The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) hosted, today, senior oil, gas and technology leaders at the inaugural ADNOC Artificial Intelligence (AI) Forum. The event was held at ADNOC HQ in its state-of-the-art Panorama Digital Command Center, to discuss radical industry shifts, the rise of AI and how collectively, the industry can accelerate AI advancement to unlock new value from oil and gas resources.
The potential impact of AI on the future course and competitiveness of the oil and gas industry could be dramatic, radically changing the traditional practices and delivering new sources of value. According to the World Economic Forum, primary savings generated from robotic applications and big data analytics could total $500 billion by 2025.
His Excellency Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO, said: “Digital innovation is delivering unparalleled levels of progress and prosperity across the world, as we enter a new age of opportunity and growth. ADNOC is embracing Oil and Gas 4.0 and helping to drive the 4th industrial age, by using Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Block-chain to enhance our operational efficiency, maximize our performance, drive our profitability and empower our people.
“And, as we continue our transformation into a more commercially minded, performance driven company, it will be the rapidly evolving power of technologies, like AI, that will enable us to access opportunities never before seen and ensure ADNOC not only thrives in the new energy landscape, but also leads.”
Held to coincide with the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC), one of the world’s leading oil and gas conferences and exhibitions, the forum focused on exploring the possibilities beyond the confines of ‘AI-Today’ to imagine the highly improbable but not actually impossible advancements of tomorrow, along with the capabilities, investments and horizons that will need to be matured if the benefits are to be realized.
Abdulmunim Al Kindy, ADNOC Upstream Director and Chairman of ADNOC Digital Transformation said: “If we are to thrive in the future, we need to not only embrace but champion and evolve technologies such as AI and open our minds to consider the ‘what-ifs’ in 2030 and beyond. In this regard, today’s inaugural event demonstrated ADNOC’s leadership and sent a message from industry leaders that we are pushing the boundaries of new technologies and perspectives in our continued pursuit of maximizing the value.”
The forum was moderated by Tracy Countryman, Global Managing Director and Industry X.0 Lead for Accenture’s Resources practice who said: “Today’s event was a remarkable coming together of global innovation and technology thought leaders in what is truly an impressive setting. We really stretched the boundaries of traditional thinking and a number of interesting perspectives and paths were drawn, from which clear value was present.”
Sarah Karthigan, Global AI Executive, ExxonMobil said: “ADNOC has brought together an influential cross section of technology and industry leaders to look beyond AI-today and how we seize the opportunities of tomorrow. It was a very insightful and collaborative working session. We all agree we are still only scratching the surface of how technology, and different ways of thinking, can truly unlock our full potential.
“Our plans for AI need to be bold, and if we are going to see value creation we need not only embrace technological disruption but also foster cultural change. We need to build organizations that have truly agile people, without compromising the strongest standards and processes the oil and gas industry is renowned for.”
Those attending the forum included Abdul Nasser Al Mughairbi, SVP Digital, ADNOC; Abdulmunim Al Kindy, Upstream Director, ADNOC; Aidan Hancock, VP IT&S, BP; Alaa Elshimy, Director and Vice President for Enterprise Business Group, Huawei; Binu Mathew, Global SVP Digital, Baker Hughes GE; Fathiya Al Farsi, Chief Information & Digitalization Officer, PDO; Fida Khalil, Head of the MindSphere Application Center, Siemens; Giacomo Silvestri, SVP Digital Strategy, Innovation & Demand Management, Eni; Dr. Han Dong, Chief Technology Officer, CNPC; Håvard Devold, Digital Lead for ABB Oil, Gas & Chemical, ABB; Jan Leitermann, Chief Information Officer, OMV; Jeremy McKeon, Head of Alliance & Partnerships, MAANA; Leo Simonovich, VP Global Cyber Strategy, Siemens; Luq Niazi, Global Managing Director, Chemicals & Petroleum Industries, IBM; Markus Berghofer, VP Upstream Information Management & Business Projects, OMV; Omar Saleh, Director, Energy, Manufacturing & Resources, Microsoft; Dr. Pei Xiaohan, Head of AD Technology Hub, CNPC; Rob McGreevy, VP Solutions, Aveva; Tracy Countryman, Global Managing Director, Accenture; Vijay Doradla, Chief Business Officer, SparkCognition ; Xavier Anglada, Digital Lead in the ME, North Africa and Turkey, Accenture; Wim Thomas, Chief Energy Advisor, Global Scenario Group, Shell; Sarah Karthigan, Global AI Executive, ExxonMobil; Peng Xiao, CEO, Group 42; Morten Jensen, Digital Innovation Director, Schlumberger; Khalil Abdulrazak, CEO, Total ABK and Martin McCormack, Technology Manager, BP.
