GE HealthCare and Milwaukee Tool are leading the pack for organizations filing AI-related patents in Wisconsin, followed closely by Johnson Controls.
That’s according to research conducted by Prof. Rina Ghose, a data scientist with UW-Milwaukee whose work explores AI adoption and workforce readiness. As part of a Microsoft-backed effort, she assessed where AI-related jobs are headed and how prepared various regions of the state are for the coming changes.
“There’s higher adoption in urban tech, healthcare and education hubs, and rural areas show slower AI uptake,” she said.
Ghose also noted the study data “highlights where AI could widen disparities or create new opportunities,” as it found white-collar and “routine” office roles are at greater risk of AI displacement relative to more hands-on roles.
Part of the research project looked at which organizations are filing AI-related patents in the state, and found GE HealthCare had the most during the study period of 2022-2024 with 536 filings. That just beat Milwaukee Tool with 532, while Johnson Controls had 486 over that period.
Other top contenders include the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation with 253 AI patent filings, Snap-on Inc. with 135, Oshkosh Corp. with 127 and Kimberly-Clark with 124, followed by Kohler Co. with 65, the Medical College of Wisconsin with 43 and Briggs & Stratton with 35.
“Companies span multiple sectors: healthcare, manufacturing, research and tools,” Ghose said.
Three cities in Wisconsin made up nearly 55% of the AI patent filings during the study period, led by Milwaukee with 870, Brookfield with 565 and Madison with 447. Ghose also highlighted “emerging hubs” such as Wauwatosa with 362 and Oshkosh with 163.
Meanwhile, the study points to one broad sector — encompassing management, business, science and arts — as being most impacted by AI adoption.
Of the nearly 1.2 million total jobs that covers, 21.8% or about 260,000 total jobs were found to be at greater risk of being replaced by AI.
That was followed by sales and office roles with 19.9% or about 114,000 jobs being impacted, the service sector with 5% or 23,000, production and transportation with 3.1% or 17,000, and natural resources, construction and maintenance with 2.1% or 5,400.
