Imagine this: a naval ship docks after months at sea, and maintenance crews embark on a painstaking process of inspecting its components. Armed with cameras and checklists, they take hundreds of photos, analyze them manually, and compile lengthy reports. This traditional process, while thorough, can be slow, error-prone, and inconsistent. The process also presents an opportunity for technology to tackle a productivity challenge.

At the recent Symposium 2025, organized by Naval Quebec in Montreal, representatives from Ennovia, IBM, and IBM’s ecosystem partner, InnovMarine, showcased an innovative use case of how artificial intelligence (AI) can  transform naval maintenance through a  web-based application called QuickBrain.

The challenge: visual inspections during docking

Traditionally, these inspections involved manually reviewing photos, analyzing potential defects, and compiling reports—a process that could take days.

Streamlining the docking process with generative AI: QuickBrain & watsonx.ai

To tackle this lengthy process, naval workers turned to QuickBrain, a web-based application developed by Ennovia, to streamline the docking process. The application is built with watsonx.ai, IBM’s enterprise-grade AI developer studio, and allows naval workers to identify defects, prioritize repairs, and generate detailed reports enriched with images and precise location data. This not only reduces time and errors but also allows human experts to focus on the most critical issues, improving both efficiency and accuracy.

QuickBrain is a comprehensive platform which enables workers in the naval industry to document, visualize, and conduct maintenance lifecycle management more quickly with fewer errors. As of today, it has been deployed across 16 vessels as part of the French navy fleet. Ronan Perez, Sales Director at Ennovia and Crazy Log, speaking at Symposium explained how QuickBrain integrates AI to transform visual inspections during docking periods.

Roopam Walia, Senior Account Technical Leader at IBM, spoke about AI and watsonx, IBM’s AI products portfolio at the Symposium, “The lengthy process of naval maintenance can be truly transformed with AI as the technology can be used to adapt to complex queries, understand nuanced inspection data, and enhance decision-making.” Roopam emphasized the importance of trustworthy AI, highlighting critical considerations like minimizing biases, ensuring transparency, regulatory compliance, and secure data storage. These principles ensure that AI solutions like those used in QuickBrain remain secure, compliant, and reliable.

The collaboration offers tangible results:

• Inspection times are significantly reduced, allowing ships to return to service faster.
• Defect detection is more accurate and consistent, minimizing the risk of oversight.
• Maintenance teams can focus on high-priority repairs, optimizing resources and improving operational readiness.

This use case demonstrates the transformative power of AI when paired with robust governance and expert collaboration. By automating time-consuming tasks and enhancing inspection consistency, the naval industry is entering a new era of precision and efficiency.

Discover how IBM watsonx is transforming industries with cutting-edge AI solutions https://www.ibm.com/watsonx.