HII Puts AI in Charge of Shipyard Production

The nation’s largest military shipbuilder, HII, is putting AI in charge of its shipyard production, directing employees to boost output by 20% for critical naval vessels. This radical digital transformation aims to optimize complex operations and accelerate submarine construction to meet urgent national security needs.

In the sprawling, intricate world of naval shipbuilding, where tradition often holds as firm as the steel plates being welded, a seismic shift is underway.

Within a matter of months, the nation’s largest military shipbuilder, HII, intends to place its shipyard employees under the direct guidance of artificial intelligence.

It’s a bold gambit, a plunge into the deep end of digital transformation, driven by an urgent national imperative and a stark acknowledgment that the old ways simply won’t cut it anymore.

“By the end of this year, our plan is to have every single person in our manufacturing shops—17 different businesses, basically across 550 acres—doing work based on the output of what AI tells us to go do,” Brian Fields, the chief technology officer for HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division, declared at a recent C3 AI federal event.

The ambition doesn’t stop there; by the close of 2026, the vision is for every individual contributing to their ships to be directed by AI.

“If we don’t do something rapidly, we are not going to supply the Navy with the ships they need,” Fields underscored, laying bare the high stakes involved.

This isn’t merely about incremental improvements; it’s a fundamental re-engineering of a colossal, complex operation.

The White House and Navy leaders have been unequivocal in their demand for faster production times, particularly for the nuclear-capable submarines critical to national security.

HII, through its Newport News Shipbuilding division, is responding with a radical solution, forging a partnership with C3 AI earlier this year to deploy agentic AI.

This advanced form of artificial intelligence is designed to learn, make autonomous decisions, and automate processes once given specific strategic goals – in this case, a formidable 20 percent increase in production.

Consider the sheer scale of the challenge AI is being tasked to address.

Fields painted a vivid picture of the current operational quagmire: “We have 17 different shops: 2,300 people.”

“They have to do 5,200 jobs a week, and each one of those jobs has 32 different data sources.”

“So you’re talking hundreds of thousands of decisions…to be made by about 100 people in spreadsheets.”

This image of a hundred individuals wrestling with spreadsheets to orchestrate such a massive, data-rich enterprise speaks volumes about the inefficiencies ripe for disruption.

“The results you have are really built on the process you have. And we need a new process,” Fields concluded, signaling the end of an era.

Stephen Ehikian, C3 AI’s new CEO, elaborated on the technological backbone of this transformation.

Their platform will construct a “digital twin” of the entire shipbuilding process, a virtual replica capable of running “virtual simulations,” including crucial scenario planning and risk assessment.

This isn’t just about moving data; it’s about creating an intelligent, predictive ecosystem.

“The whole market is moving towards seeing actual outcomes. The applications are the most valuable piece of this,” Ehikian noted, emphasizing the tangible, real-world impact HII is seeking.

One of the most immediate and impactful applications of this AI-driven overhaul will be in pinpointing production chokepoints, particularly in submarine construction.

Fields highlighted a glaring example: “The thing that keeps us from building submarines at the pace that they need to be built right now comes down to 17 parts.”

“Seventeen parts drive an enormous increase in submarine build, and those 17 parts come from a foundry that isn’t able to get us the parts to put one piece of complex equipment together.”

The solution, now empowered by AI-driven data analysis, involves aggressively working with the Navy to 3D print these critical components, radically altering delivery timelines.

This is a powerful demonstration of AI’s potential to cut through systemic blockages and accelerate vital projects.

The ambition extends beyond just identifying bottlenecks.

The AI’s ultimate goal is to consolidate information from a myriad of disparate sources – spreadsheets, analytics, accounting systems, scheduling platforms – to provide a holistic, intelligent analysis.

This analysis will, over time, guide shipbuilders to “make the right stuff in the right order to give the ship assembly teams the best chance to deliver the ships on time.”

It’s a long, arduous process, Fields admitted, but one deemed absolutely necessary.

Yet, as with any profound technological shift, the human element remains a critical variable.

The workforce, comprised of skilled artisans and dedicated craftspeople, takes immense pride in their work, often honed over decades.

The idea of an algorithm dictating their daily tasks could easily be met with skepticism, if not outright resistance.

“When you get down into our shops, there’s a lot of pride about how they do their work,” Fields acknowledged.

Addressing this, HII has strategically established a workstream focused on “process and behaviors,” embedding strong leaders to champion the change.

The message to the shop floors is clear: “We own this; we’re going to get the value out of it.”

This emphasis on internal ownership is crucial, transforming potential apprehension into active engagement.

HII’s audacious move is more than just a corporate strategy; it’s a bellwether for the future of industrial production, particularly in critical defense sectors.

It signals a future where human ingenuity, rather than being replaced, is amplified and redirected, freed from the drudgery of data management to focus on the intricate, hands-on work of building the nation’s naval might.

The success of this grand experiment at Newport News will undoubtedly reverberate across the entire defense industrial base, potentially charting a course for how America builds, innovates, and secures its future in an increasingly complex world.

The deep end, it seems, is where the most profound transformations often begin.