Our Mission

We empower manufacturers to train and deploy AI skilled workers on the factory floor — delivering decision execution to every function, every line, every shift.

The OpsMate Story

OpsMate was founded by a team of industrial engineers and AI researchers who saw the same problem from different angles: valuable data was everywhere, but actionable intelligence was nowhere to be found.

We are obsessed with closing the gap between data and decision.

Our Vision

A future where every industrial operator has the collective knowledge of the entire organization at their fingertips, enabling safer, more efficient, and more sustainable operations.

Our Core Values

Precision & Accuracy

Every insight is grounded in your data, with full traceability to the source. No hallucinations.

Security First

SOC 2 Type II certified. We meet the strictest security requirements with on-premise and VPC options.

Frontline Focused

We build for the technician on the floor, not just the analyst in the office. If it doesn't work in their hands, it doesn't work.

Timeline

How we got here

A focused path from proof-of-value pilots to enterprise-grade, governed AI deployments.

Oct 2024

Official Launch

OpsMate AI officially launches after 5 months of focused incubation, bringing the first Industrial Knowledge Agent Platform to market.

Oct 2024

Fortune 500 Advisory Board

Established an advisory board composed of executives from leading Fortune 500 industrial companies to guide product development.

Feb 2025

Initial Funding Round Closed

Secured seed funding to accelerate product development and expand our team of industrial AI specialists.

Jul 2025

Version 1.0 Released

Launched our production-ready platform with core capabilities for knowledge retrieval, troubleshooting, and shift continuity.

Aug 2025

Fortune 500 Commercial Deployments

Secured multiple commercial orders from Fortune 500 manufacturers, validating enterprise readiness.

Sep 2025

Microsoft Partner Recognition

Named a Featured Microsoft Partner, becoming transactable on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace.

Oct 2025

SOC 2 Type II Certified

Achieved SOC 2 Type II compliance, demonstrating our commitment to enterprise-grade security and data governance.

Nov 2025

VPC Deployment & Tribal Knowledge

Enabled private VPC deployments and launched tribal knowledge management capabilities for capturing institutional expertise.

Dec 2025

Gartner Cool Vendor

Recognized as a Gartner Cool Vendor for our innovative approach to industrial AI and decision support.

Dec 2025

OpsMate Agent Kit (OAK) Launch

Released the OpsMate Agent Kit and Workflow Engine, enabling customers to build custom task execution workflows.

Leadership team

Operators, builders, and AI experts committed to trustworthy execution.

Howard Heppelmann

Co-Founder & CEO

Scaled PTC’s IIOT (ThingWorx) business from $2.5M to $220M ARR
Published over 20 years of industrial tech leadership and GTM expertise
Built partnerships with Microsoft and Rockwell, earning industry awards

James Zhang

Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer

Drove strategic focus in PTC’s IIOT product portfolio critical to achieving profitability
Incubated and scaled SAP and Fujitsu’s factory tech businesses, driving growth and adoption
Industrial thought leader driving AI Innovation in manufacturing

Tao Xu

Co-Founder and CTO

Founded and scaled LinkFlow to a $67M exit as CTO and CEO
Led SaaS innovation during 10+ years at SAP Labs
Blended AI and market insights to build transformative products

Riaan Lourens

Chief Customer Officer

Built global solution engineering, technical product marketing, AI Labs, and GTM teams from the ground up
20 years driving customer adoption in manufacturing technology - from MES deployments to Industrial IoT to applied AI
Obsessed with bridging plant floor reality and AI-driven decision intelligence

Ready to talk with OpsMate?

Connect with our team to learn how knowledge-driven execution fits your operation.

Decision intelligence and execution for industrial operations, unifying fragmented systems and tribal knowledge so frontline teams can move from question to action with confidence.