Rewiring the workforce: How Siemens and EducationXR are shaping the next generation of electricians in construction with XR and AI

Siemens and EducationXR: A Unity case study

Empowering the future of skilled trades with immersive technology

Siemens is a global technology leader in electrification, automation, software, and digital twin fueling industries, infrastructure, and transportation. With a strong presence in the United States, Siemens delivers innovative solutions that enhance infrastructure, drive industrial productivity, and enable sustainable energy systems. Within its Smart Infrastructure Electrical Products Division, Siemens provides a comprehensive portfolio of load centers, circuit breakers, panelboards, switchgear, metering solutions, and control products that ensure safe and efficient electrical installations to power and protect everything from residential buildings to critical infrastructure like hospitals and data centers.

Facing an urgent skilled labor shortage in the U.S. construction industry—especially in the electrical trade—Siemens set out to modernize training and workforce development. The challenge? Create a scalable, interactive, and accessible learning platform that engages today’s digital-first learners while improving efficiency, safety, and on-the-job performance.

To meet this need, Siemens built Pneuma, a next-generation training and sales enablement platform that utilizes EducationXR–a Unity developer platform used to create, deploy, and distribute immersive experiences to all mobile, desktop, and VR headsets. In this case study, we deep dive into how Pneuma delivers XR-based learning, AI-guided support, and mobile-ready access to technical documentation—all in one seamless, device-agnostic hub.

Results

• 3x improvement in knowledge retention using XR simulations
• 70% reduction in time to proficiency on key electrical installation tasks
• 10,000+ AI-driven questions answered in the first 6 months
• 85%+ weekly engagement rate among external users
• 25,000 apprentices and educators reached through Siemens Educates America
• 1000+ internal and customer users accessing Pneuma across the U.S.
• Dramatic reduction in costs for training and support through centralized, self-service content access
• Seamless deployment across mobile, desktop, AR, and VR devices thanks to Unity’s cross-platform engine

Read on to learn how Siemens is transforming the future of construction training—one immersive experience at a time.

The workforce challenge: Bridging the skills gap in a digital world

The U.S. construction industry—especially the electrical trade—is facing an urgent skills shortage. A combination of an aging workforce, rising electrification needs, increasing project complexity, and emerging digital technologies has created a widening gap between training capabilities and real-world demands.

As electrical infrastructure becomes more complex, professionals—including sales engineers, electrical contractors, and apprentices—face challenges in quickly locating accurate product information, understanding installation procedures, and leveraging new digital tools for their work.

Conventional training approaches are no longer enough. Apprentices and seasoned electricians alike require flexible, scalable, and tech-forward solutions that can deliver hands-on training without risk, downtime, or inconsistency, and appeal to both digital nomads and natives. Siemens recognized the need to evolve its own training tools and internal support systems—and found the solution in immersive technology.

Previously, Siemens' XR training modules were manually sideloaded to VR headsets and lacked a centralized platform for distribution, scalability, or user-friendly access. The experience was fragmented and resource-intensive.

The Solution: Pneuma—Smart training for a smarter workforce

Siemens introduced Pneuma, a game-changing application that acts as a one-stop hub for technical guidance, immersive learning, and AI-powered assistance. Pneuma is designed with both internal teams and external customers in mind—distributors, contractors, apprentices—offering an intelligent blend of interactive content, real-time data access, and cross-device accessibility.

Leveraging Unity’s real-time 3D engine and the EducationXR platform, Pneuma bridges the gap between traditional education and modern digital demands by offering:

• Immersive XR training modules: Realistic simulations for hands-on electrical training without live voltage or hardware.
• 3D and XR-compatabile product visualization: Interactive models to explore and learn about electrical components before they’re installed.
• AI-powered content discovery: A generative AI assistant that answers product questions, recommends documentation, and guides learning.
• On-the-job support: 3D assembly and installation instruction guides.
• Centralized resource access: From spec sheets to video tutorials, Pneuma offers a unified content experience across mobile, desktop, and VR.

Key features:

• Web and mobile access across all devices
• Cross-platform XR learning environments
• Interactive tutorials and guided simulations
• Generative AI for product queries, troubleshooting, and asset recommendations
• EducationXR-powered content creation for scalable course development

Building with Unity: The technology behind Pneuma

Unity serves as the backbone of Pneuma’s immersive experiences. Unity’s cross-platform capabilities enable Siemens and EducationXR to offer an unified and consistent training and support experience across any device—crucial for reaching digital natives in the field.

The process starts with creators downloading EducationXR’s Caffeine package to their Unity Editor, where they will login through their EducationXR credentials or through a secure SSO if their organization has decided to integrate their IT with EducationXR.

After a design phase, 3D models are brought into Unity where a step by step interface guides creators on how to create their content in a simple manner.

Here’s how Unity powers each layer of Siemens’ Pneuma platform:

• Content creation with Caffeine: Siemens uses EducationXR’s custom Unity package, Caffeine, directly in the Unity Editor. It includes visual scripting via Flow, a custom EducationXR language, and drag-and-drop user experience (UX) for creators of all experience levels. Training modules, product demos, and simulations can be authored by users as little as 15 min, with automatic distribution through EducationXR’s powerful cloud infrastructure, eliminating the need to create and distribute executables.
• Cross-platform deployment: Unity’s powerful rendering pipelines and XR integrations (URP, AR Foundation, AI Navigation, Splines) enable seamless deployment to mobile, desktop, VR, and AR platforms. Pneuma runs on Windows, macOS, Android, Quest, Pico, and passthrough-enabled XR headsets.
• AR foundation for XR Mode: Unity’s AR Foundation transforms mobile phones into spatial training devices. Trainees use mobile AR to view and interact with virtual environments—no VR headset needed.
• Real-time simulation and multiplayer: Unity supports multiplayer simulation across all devices, allowing teams to train together regardless of hardware. This enables synchronized learning in classrooms, job sites, or remote locations.

With Unity and EducationXR, Siemens ensures that every user—regardless of device or experience level—has access to consistent, cutting-edge digital learning.

Results that spark change

• In just six months, Pneuma has delivered a transformative impact across Siemens’ workforce and its extended electrical industry ecosystem. Over 10,000 product and installation questions have been answered through Pneuma’s AI-powered assistant, saving countless hours that would have otherwise been spent searching through manuals or escalating support tickets. This instant access to technical knowledge has not only improved efficiency but also boosted user confidence on the job.
• Thanks to Unity-powered XR training modules, Siemens has seen a threefold increase in knowledge retention, empowering learners to absorb complex procedures more effectively. In real-world scenarios, this translates into a 70% reduction in time to proficiency for key installation and troubleshooting tasks—saving time, reducing costly errors, and minimizing downtime on construction sites.
• Adoption has been swift and enthusiastic: with over 1,000 active users spanning Siemens’ internal teams, contractors, and distributor partners, Pneuma is rapidly becoming the go-to hub for immersive training and support. Through the broader Siemens Educates America initiative, more than 25,000 apprentices and instructors have been reached, helping close the industry’s growing skills gap. External users are staying engaged too, with an 85%+ weekly interaction rate, and an average of 125 AI-driven content queries per day—clear signs that the platform is not only valuable, but essential.

This combination of measurable results and high engagement demonstrates how Unity’s technology and EducationXR’s training modules, paired with Siemens’ deep industry expertise, is actively reshaping the way professionals are trained, supported, and empowered through the entire electrical ecosystem enabling:

• Distributors to access real-time product data and AI-driven sales tools.
• Contractors to benefit from step-by-step AR instructions and virtual simulations.
• Apprentices to experience hands-on learning through XR modules and on-demand support.
• Enterprises to gain faster onboarding, greater consistency, and future-ready talent.

The future of skilled trade: Breaking barriers to scalable learning

Siemens is focused on expanding Pneuma with more AI-driven content creation tools, additional XR training modules in the content library, and a broader rollout across trade disciplines to support more trade roles.

Unity’s modular toolsets and extensive support for custom scripting, asset pipelines, and device compatibility will be key in scaling this vision.

A blueprint for modern workforce development

Siemens isn’t just solving a training problem—they’re contributing to a broader shift in how the industry develops and supports its workforce.

By integrating immersive XR learning, AI-powered assistance, and consistent, on-demand access to technical information, Pneuma is helping organizations reduce onboarding time, improve accuracy on the job, and support ongoing skill development.

These tools don’t necessarily replace traditional learning—they complement and enhance it, making training more accessible, more engaging, and better aligned with the realities of today’s construction environment.

Through programs like Siemens Educates America and partnerships with NECA, IBEW, and IEC, Siemens is helping to strengthen the pipeline of skilled talent entering the industry—supporting a future where knowledge is more easily shared, and professionals are better equipped to meet the demands of modern infrastructure and electrification.

Interested in learning more about this story? Watch our webinar with Siemens and EducationXR here.

Note: Beyond the collaboration with EducationXR for the Electrical Products Division, Siemens currently also has a multiuser license agreement with Unity globally.

EducationXR is a comprehensive Unity-based Enterprise developer platform that provides no-code/low-code tools, visual scripting and C# scripting used for creation, deployment and distribution of immersive experiences to all phones, tablets, desktops, and VR headsets.