Verified
Vale
Piloting- Mining
- 65,805 employees
- 45+ AI solutions (Jul 2026)
- Databricks platform
- AI ship routing saved US$66M in 2025
Vale deploys AI mostly inside its iron ore operations, with more than 45 AI solutions by Jul 2026. Vale's solutions include an AI layer that adjusts the Conceição 2 plant in Itabira in real time, AI speed guidance and autonomy for haul trucks, predictive maintenance and dam monitoring. Vale's business areas build their own models on a Databricks platform, and head of AI Alexandre Pigatti said in Sep 2026 that AI ship routing saved US$66 million of fuel in 2025.
vale.comTheir approach to AI
- The platform
- Vale builds most of its AI in-house: an AI Center in Vitória (2019), innovation hubs run in a franchise model, and a Databricks platform on which 19 business areas build their own models. Vale buys plant automation from ABB and autonomy from Caterpillar and Komatsu.
- The models
- Vale's disclosed models are machine learning, optimization and computer vision models it trains on operating data, plus SabIA, a generative AI tool for searching exploration records. A Vale data science manager named OpenAI as a generative AI source in Sep 2024.
- The reach
- Vale has not said how many of its 65,805 employees use AI tools. Head of AI Alexandre Pigatti said in Jun 2025 that AI assistants are open to staff under a usage policy, and in Sep 2026 that Vale will train 5,000 more employees on its data platform.
- The catch
- Vale's AI returns come from one trade press report of a talk its head of AI gave at a vendor's event, not from Vale's filings, calls or releases. Vale's own disclosures describe AI's gains in productivity, quality and safety terms without a cost or revenue figure.
Snapshot
- Employees
- 65,805
- Dec 31, 2025 (2025 Form 20-F)
- Technology budget
- US$685M R&D&I (2025)
- Research, development and innovation, not an IT or AI budget; no AI spend published
- AI/ML headcount
- Not disclosedest.
- About 50 AI professionals when the AI Center opened in Jan 2019; no later count
- Who owns AI
- No named AI executive
- Head of AI Alexandre Pigatti; Executive Vice President, Technical Rafael Bittar speaks for operational AI; reporting lines not published
- Platform
- Databricks, built in-house
- 19 business areas build their own models after signing a usage agreement (Sep 2026)
- Models
- In-house machine learning and computer vision
- SabIA generative AI for exploration records; OpenAI named by a data science manager in Sep 2024
- Reach
- Not published
- AI assistants open to staff under a policy (Jun 2025); no user count
- Use cases
- 45+ AI solutions
- Plants, trucks, maintenance, dams, shipping, finance, exploration and cybersecurity (Jul 2026)
Key findings
Vale's head of AI, Alexandre Pigatti, said at a Databricks event that an AI system setting routes and speeds for ore carriers sailing from Brazil to China saved US$66 million of fuel in 2025 (Mobile Time, Sep 16, 2026). Pigatti said the system also made arrival dates 15% more accurate.
Vale opened the Conceição 2 Model Plant in Itabira on Jun 10, 2026, where an AI layer supervises more than 400 process variables. Vale reported a 25% productivity gain, from 9 million tonnes in 2024 to a capacity of 11.2 million tonnes, which it credits to automation, sensors and AI together.
Vale said in its first R&D&I Report, published on Jul 13, 2026, that it runs more than 45 AI solutions across mines, plants, pelletizing, railways, ports, shipping, exploration and corporate areas. Vale invested US$685 million in research, development and innovation in 2025.
Vale signed an alliance with ABB on Aug 11, 2026 to replicate the Conceição 2 automation and AI model in other iron ore plants. The rollout starts with Brucutu in early 2027 and then moves to units in Minas Gerais and Pará.
Vale has not published how many of its 65,805 employees use AI tools. Alexandre Pigatti said in Jun 2025 that AI assistants are open to staff under a policy but agents are not. In Sep 2026 Pigatti said Vale wants to train 5,000 more employees on its data platform and double AI use in daily work.
Where Vale sits
- Stage
- Piloting
Vale has reported returns it credits to AI in 2 use cases since May 2025, which places it at Piloting. Alexandre Pigatti, Vale's head of AI, said that an AI system that plans routes and speeds for ore carriers sailing to China saved US$66 million of fuel in 2025. Pigatti also said that a Finance team AI tool for asset capitalization and tax review recovered US$1.65 million. Both figures come from Pigatti's talk at Databricks' Data + AI World Tour in São Paulo, as reported by Mobile Time on Sep 16, 2026, and no second source carries them. Vale's own releases, filings and calls describe AI's results without a business return: the Conceição 2 Model Plant's 25% productivity gain (Jun 2026) is a throughput measure that Vale credits to automation, sensors and AI together. On rollout, Vale has published no count of employees using AI tools and names no executive as owner of AI. Vale falls short of Scaling because both returns rest on a single trade press account of one talk and because Vale has not itself described the Databricks platform behind them. Vale also falls short because no named owner reports AI results on its company calls or in its annual report. A return in Vale's own disclosures or a firm-level AI figure would move Vale up.
How the stages are defined - Ownership
- No named AI executive; Head of AI Alexandre Pigatti, with EVP Technical Rafael Bittar
- Platform
- Hybrid: AI built in-house on Databricks; plant automation and autonomy bought
- Models
- In-house machine learning, optimization and computer vision; SabIA generative AI; OpenAI named in 2024
- Hosting
- Databricks, on Microsoft Azure per a vendor case study (Azure Databricks, Azure Machine Learning); edge systems on trucks and in ABB plant control; Vale's private network
- Reach
- No employee usage count published
How they deploy
AI aimed at production cost and ore quality
Vale ties AI to its business targets, head of AI Alexandre Pigatti said in Jun 2025: lowering the cost of producing iron ore and keeping an iron ore portfolio that performs better than competitors'. Every AI project needs a business case and a stated way to measure its benefit, Pigatti said. Pigatti said Vale applies AI to existing processes for now, while new processes should be designed with AI from the start.
Mining of the Future and smart operations
Vale frames AI within its Mining of the Future strategy, which combines automation, digitalization, AI and data analysis across mines, plants, railways, ports and shipping. Vale's board tracked Smart Operations in 2025, including automation in mines and railroads and AI applied to predictive maintenance and safety (Mar 2026 shareholder meeting manual). CEO Gustavo Pimenta said in the Jul 2026 R&D&I Report that Vale is focused on embedding innovation into daily operations.
A model plant replicated across sites
Vale uses the Conceição 2 plant in Itabira as a reference model. At the plant, 51 solutions, more than 100 cameras and about 7,300 automated instruments feed an AI layer that adjusts the process in real time. Rafael Bittar said 100% of critical operational decisions there are supported by expert systems (Jun 2026). Vale's Aug 2026 alliance with ABB extends the model to Brucutu, due to start operating in early 2027, and then to other units in Minas Gerais and Pará. Bittar named Vargem Grande as the plant after Brucutu (Jun 2026).
Data democratization through franchises
Vale gives business areas their own access to data and AI. Keiner Alvarenga, a data science manager, said in Sep 2024 that Vale's AI Center of Excellence had moved projects out of its own hands to avoid becoming a bottleneck. Alvarenga said the center had brought almost 1,000 employees into data science work. Mobile Time reported in Sep 2026 that 19 business areas, called franchises, build their own models on Databricks after signing a usage agreement. Vale's central team is responsible for security and cost.
Autonomy and fewer people in risk areas
Vale pairs AI with autonomous equipment to move people out of hazardous areas. Vale's first autonomous trucks started at Brucutu in 2018. A Dec 2025 agreement with Caterpillar and its dealer Sotreq is to take the Northern System in Carajás from 14 autonomous trucks to about 90 by 2028. Rafael Bittar told Web Summit Rio in Jun 2026 that AI has moved from experiments into Vale's business strategy and that a 100% automated mine is possible, without giving a timeline.
- Deployment model
- Vale runs AI through its Technical area under Executive Vice President Rafael Bittar. Paulo Celso Pires, Director of Technology and Innovation, and Alexandre Pigatti, head of AI and data democratization, also work on AI, and Vale has not published the reporting lines between them. Vale's AI Center in Vitória, opened in Jan 2019, develops and monitors AI initiatives for units in Brazil and abroad, and 15 innovation hubs support operations in a franchise model (Vale innovation page). Business areas build their own models on a Databricks platform, and Vale takes over and runs any tool that proves its value across the company (Mobile Time, Sep 2026). ABB integrates the plant automation Vale buys, and autonomous haulage comes from Caterpillar and Komatsu. Vale Base Metals runs its own AI work in Canada, such as a 3-year partnership with LoopX in Sudbury signed in Jul 2026.
- Model providers
- Vale has not named a large language model provider in its own disclosures. Vale's published AI consists mostly of models it builds on its own operating data. An AI layer supervises more than 400 variables at Conceição 2, and embedded AI sets the optimal speed for off-road trucks. Computer vision detects conveyor belt tears within 3 seconds, and predictive maintenance models draw on equipment sensors. Vale also uses AI with satellite data for dam monitoring, and AI and machine learning tools for cyber threat detection (Mar 2026). Vale's R&D&I Report (Jul 2026) names SabIA, a generative AI tool for searching technical exploration information, alongside MinAInteligente for mine efficiency, PelotAInteligente for pelletizing and VESO, an emissions simulator. Keiner Alvarenga said in Sep 2024 that generative AI from OpenAI helps Vale retrieve strategic information, without saying how it is licensed or hosted.
- Data and infrastructure
- Vale's data and AI platform is Databricks. Mobile Time reported in Sep 2026 that 19 business areas use Databricks to build their own models and that Vale plans to open the platform to another 1,000 databases. A Qlik customer story, published by the vendor and undated, quotes Vale's data and AI architect describing Azure Databricks and Azure Machine Learning as part of Vale's machine learning strategy. The architect also described a program to move systems, analytics data included, to Microsoft Azure. Vale has not itself confirmed where its models run. Vale's operational AI runs at the edge: autonomous kits on trucks, AI in the Conceição 2 control system integrated by ABB, and Vale's own private network. Rafael Bittar said the private network gives the plant near-instant response times (Jun 2026). Vale's 2025 Form 20-F says threat actors increasingly use AI against its IT and operational technology environments and that AI-driven attacks may exceed its detection and response capacity.
Platforms and internal tools
Databricks data and AI platformNot disclosed
Vale's Databricks platform lets 19 business areas, called franchises, build their own models after signing an agreement that sets out each side's responsibilities. Vale's central team covers security and cost. Alexandre Pigatti said Vale's data democratization model has produced US$2.5 billion of benefits, without giving a period or an AI share (Mobile Time, Sep 2026).
- Users
- 19 business areas; 5,000 more employees to be trained
AI Center, VitóriaJan 2019
Vale's AI Center at the Tubarão unit in Vitória develops and monitors AI initiatives for Vale's units in Brazil and abroad. The center works in asset maintenance, ore processing and pelletizing, health and safety and integrity controls. At launch about 50 professionals worked on AI projects, 15 of them in the center.
Conceição 2 Model PlantJun 2026
Vale's Conceição 2 plant in Itabira runs an AI layer on one operating platform that supervises more than 400 variables and adjusts the iron ore process in real time. ABB is the systems integrator, and Vale uses the plant as the reference for modernizing other plants.
SabIABy Jul 2026
SabIA is Vale's generative AI tool for searching technical mineral exploration information, named in the R&D&I Report.
MinAInteligente and PelotAInteligenteBy Jul 2026
MinAInteligente applies AI to mine efficiency and predictability, and PelotAInteligente optimizes pelletizing and cuts natural gas use, according to Vale's R&D&I Report.
Vendors and partners
ABBAug 2026 alliance
Systems integrator for the Conceição 2 Model Plant and its rollout to other iron ore plants · Vale and ABB formalized the expanded agreement on Aug 11, 2026; ABB integrated the Itabira plant before that.
Databricks
Data and AI platform on which Vale's business areas build their own models · Alexandre Pigatti presented Vale's work at Databricks' Data + AI World Tour in São Paulo (Sep 2026).
Caterpillar and SotreqDec 2025
Cat MineStar Command autonomy for haul trucks in the Northern System, Carajás · Caterpillar's autonomous trucks have run at Brucutu since 2018; the 14 trucks at N4E use Komatsu's FrontRunner system.
Microsoft Azure
Cloud for Azure Databricks and Azure Machine Learning, per a Qlik customer story · Vendor-published and undated; Vale has not confirmed the hosting itself.
LoopXJul 2026
3-year R&D partnership with Vale Base Metals on AI collision avoidance and autonomy underground in Sudbury
Nokia Bell LabsOct 2024
Cognitive network monitoring service for connected mines, built on the Carajás private network
Leadership
AI, data and platform leaders
Executives
AI org map
Technical area sets the AI agenda; business-area franchises build their own models on a shared data platform
Vale places technology and innovation under Rafael Bittar, Executive Vice President, Technical, a member of the Executive Committee under CEO Gustavo Pimenta. Director of Technology and Innovation Paulo Celso Pires and head of AI Alexandre Pigatti work on AI, and Vale has not published who reports to whom. Business areas, which Vale calls franchises, build models on the Databricks platform, and the AI Center in Vitória develops and monitors AI initiatives. Operations under Executive Vice President Carlos Medeiros run the Model Plant and autonomous fleets. Vale's board oversees AI risks through the Audit and Risk Committee.
Vale has not published how many data scientists or AI engineers it employs. When the AI Center opened in Jan 2019, about 50 professionals, including data scientists, data engineers and business specialists, worked only on AI projects, 15 of them in the center. Keiner Alvarenga said in Sep 2024 that almost 1,000 employees had been brought into Vale's data science work. Mobile Time reported in Sep 2026 that Vale plans to train another 5,000 employees on its data platform. Vale says about 300 jobs have been transformed by autonomous equipment, with the employees retrained for new roles (Jul 2026).
Reporting lines
Chief Executive Officer
Gustavo Pimenta
Technical
Rafael Bittar, Executive Vice President
Technology and Innovation
Paulo Celso Pires, Director
Reporting line inferred from titles; not published by Vale
AI Center, Vitória
Opened Jan 2019 at the Tubarão unit; reporting line not published
Operations
Carlos Medeiros, Executive Vice President
Iron ore mines, plants and logistics where the Model Plant and autonomous trucks run
Business-area franchises
19 business areas building their own models on Databricks (Sep 2026)
Vale Base Metals technology
Chris McCleave, CTO
Vale Base Metals is a separate business with its own CEO; line simplified
Vale's 2025 Form 20-F lists Rafael Bittar as Executive Vice President, Technical, and says the Chief Information Security Officer leads cybersecurity and reports to the Audit and Risk Committee and the Executive Risk Committee. Vale has not published where its Director of Technology and Innovation, its head of AI or its AI Center sit. Vale's 2025 and 2026 public record names no chief information officer; Vânia Neves, global director of technology for business solutions, left Vale in Feb 2025.
Where the AI workforce sits
Central AI and data team and AI Center
About 50 AI professionals in Jan 2019; Vale has given no later count.
Not disclosedBusiness-area franchises
Almost 1,000 employees involved in data science by Sep 2024; 5,000 more to be trained on the platform (Sep 2026).
Not disclosed
Named people
Use cases
Vale has named more than 45 AI solutions, including the Conceição 2 Model Plant, truck speed guidance and autonomy, predictive maintenance, conveyor computer vision, dam monitoring, ship routing, finance and exploration search. Vale reports a return it credits to AI for 2 of them: Alexandre Pigatti said in Sep 2026 that AI ship routing saved US$66 million of fuel in 2025 and that a Finance AI tool recovered US$1.65 million. Vale reports no firm-level AI figure. Pigatti's US$2.5 billion of benefits covers Vale's data democratization model as a whole, and the Model Plant's 25% productivity gain is credited to automation, sensors and AI together.
| Use case | Area | Status | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI route and speed optimization for ore carriers An AI system monitors ore carriers sailing from Brazil to China, plans routes from weather and wave conditions and suggests the optimal speed. The system shares its analysis with each ship's captain, and Alexandre Pigatti said arrival-date accuracy improved 15%. | Shipping | In production | US$66M of fuel saved in 2025 (Sep 2026)Source |
| Asset capitalization, tax acts and insurance policy review Vale's Finance team built an AI tool on Databricks in 5 days. The tool reviews asset capitalization, work that took human analysts up to 30 months, tracks tax law changes in Brazil's official gazette and reads about 400 insurance policies. Mobile Time reported 80% less time spent on document analysis. | Finance and tax | In production | US$1.65M recovered (Sep 2026)Source |
| Conceição 2 Model Plant AI layer An AI layer supervises more than 400 variables and adjusts the Itabira plant in real time, alongside more than 100 cameras, about 7,300 automated instruments and online ore grade analysis. Vale reports a 25% productivity gain over the pilot, from 9 million tonnes in 2024 to a capacity of 11.2 million tonnes. Vale also reports 40% more direct reduction pellet feed and 26% less iron in tailings, and credits the gains to the plant's automation, sensors and AI together. | Iron ore processing | In production | |
| Model Plant rollout with ABB Vale and ABB agreed on Aug 11, 2026 to replicate the Conceição 2 automation and AI model in other iron ore plants. Brucutu is in implementation and due to operate in early 2027, followed by other units in Minas Gerais and Pará. | Iron ore processing | Announced | |
| Intelligent Mine speed guidance for off-road trucks Embedded AI determines the optimal speed for each section of the mine and guides drivers in real time to cut diesel use. Vale describes the project in its Mar 2026 shareholder meeting manual and in its 2025 Form 20-F, which calls it Smart Mine. An earlier Vale page expected more than 74,000 tonnes a year less CO2, an estimate. | Mining | In production | |
| Autonomous haul trucks, drills and yard machines Vale's autonomous equipment, which Vale describes as guided by AI, GPS, LiDAR and radar, runs in Minas Gerais, Pará, Maranhão and Rio de Janeiro. Vale reports gains of up to 15% in operational efficiency and up to 7.5% less fuel from its autonomous fleets. Carlos Medeiros said on the Q3 2026 call that 42 autonomous trucks run in Serra Norte after 28 started up in the quarter. | Mining | In production | |
| Predictive maintenance Models fed by equipment sensors and operating variables predict when equipment may fail. Vale's board tracked AI applied to predictive maintenance and safety in 2025 (Mar 2026 shareholder meeting manual). | Maintenance | In production | |
| Conveyor belt tear detection A computer vision system detects tears in conveyor belts within 3 seconds and shuts the equipment down automatically, replacing manual inspections in risk areas. | Conveyors | In production | |
| Geotechnical monitoring with AI and satellites Vale's 3 Geotechnical Monitoring Centers use satellites and AI to observe its main dams and structures continuously and in real time (2025 Form 20-F). | Dam safety | In production | |
| AI and machine learning threat detection Vale uses AI and machine learning tools to protect against, detect and monitor cyber threats, including unauthorized access attempts and digital fraud (Mar 2026 shareholder meeting manual). | Cybersecurity | In production | |
| AI ore moisture monitoring at Tubarão Vale monitors ore moisture at the Port of Tubarão in Vitória with AI to make ship loading safer, alongside remote ship loaders and drones for draft readings, according to Vale material reported in May 2026. | Ports | In production | |
| SabIA generative AI search SabIA uses generative AI to search technical mineral exploration information, according to Vale's Jul 2026 R&D&I Report. | Exploration | In production | |
| PelotAInteligente PelotAInteligente applies AI to optimize pelletizing and reduce natural gas consumption, according to Vale's Jul 2026 R&D&I Report. | Pelletizing | In production | |
| AI collision avoidance and load monitoring underground with LoopX Vale Base Metals and LoopX are developing and validating AI collision avoidance and LoadSight load monitoring in Sudbury's underground mines over 3 years, as a step toward supervised autonomy. | Base metals (Canada) | Pilot |
Adoption
Vale has not published how many of its 65,805 employees use AI tools. Alexandre Pigatti said in Jun 2025 that AI assistants are open to Vale staff under a usage policy checked through governance. Pigatti said Vale had no policy yet for autonomous agents and that 2 agents ran in a controlled environment. Keiner Alvarenga said in Sep 2024 that almost 1,000 employees had joined Vale's data science work. Mobile Time reported in Sep 2026 that 19 business areas build models on Databricks. Vale plans to train 5,000 more employees on the platform, open another 1,000 databases and double AI use in daily work (Mobile Time, Sep 2026). Vale's operational AI reaches further than its office tools: more than 45 AI solutions ran across the value chain by Jul 2026. All 122 operators, instrument technicians and leaders at Conceição 2 were trained for the new operating model.
By the numbers
Rollout, first pilot to today
2018
Vale's first autonomous trucks started operating at the Brucutu mine in Minas Gerais.
Jan 2019
Vale opened its AI Center in Vitória with about 50 professionals working only on AI projects.
Sep 2024
Keiner Alvarenga said Vale had brought almost 1,000 employees into data science work and uses OpenAI's generative AI to retrieve strategic information.
Nov 2024
Automation Anywhere said Vale had automated more than 3,000 processes and trained 810 citizen developers, in a vendor case study.
Jun 2025
Alexandre Pigatti said AI assistants were open to Vale staff under a policy and that 2 agents ran in a controlled environment.
Dec 2025
Vale, Caterpillar and Sotreq agreed to expand the Northern System's autonomous truck fleet from 14 to about 90 by 2028.
Jun 2026
Vale opened the Conceição 2 Model Plant in Itabira with an AI layer supervising more than 400 variables.
Jul 2026
Vale's first R&D&I Report counted more than 45 AI solutions across its value chain.
Aug 2026
Vale and ABB agreed to replicate the Model Plant in other iron ore plants, starting with Brucutu.
Sep 2026
Mobile Time reported that 19 Vale business areas build models on Databricks and that Vale plans to train 5,000 more employees on the platform.
Economics & controls
Spend and ROI
Technology budget
Vale invested US$685 million in research, development and innovation in 2025 across more than 350 projects and 16 proprietary innovation hubs (R&D&I Report, Jul 2026); Vale's innovation page lists 15 hubs. Vale's 2025 Form 20-F gives research and development expenses, a different measure, of US$693 million, down from US$790 million in 2024. Vale has not published an IT or AI budget. The Conceição 2 modernization cost R$200 million (Aug 2026).
Reported ROI
Vale's AI returns come from Alexandre Pigatti's talk at Databricks' Data + AI World Tour in São Paulo, reported by Mobile Time on Sep 16, 2026. Pigatti said AI ship routing saved US$66 million of fuel in 2025 and a Finance AI tool recovered US$1.65 million. Pigatti also said Vale's data democratization model had produced US$2.5 billion of benefits, without a period and without separating AI from data access and self-service analytics. Vale's own filings, releases and earnings calls since May 2025 give no cost, headcount or revenue figure for AI.
Productivity figures not credited to AI alone
Vale's Conceição 2 Model Plant raised productivity 25%, from 9 million tonnes in 2024 to a capacity of 11.2 million tonnes, after 51 solutions combining automation, sensors, cameras and AI (Jun 2026). Vale reports gains of up to 15% in operational efficiency and up to 7.5% less fuel from autonomous fleets at earlier sites (Dec 2025). Vale's 2025 Form 20-F says autonomous trucks and the trolley project lowered costs at Serra Norte, without figures.
Earlier AI savings
Vale said in Jan 2019, when it opened its AI Center, that AI projects already delivered saved more than R$74 million a year, with R$136 million more expected from projects under way. In Nov 2024 Automation Anywhere said Vale's AI-powered automation saved 2,500 hours a year and avoided US$5 million of cost, a vendor figure that also predates the 18-month window.
Headcount
Vale had 65,805 employees at Dec 31, 2025, up from 64,610 a year earlier (2025 Form 20-F). Vale says about 300 jobs have been transformed by autonomous equipment, with the employees retrained (Jul 2026), and has published no AI-related job reductions.
Governance and risk
Board oversight
Vale's board addresses AI-related risks through the Audit and Risk Committee, together with the Executive Risk Committees, according to the Mar 2026 shareholder meeting manual. The manual names the lack of a globally harmonized regulatory framework, effects on people management and AI-enhanced cyber threats as the main challenges.
Assistants and agents
Vale has a policy for the use of AI assistants and checks how employees use them through governance, Alexandre Pigatti said in Jun 2025. Vale had no policy yet for autonomous agents and ran its 2 agents in a controlled environment. Access to Vale's Databricks platform requires each business area to sign an agreement setting out its responsibilities (Mobile Time, Sep 2026).
Cyber risk
Vale's 2025 Form 20-F warns that threat actors are using AI to scale social engineering and intrusions into IT and operational technology, and that AI-driven attacks may exceed Vale's detection and response capacity. Vale's Chief Information Security Officer leads cybersecurity under a program based on NIST CSF, ISO 27001 and ISA 62443.
Safety
Vale presents AI mainly as a way to reduce people's exposure to risk. Autonomous equipment moves workers out of hazardous areas, and the Conceição 2 plant is run remotely from control rooms. Alexandre Pigatti said in Jun 2025 that Vale is obsessed with safety and risk management.
Recent signals
Oct 2026
Carlos Medeiros said on Vale's Q3 2026 call that 28 new autonomous trucks started up in the quarter, bringing Serra Norte to 42.
Sep 16, 2026
Alexandre Pigatti said AI ship routing saved Vale US$66 million of fuel in 2025 and a Finance AI tool recovered US$1.65 million.
Aug 11, 2026
Vale and ABB formed an alliance to replicate the Conceição 2 automation and AI model in other iron ore plants.
Jul 24, 2026
Vale Base Metals signed a 3-year R&D partnership with LoopX to bring AI collision avoidance and autonomy to its Sudbury mines.
Jul 13, 2026
Vale published its first R&D&I Report, counting more than 45 AI solutions and US$685 million of R&D&I investment in 2025.
Jun 10, 2026
Vale opened the Conceição 2 Model Plant in Itabira and reported a 25% productivity gain from automation and AI.
Jun 2026
Rafael Bittar told Web Summit Rio that AI is now part of Vale's business strategy and that a 100% automated mine is possible.
Apr 30, 2026
Gustavo Pimenta said Vale's R$12 billion of investment in Espírito Santo to 2030 includes applying AI and digitalizing the Tubarão operations.
Mar 27, 2026
Vale's 2025 Form 20-F named the Smart Mine truck project and AI dam monitoring, and warned that AI-driven cyberattacks may exceed its defenses.
Mar 12, 2026
Vale's shareholder meeting manual said the board oversees AI risks through the Audit and Risk Committee and that Vale has invested strategically in AI.
Dec 2025
Vale, Caterpillar and Sotreq agreed to expand autonomous haulage in Carajás to about 90 trucks by 2028.
Quick answers
- How does Vale deploy AI?
- Vale deploys AI mostly inside its iron ore operations, with more than 45 AI solutions by Jul 2026. Vale's solutions include an AI layer that adjusts the Conceição 2 plant in Itabira in real time, AI speed guidance and autonomy for haul trucks, predictive maintenance and dam monitoring. Vale's business areas build their own models on a Databricks platform, and head of AI Alexandre Pigatti said in Sep 2026 that AI ship routing saved US$66 million of fuel in 2025.
- What does Vale use AI for?
- Vale has named more than 45 AI solutions, including the Conceição 2 Model Plant, truck speed guidance and autonomy, predictive maintenance, conveyor computer vision, dam monitoring, ship routing, finance and exploration search. Vale reports a return it credits to AI for 2 of them: Alexandre Pigatti said in Sep 2026 that AI ship routing saved US$66 million of fuel in 2025 and that a Finance AI tool recovered US$1.65 million. Vale reports no firm-level AI figure. Pigatti's US$2.5 billion of benefits covers Vale's data democratization model as a whole, and the Model Plant's 25% productivity gain is credited to automation, sensors and AI together.
- Who leads AI at Vale?
- AI at Vale is led by Rafael Bittar (Executive Vice President, Technical); Alexandre Pigatti (Head of AI); Paulo Celso Pires (Director of Technology and Innovation). Ownership of AI on the org chart: No named AI executive; Head of AI Alexandre Pigatti, with EVP Technical Rafael Bittar.
- What AI platform does Vale use?
- Vale builds most of its AI in-house: an AI Center in Vitória (2019), innovation hubs run in a franchise model, and a Databricks platform on which 19 business areas build their own models. Vale buys plant automation from ABB and autonomy from Caterpillar and Komatsu.
- Which AI models does Vale use?
- Vale's disclosed models are machine learning, optimization and computer vision models it trains on operating data, plus SabIA, a generative AI tool for searching exploration records. A Vale data science manager named OpenAI as a generative AI source in Sep 2024.
- How many Vale employees use AI?
- Vale has not said how many of its 65,805 employees use AI tools. Head of AI Alexandre Pigatti said in Jun 2025 that AI assistants are open to staff under a usage policy, and in Sep 2026 that Vale will train 5,000 more employees on its data platform.
- What return has Vale reported from AI?
- Vale has reported returns it credits to AI in 2 use cases since May 2025, which places it at Piloting. Alexandre Pigatti, Vale's head of AI, said that an AI system that plans routes and speeds for ore carriers sailing to China saved US$66 million of fuel in 2025. Pigatti also said that a Finance team AI tool for asset capitalization and tax review recovered US$1.65 million. Both figures come from Pigatti's talk at Databricks' Data + AI World Tour in São Paulo, as reported by Mobile Time on Sep 16, 2026, and no second source carries them. Vale's own releases, filings and calls describe AI's results without a business return: the Conceição 2 Model Plant's 25% productivity gain (Jun 2026) is a throughput measure that Vale credits to automation, sensors and AI together. On rollout, Vale has published no count of employees using AI tools and names no executive as owner of AI. Vale falls short of Scaling because both returns rest on a single trade press account of one talk and because Vale has not itself described the Databricks platform behind them. Vale also falls short because no named owner reports AI results on its company calls or in its annual report. A return in Vale's own disclosures or a firm-level AI figure would move Vale up.
Open questions
- Will Vale report the US$66 million of AI ship routing fuel savings in its own filings or releases? How much of the saving comes from routing as opposed to Vale's other fuel measures, such as rotor sails and air lubrication?
- What does the Conceição 2 Model Plant return in currency, and how much of its 25% productivity gain comes from AI as opposed to automation and new instruments?
- How much of the US$2.5 billion of benefits Alexandre Pigatti attributed to Vale's data democratization model comes from AI, and over what period?
- How many Vale employees use AI assistants, which models do the assistants run on, and where are they hosted?
- Who owns AI on Vale's Executive Committee, and to whom do the head of AI, the Director of Technology and Innovation and the AI Center report?
- How much does Vale spend on AI and on information technology each year?
- What do Vale's predictive maintenance, truck speed guidance and pelletizing AI return in cost savings?
Sources
Vale
- Vale opens model plant in Itabira with AI applied to operations (Jun 10, 2026)
- Vale and ABB form strategic alliance to accelerate digital transformation (Aug 11, 2026)
- Vale launches first-ever R&D&I Report (Jul 13, 2026)
- Innovation and technology for the future of mining
- Artificial intelligence assists in sustainability goals up to safety
Filings
Partners
- Databricks Data + AI World Tour São Paulo, with Alexandre Pigatti
- Qlik customer story: Vale achieves yearly benefit of $600m (undated)
- Automation Anywhere: How Vale struck gold with AI-powered automation (Nov 2024)
- Global Mining Review: Nokia Bell Labs and Vale partner on cognitive monitoring (Oct 2024)
News
- Mobile Time: Vale recovers US$1.65 million with AI that maps assets and taxes (Sep 16, 2026)
- Estado de Minas: Vale expands partnership with ABB on AI (Aug 2026)
- International Mining: LoopX signs 3-year R&D partnership with Vale Base Metals (Jul 24, 2026)
- International Mining: Vale's mine of the future journey continues (Jul 18, 2026)
- Click Petróleo e Gás: Rafael Bittar at Web Summit Rio 2026 (Jun 16, 2026)
- Reuters via Mining.com: Vale opens AI-powered plant in Minas Gerais (Jun 10, 2026)
- Money Times: Vale opens AI plant in Minas Gerais (Jun 10, 2026)
- Itatiaia: Rafael Bittar on the Itabira Model Plant (Jun 2026)
- Tribuna Online: Vale announces R$12 billion of investment in Espírito Santo (May 1, 2026)
- International Mining: Vale confirms autonomous truck fleet expansion deal with Caterpillar (Dec 8, 2025)
- Convergência Digital: Vale wants to democratize autonomous AI agents, Alexandre Pigatti (Jun 6, 2025)
- Baguete: Vânia Neves leaves Vale's global technology directorate (Feb 2025)
- Convergência Digital: Vale chooses SAS to become data-driven, Keiner Alvarenga (Sep 17, 2024)
- Convergência Digital: Vale wins SAP innovation tournament with generative AI (2024)
- Baguete: Vale creates artificial intelligence center (Jan 2019)
Data confidence
- Confirmed
- Stated in a primary or reputable public source.
- Estimated
- Derived or approximated from public reporting.
- Unconfirmed
- Reported, but not yet corroborated.
Vale profile · Enterprise AI diffusion report by Imagine · facts checked against their sources on Nov 9, 2026
