Investing.com -- Honeywell International Inc. is seeing increased demand for its products due to the Iran conflict and artificial intelligence growth, Chief Executive Officer Vimal Kapur said Wednesday.

Kapur told Bloomberg Television that while external factors did not influence the company's 2025 decision to separate its automation and aerospace divisions, both businesses now expect higher demand in coming years.

"When the company made the decision to separate, there was the Ukraine war already, but the Iran war hadn't occurred at that time," Kapur said. "So now that generates the defense-related demand into our business."

The CEO added that artificial intelligence has become increasingly relevant to the automation business. "When I came to the automation business, AI was not this prominent play for automation companies," he said. "But increasingly, as an automation business, we generate lot of data. That data can be used to make our customers more productive."

Honeywell announced plans to separate its aerospace division from its automation business in February 2025 and spun off its chemicals division in October 2025. The aerospace business will complete its separation next month under President and CEO Jim Currier, while Kapur will remain at the automation business.

Elliott Investment Management took a stake in Honeywell in 2024 and publicly advocated for the split. Kapur said Elliott's input "had been productive and collaborative."

The automation business will continue pursuing acquisitions in the $2 billion to $3 billion enterprise value range, Kapur said, which he believes can improve earnings without putting too much shareholder money at risk.