How AI Is Changing the Oil Business From Abu Dhabi

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0:00The energy sector helped build Abu Dhabi. Now the Emirate is betting on AI to help build its future.

0:07Problems that used to take geoscientists weeks

0:09and months to do, now we're able to do it in 45 minutes.

0:12At AIQ, that means using artificial intelligence to make one of the world's

0:17most complex industries more productive, more predictive, and more efficient.

0:22Well, this is where the real magic happens. This is where the real intelligence is actually built.

0:26We take a closer look at how AIQ is putting that vision to work.

0:43AIQ was launched in 2020 to help accelerate the

0:47energy industry's adoption of artificial intelligence.

0:50The company uses AI to optimize drilling, production,

0:53and maintenance by analyzing operational data in real time.

0:58Its edge comes from developing and testing AI inside ADNOC, the UEE's state-owned oil giant,

1:04before scaling those solutions to customers around the world.

1:08The company is jointly owned by ADNOC and Presight, an Abu Dhabi

1:11based AI and data analytics company that emerged from the G42 technology group.

1:17AIQ says its goal is to improve the safety and efficiency of energy operations and has

1:23ambitions to export UAE developed AI to energy markets around the world.

1:29We've been around for 6 years now. What started off as this bold vision to transform the energy

1:35industry with AI, we've since done about 200 AI use cases. We've productized 14 of them. Today

1:42we're in 25% of ADNOC's wells. We're in 20% of their reservoirs. We're in 100% their drilling

1:47rigs with one model or the other. So, you know, it's been it's been a hell of a journey.

1:51So, take me back to 2020 and what's the biggest problem that this entity is trying to solve?

1:57When we were formed, it was really to accelerate the development and

2:00deployment of AI to the energy systems. The idea was taking the infrastructure

2:06that we had with G42 and pre-sight and the sovereign infrastructure we had together the

2:11data and actually build models to solve problems in the industry. We were out

2:16there trying to make our energy systems and transform them and become more productive.

2:21AIQ's tools span the energy value chain from subsurface exploration and

2:25drilling to production, maintenance and safety.

2:28But AIQ is still a young company in an industry built on caution.

2:33In energy, trust matters as much as technology. Its challenge is not just to build AI tools,

2:39but to prove they can work safely, reliably, and at scale inside live operations.

2:46Let's get down to brass tacks here. How exactly does AIQ make money?

2:51Well, through several ways. I mean, we've got our professional services, but we've also,

2:55you know, built products that we can license the deployment of those products and then,

2:59of course, the maintenance support moving forward for those products.

3:02And so, walk me through those products in particular. You mentioned there's about

3:07200 individual use cases today. What is the most

3:12significant among those use cases? And and what exactly is it doing?

3:15It's evolved since the inception of AIQ. And we think about AI people started

3:21talking about in 2016, 2018. So in 2020 we started building this bold vision which

3:26were a bunch of point solutions. 2025 it was really about agentic AI and agentic solutions.

3:42We announced our our first of its kind large scale aentic AI with energy AI.

3:47We've taken over 1.1 million documents and we've been able to take, you know,

3:53workflows within the subsurface and actually solve problems that used

3:57to take geoscientists weeks and months to do. Now we're able to do it in 45 minutes.

4:02So we built solutions everything from the boardroom to the control room.

4:05So across that value chain in the industry, and when you go and have conversations with

4:11CEOs in the industry or you're speaking to these companies, potential clients,

4:15how receptive are they to Abu Dhabi AI?

4:19Well, I think they are very receptive to AI in general. I mean whether it comes from Abu

4:23Dhabi or elsewhere. I think one of our biggest differentiators, Abu Dhabi AI, is that we've

4:28been able to take this this infrastructure that we've got here through our G42 all the way with

4:33the ADNOC data and we've been able to build models around that. Many of our competitors talk about

4:39you know being able to theoretically build these models with physics models but they don't have the

4:44real-time data that we've got and we've had some of these models in the systems for over six years.

4:49So when we talk to these CEOs, we talk about that we've done it. These are proven

4:53technology that we can put in their systems. And in the industrial world that we live in,

4:58in the energy sector, you know, you can't really mess with some of these wells that are producing

5:03wells with what you theoretically can do - it has to be what you've done.

5:07Just characterize it for me. How transformative has AI been to the energy industry?

5:12Gosh, I mean, I think we're just scratching the surface.

5:14I think it's been quite significant. Our ability to help our customers, you know,

5:19analyze, visualize and decide or whether it's automating wells.

5:23You know, we really focus on three different things at AIQ. One is autonomous operations.

5:29We want to make sure that we can keep people as far away from the well sites

5:33as possible cuz that's going to make everything, you know, a lot more safe.

5:37We think about subsurface. Solving problems, you know, underground, what we cannot see.

5:42And then of course the physical intelligence where

5:44we want to connect the digital world with the physical world in real time.

5:49As AI becomes more embedded in critical energy infrastructure,

5:53protecting sensitive operational data is becoming just as important as improving performance.

6:00When we think about data sovereignty, we think about our customers' data.

6:03And for us data sovereignty sits within our you know customers' tenant which is within our

6:10G42 Core42 infrastructure or within our tenant which also sits within that national sovereign

6:18cloud that we've got. So that's really the way we think about data and we think

6:22about data wherever our customers store that data. We never take data out of our customers

6:30platforms to actually deliver what we need to deliver when it comes to models.

6:35How do you overcome the inevitable security question though, and is that a challenge that

6:40you've seen being presented by CEOs that you speak with or those in the energy industry?

6:44Well, I think many in the energy industry would realize and understand that that ADNOC

6:49is probably one of the most strict when it comes to cyber security, when it comes to security and

6:53what we've proven in the last six years is that we can operate within that framework.

6:58So, you know, whatever challenges our customers have when it comes to cyber security, we

7:04believe that we've worked with some of the most strict and sovereign

7:10parameters that we've had to work with. So, we know how to do it.

7:13And this idea of being interoperable is also

7:17important as you continue to scale globally, right?

7:20Absolutely. And our customers are sitting on different tech stacks. You know,

7:24some are using Amazon, some are using Microsoft, some want to use Anthropic,

7:27others want to use OpenAI. So, we're quite agnostic with what systems they would like to use.

7:33For AIQ, the relationship between AI and energy runs both ways. As AI reshapes the

7:39energy industry, the industry's role in powering AI is becoming just as critical.

7:45We really believe that where there's AI, there's energy. Where there's energy, there'll be AI.

7:49We answer the AI for energy question, right? I mean, as the world needs more AI,

7:54needs more energy, we want to make that energy system far more productive,

7:58far more efficient, far more safe, and far more sustainable. So, that's really,

8:02you know, what we do. And our data centers, the new refineries. Yesterday,

8:06we were taking oil and gas. We were turning them into fuel and chemicals and today we're

8:11taking oil and gas and putting them in data centers and turning them into electrons. So

8:15exporting it before through pipelines now through the cloud and fiber optics. So that

8:20relationship between AI and energy continues to get closer and closer, and continue to merge.

8:26When you cast your mind forward into some of the solutions that you think AIQ will be

8:31able to deliver and provide across the energy industry in the years to come,

8:37what is the moonshot and and what are you ultimately working towards?

8:41Well, what we're really shooting towards is really our customers have one mission

8:46and that's really the extraction and sale of the products, right? The oil and gas products. So what

8:53we'd like to do is be able to solve the entire value chain optimization problem,

8:58whether it's which wells to shut off, which ones to turn on, which ones to optimize,

9:02and be able to do it more efficiently and be able to to shoot down the other side

9:06of that pipeline. The lowest cost per barrel is really what our moonshot is.

9:12I myself have been out on an ADNOC platform and it's incredible to see the level of autonomation.

9:21Do you see a future when one day perhaps we might be able to completely eliminate

9:28human interaction on physical rigs moving forward?

9:32Everything we do, I believe, just because of the world that we live in,

9:35is going to always augment the human capability and we'd like to automate as much as possible,

9:40but you know, I believe that we need to minimize the human capability but we want to be able to

9:46produce more. We want to be able to to make it a safer place. But our goal is never to

9:51eliminate the human because, you know, at the end of the day, these are big decisions that

9:56need to be made. And as you see out there, I mean, it's still quite mechanical out there

10:01and there's a lot of moving parts and pieces and we're always going to need a human in the loop.

10:06Abu Dhabi based AIQ is part of the UAE's wider push to

10:10become a global leader in artificial intelligence.

10:13Under the country's AI Strategy 2031, AI is being deployed across key sectors including energy.

10:21AIQ's advantage has been built at home inside state-owned oil company ADNOC's

10:26operations and Abu Dhabi's digital infrastructure.

10:30The next question is how well that model travels.

10:34The company says it's now testing that internationally with pilot projects and

10:38partnerships underway in markets including Colombia, Kazakhstan, Oman, and Indonesia.

10:45Are there any new markets that you're looking at getting involved in right now?

10:49North American market, the US and Canada. We're, you know,

10:52looking in Europe and then the global south and Australia.

10:57And are you finding that there's a lot of competition in the sector right now

11:00to try and adopt this technology first or fastest?

11:03Yeah, it's quite fragmented. I mean, I always say that it reminds me a lot of the ERP race of

11:09the 1990s, right? I mean, some folks would give their business to the Microsofts of

11:13the world and others were giving it to SAP and others were giving it to startups. But you got

11:18customers that are trying to do it themselves. So we find ourselves competing with, you know,

11:22customers that want to do it themselves and then everyone that has been forced by their

11:27board to get into the AI business all the way through to new players and startups with you

11:32know five to twelve people in the company. So it's a competitive business and at the end of

11:38the day I think that this race is going to end the same way where there's going

11:42to be a few big players at the end and I think that we believe that AIQ will be one of them.

11:48When you look at what the UAE is doing, leading in this space, do you see the UAE

11:53in the future perhaps being a net exporter of artificial intelligence into the future?

11:59I think you're already seeing it. I mean, when you look at our parent, Presight,

12:04they're already exporting this technology and helping a lot of, you know, governments with a

12:09lot of the smart city, smart government solutions, with infrastructure solutions. So you're already

12:14looking at a lot of the ecosystem companies in Abu Dhabi exporting that technology. For many years,

12:20we were importing a lot of technologies here in the UAE to work whether in our government sector,

12:25with our financial sector, or our health sector. When you look at today what we're doing here in

12:30Abu Dhabi, we're building this technology here and we're exporting it to the world.

12:35More than a year into the role as AIQ's CEO, Jol says it has been a steep learning curve,

12:41even for someone who has spent two decades working in the UAE's energy industry.

12:46I didn't start off as a tech CEO. I spent the last 20 years in the industry here in the UAE,

12:51working with the energy systems in one of the most commoditized businesses.

12:56But whether it's AI or a commodity product like pipe valves and fittings,

12:59I believe that, you know, when you can prove to a customer you're either going

13:02to save them money or make them money, it's really value selling is what you do.

13:06What would you say is the biggest difficulty that you've faced so far?

13:10Really trying to get our customers to

13:13understand what AI is and how it can truly transform the industry.

13:18When you think about transformation, it really

13:21makes you think about roles in industry, roles in company.

13:25I always like to use the example of Uber,

13:27right? I mean, when you think about Uber transforming the transportation industry,

13:32you know, you can't really ask the taxi driver on what kind of tools they need.

13:35So, I think when you think about transforming this industry,

13:37it's really, collaborating internally and externally.

13:41And we believe here at AIQ, collaboration is acceleration.

13:44And how would you characterize your own leadership style?

13:48Well, I think that a lot of what I picked up in my previous companies

13:52was accountability, integrity, and fun.

13:54Why is fun important as a leadership style?

13:57Well, I think that in the fast race that AI is in and you know,

14:02we got folks that that don't sleep at night programming and coding,

14:06and in the startup world that we're in, we've got to make sure that we love what we do.

14:10I always tell our folks that if they've got that Sunday night gut check and

14:15actually toss and turn to go to work on Monday, I think you're in the wrong job.

14:21And so I think fun is probably the most important thing,

14:24and allows everybody to get up every morning and do what they want to do.

14:29What gets you out of bed in the morning?

14:31All the above, right? I mean, ultimately for me it's real challenge and right now

14:37the challenge of AI, the challenge of going out there and proving to the world that

14:42these solutions that we've created in Abu Dhabi is truly valuable. And I think that,

14:48and making a difference is really what gets me awake in the morning and gets me going.