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Indiana Launches IN AI Initiative to Boost Business Productivity, Highlights Yamaha Marine and Arcamed Success Stories
The state of Indiana has rolled out a two‑year, $1.64 million program called IN AI, aimed at helping small and medium‑sized businesses adopt artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Launched in April after Governor Mike Braun unveiled the plan at a state event, the initiative is overseen by the Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) and funded by the Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC). Its goal is to lift productivity, raise wages, and equip college students for a workforce increasingly driven by AI.
CICP CEO Melina Kennedy described IN AI as a “time‑bound, two‑year kind of sprint” that will reach as many businesses as possible in a way that is understandable and accessible. The program will feature three to five in‑person road shows and two virtual gatherings each year, an online resource guide packed with case studies and an adoption playbook, a directory of consultants, and a marketplace that matches companies with university talent.
The initiative follows a broader pattern of state support for advanced technology. CICP has long championed manufacturing and logistics efforts such as Conexus Indiana and AgriNovus Indiana. According to CICP vice‑president of strategy Jahon Hobbeheydar, AI’s barriers to investment are lower than robotics or automation, making it a more widely available productivity enhancer.
Despite the availability of AI, a recent U.S. Census Bureau survey found that 71.6 % of Indiana businesses surveyed between November 17 and February 8 had not used AI in any business function in the past two weeks—almost identical to the national average of 71.3 %. In addition, 56.2 % of all U.S. businesses and 59.9 % of Indiana businesses said they do not expect to use AI in the next six months.
Yamaha Marine Precision Propellers Inc., a Greenfield‑based manufacturer, is one of the success stories that IN AI will showcase. The company moved its production from Indianapolis to a new automated facility in Greenfield between 2021 and 2024. The transition caused the scrap rate—parts that were unusable due to defects—to rise from 2‑5 % at the old plant to over 15 % at the new site. The company had large amounts of data from the automated plant but could not interpret it.
Yamaha Marine turned to Purdue University’s Data Mine program, which connects students with industry data‑science challenges. After two years, Purdue students built a machine‑learning model that diagnosed the cause of the high scrap rate. The model enabled Yamaha Marine to reduce scrap to below 1 %, saving more than $1 million annually. General manager Batuhan Ak said the improvement was “the difference between being profitable and not being profitable.”
Arcamed LLC, a 75‑employee medical case and tray manufacturer in Indianapolis, is another example. Arcamed first used AI to automate routine tasks. Its first project was an HR chatbot trained on the company’s employee handbook. The chatbot answers questions about leave entitlements and bereavement policy, saving the HR team about 10 hours per month. The chatbot also serves production staff via a terminal on the shop floor.
Arcamed’s president and CEO Jon Desalvo explained that the company used AI for production planning as well. As a contract manufacturer, Arcamed must frequently change production setups for different customers. Manual planning was time‑consuming and error‑prone. AI helped identify opportunities to run multiple parts on a single setup, reducing the number of setup changes from 10‑12 to a more efficient schedule.
Early response to IN AI has been positive. A virtual road show held earlier this month attracted about 100 participants. The first in‑person event is scheduled for July 21 in Indianapolis, followed by events in West Lafayette, South Bend, Evansville and Bloomington from August to October. A second virtual event is planned for November.
CICP’s executive vice‑president of digital adoption Ting Gootee noted that interest in AI tools exceeded expectations. A free half‑day workshop on Anthropic’s Claude AI tool drew about 400 people, nearly four times the event’s capacity of 120.
At the end of the two‑year sprint, CICP will evaluate whether to continue the initiative. The program’s early successes, such as Yamaha Marine’s scrap‑rate reduction and Arcamed’s HR and production‑planning efficiencies, illustrate the potential for AI to improve operations for Indiana businesses.
The IN AI initiative represents a coordinated effort by state, industry and academia to accelerate AI adoption across Indiana. Its focus on practical tools, talent matching and real‑world case studies aims to lower the barriers that have kept many businesses from embracing AI.
CICP CEO Melina Kennedy described IN AI as a “time‑bound, two‑year kind of sprint” that will reach as many businesses as possible in a way that is understandable and accessible. The program will feature three to five in‑person road shows and two virtual gatherings each year, an online resource guide packed with case studies and an adoption playbook, a directory of consultants, and a marketplace that matches companies with university talent.
The initiative follows a broader pattern of state support for advanced technology. CICP has long championed manufacturing and logistics efforts such as Conexus Indiana and AgriNovus Indiana. According to CICP vice‑president of strategy Jahon Hobbeheydar, AI’s barriers to investment are lower than robotics or automation, making it a more widely available productivity enhancer.
Despite the availability of AI, a recent U.S. Census Bureau survey found that 71.6 % of Indiana businesses surveyed between November 17 and February 8 had not used AI in any business function in the past two weeks—almost identical to the national average of 71.3 %. In addition, 56.2 % of all U.S. businesses and 59.9 % of Indiana businesses said they do not expect to use AI in the next six months.
Yamaha Marine Precision Propellers Inc., a Greenfield‑based manufacturer, is one of the success stories that IN AI will showcase. The company moved its production from Indianapolis to a new automated facility in Greenfield between 2021 and 2024. The transition caused the scrap rate—parts that were unusable due to defects—to rise from 2‑5 % at the old plant to over 15 % at the new site. The company had large amounts of data from the automated plant but could not interpret it.
Yamaha Marine turned to Purdue University’s Data Mine program, which connects students with industry data‑science challenges. After two years, Purdue students built a machine‑learning model that diagnosed the cause of the high scrap rate. The model enabled Yamaha Marine to reduce scrap to below 1 %, saving more than $1 million annually. General manager Batuhan Ak said the improvement was “the difference between being profitable and not being profitable.”
Arcamed LLC, a 75‑employee medical case and tray manufacturer in Indianapolis, is another example. Arcamed first used AI to automate routine tasks. Its first project was an HR chatbot trained on the company’s employee handbook. The chatbot answers questions about leave entitlements and bereavement policy, saving the HR team about 10 hours per month. The chatbot also serves production staff via a terminal on the shop floor.
Arcamed’s president and CEO Jon Desalvo explained that the company used AI for production planning as well. As a contract manufacturer, Arcamed must frequently change production setups for different customers. Manual planning was time‑consuming and error‑prone. AI helped identify opportunities to run multiple parts on a single setup, reducing the number of setup changes from 10‑12 to a more efficient schedule.
Early response to IN AI has been positive. A virtual road show held earlier this month attracted about 100 participants. The first in‑person event is scheduled for July 21 in Indianapolis, followed by events in West Lafayette, South Bend, Evansville and Bloomington from August to October. A second virtual event is planned for November.
CICP’s executive vice‑president of digital adoption Ting Gootee noted that interest in AI tools exceeded expectations. A free half‑day workshop on Anthropic’s Claude AI tool drew about 400 people, nearly four times the event’s capacity of 120.
At the end of the two‑year sprint, CICP will evaluate whether to continue the initiative. The program’s early successes, such as Yamaha Marine’s scrap‑rate reduction and Arcamed’s HR and production‑planning efficiencies, illustrate the potential for AI to improve operations for Indiana businesses.
The IN AI initiative represents a coordinated effort by state, industry and academia to accelerate AI adoption across Indiana. Its focus on practical tools, talent matching and real‑world case studies aims to lower the barriers that have kept many businesses from embracing AI.
