notably fitted to coping with the complexities of recent electrical grids?
Being educated by decide engineering fashions, however dealing with the imperfect information high quality of actual world operations. AI additionally deliver a wealth of optimization and generative strategies unmatched by conventional engineering arithmetic.
How does ThinkLabs AI’s expertise combine with current grid administration techniques like ADMS and DERMS?
ThinkLabs combine as a Copilot with current ADMS, DERMS, and AEMS, which can stay as the elemental communications and management platform, whereas ThinkLabs will layer on further intelligence and automation as much like a automobile’s driving help system.
What does the latest $5M seed funding imply for the way forward for ThinkLabs AI?
This seed funding has enabled us to spinoff and launch from GE, accomplice with a gaggle of world class buyers, put money into our staff and product, coming to market with our first industrial Copilot, and work with various channel companions to deliver this into the fingers of our prospects. That is the primary foundational step to subsequent enlargement 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 larger understanding, situational consciousness, and rising automation resolution making and orchestration of important actions. But, at all times stay humble and reliable as AI, being true to the inspiration legal guidelines of physics and engineering design.
Thanks for the nice interview, readers who want to be taught extra ought to go to ThinkLabs AI.
