Siemens Consolidates Automation Division Under Rainer Brehm Leadership
Global technology titanSiemensis taking a decisive step toward streamlining its industrial portfolio by appointing Rainer Brehm as President of its newly formed Automation organization. Taking effect October 1, 2026, the strategic consolidation merges four distinct pillars—Factory Automation, Process Automation, Motion Control, and Customer Services—into a single operational framework. Reporting directly to Cedrik Neike, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO of Digital Industries, Brehm will oversee the convergence of hardware architectures and digital workflows to accelerate industrial digital transformation across global supply chains.
This structural overhaul aligns with Siemens' broader ONE Tech Company initiative, designed to break down legacy silos and offer plant operators a frictionless path toward software-defined automation. By centralizing control technologies and operations under unified leadership, the technology giant aims to shorten deployment cycles for industrial AI integration, enabling manufacturing environments to respond flexibly to shifting market demands. The move comes as modern industrial operations increasingly demand native interoperability between field-level control hardware, cloud-based analytics, and generative AI execution engines.
Brehm brings extensive executive experience to the role, having served as Chief Technology Officer and COO for the automation division within Digital Industries, following a tenure as CEO of Factory Automation. His background has centered on advancing next-generation control topologies, intelligent edge computing, and autonomous factory operations. Under his leadership, the newly integrated division will focus on scaling AI-enabled autonomous production, combining operational technology with advanced software platforms to enhance overall plant efficiency and operational resilience.
The consolidation reflects a widespread industry trend toward unified hardware-software ecosystems. For facilities managing legacy infrastructures or seeking critical control system upgrades, sourcing reliable parts likeSiemens CPU and I/O modulesor comprehensiveSiemens automation hardwareremains essential to maintaining uptime during software transitions. Siemens' unified structure aims to streamline these hardware life cycle transitions while lowering integration barriers for enterprise facilities expanding into predictive operations.
As industrial enterprises navigate rising energy costs and skilled labor constraints, Siemens’ consolidated division aims to deliver standardized, scalable solutions. By unifying motion control, process systems, discrete factory automation, and enterprise services under one roof, the company positions itself to better address complex enterprise requirements, driving the next phase of smart manufacturing and physical-world artificial intelligence.