The pivotal and fast-growing role of AI and digital technologies in the energy sector was reflected in lively debate at the inaugural Future AI Conference, held on 13th November in Houston and organised by Cavendish Group International.
More than 350 delegates from over 172 organisations took advantage of opportunities to hear expert opinion, network, and exchange ideas at a busy event at the Norris Conference Centre.
Innovators and leading thinkers on AI from across the energy sector provided their valuable input across the conference sessions, including speakers from bp, Chevron, Dow Chemicals, ExxonMobil, Kongsberg Digital, Marathon and Motiva, among many others.
Themes up for discussion on stage reflected the impact being made by AI in every aspect of the industry.
Leading topics at this first staging of the event included how agentic AI systems are enabling greater accessibility to technology and real-time decision making, implementing AI in downstream operations, creating a corporate culture favourable to AI adoption and how to ensure that ethical and privacy consideration remain central to the whole process.
Adam Soroka, CEO, Cavendish Group and Future Events, said the conference provided a much-needed platform for energy companies under immense pressure to modernize their infrastructure to keep pace with the latest trends in rapidly evolving AI technology deployment.
“It’s clear that AI implementation is not about the latest shiny tool, it’s about integration, rollout, training and end-user empathy. We’re all aware AI is not perfect, but we have learned that the benefits clearly outweigh the shortcomings,” he said.
Haavard Oestensen, CCO & EVP at Kongsberg Digital, was one of the main speakers at the event. He told delegates, it was important to remember how much progress had been made in effective and safe scaling up of AI deployment by the energy industry and how it was starting to positively impact the bottom line.
“We’re now no longer talking about small use cases, with very limited funding for a single asset, we are talking about industrial scale. Thousands of users are saying these technologies are now impacting how they work and that they need more funding. We should start inviting more CFOs to these conferences to see the value in AI adoption,” he said.