Davos 2026: Honeywell doubles down on automation, data and physical AI, says CEO

Honeywell is revamping its operations and doubling down on automation, data and physical AI as core pillars of its long-term growth strategy, Chairman and CEO Vimal Kapur said in an interaction with CNBC-TV18 on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum 2026 in Davos.

“We decided to split into three companies in February 2025. We will have three different companies focusing on different opportunities,” Kapur said, highlighting a sharper strategic focus across businesses.

Automation, however, will remain

central to Honeywell’s outlook.

“Automation is a secular growth trend — that’s at the core of what we do,” he said, adding that the company sees significant upside from better use of data.

“The power of data has to be unleashed,” Kapur said.

Looking at the long-term horizon, Kapur said artificial intelligence will be a key driver of productivity. “If I look ahead to the next 20–30 years, Honeywell will benefit from the power of AI and from more productivity.”

Kapur acknowledged the execution challenges around physical AI, particularly related to access to data. “The challenge in physical AI is that data is not in the public domain. Physical AI is hard to execute, but the results are tremendous,” he said.

On global trade and supply chains, Kapur said tariffs have had a limited impact on the company due to its localisation strategy. “Tariffs did not impact us a lot because we are manufacturing locally in different geographies,” he said, adding that most companies are increasingly moving towards regional supply-chain models.

Honeywell is also taking a measured approach to capital allocation this year. “We are cautious on M&A spending this year as we need to maintain our rating,” Kapur said.

On AI deployment, the company’s focus remains on enabling human productivity rather than replacing workers.

“We are very focused on augmentation as a company; AI is going to play an important role there,” he said.