PETRONAS and AIQ, an Abu Dhabi-based technology company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to share experiences in building Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions that may potentially accelerate the energy transition and drive sustainability across energy operations.

AIQ is a technology pioneer focused on driving the transformation of the industrial sector powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

The MoU was signed by PETRONAS Head of Data Science, Dr Sambasivam Rajamani, and AIQ Chief Technology Officer, Saravan Kumar Penubarthi; and witnessed by PETRONAS Vice President of Group Technology and Commercialisation, Aadrin Azly and AIQ Senior Vice President of Commercial and Business Development, Dr Ahmed Salem.

As part of the collaboration, the two parties will work together to pilot and test AI solutions to discover viable applications and use cases that can create value across multiple business verticals in the energy sector on a global scale. PETRONAS and AIQ will also develop AI and Advanced Analytics best practices and frameworks to ensure commercial and operational excellence throughout their joint projects.

"We look forward to partnering with AIQ to co-create and leverage each other's capabilities as we continue to transform our operations, enrich the skills of our employees and boost organisational productivity and effectiveness with AI. It is aligned to what we want to achieve through our AI Centre of Excellence (AI CoE),” said Aadrin Azly, Vice President of PETRONAS Group Technology and Commercialisation.

“AIQ is proud to form strategic partnerships with key industry leaders such as PETRONAS, which both accelerates the digital transformation of the Energy sector and steers it towards progressing to a more sustainable future. The challenges and perplexities of climate change call for smart and efficient solutions for the industry, and such collaborations ensure that world-class, efficient digital solutions are available for all industry players to benefit from,” said Omar Al Marzooqi, CEO of AIQ. Besides working on AI solutions, PETRONAS and AIQ will design and roll out capability development initiatives to upskill their workforce.