The first-ever Future Digital Twin & AI Asia Conference, held on 3rd March in Kuala Lumpur, proved to be a worthy showcase for the talent and cutting-edge technology underpinning advances in the region’s energy industry.
Organised by Cavendish International, the event played host to more than 243 delegates from over 148 organisations, who shared knowledge and gained insights from an array of expert panellists from around the world.
Speakers represented companies and organisations pivotal to the successful application of artificial intelligence within the energy sector, including BP, Shell, Petronas, PTTEP, Kongsberg Digital, DNV, SIMACRO, EY and many others.
High on the agenda were the benefits now being reaped from the use of AI and digital twin technology in maximising and improving the efficiency of oil and gas exploration and production in Malaysia and its regional neighbours.
“What makes these Future Digital Twin & AI events exciting is delving into the regional capabilities of these progressive technologies. As we discovered this time in Malaysia, AI and physical technology are fast developing alongside each other – a combination that will help the country’s upstream industry reach production and sustainability targets all the way up to 2035,” Adam Soroka, Cavendish International’s CEO, said.
It was a sentiment echoed by Shahril Mokhtar, Head of Technology & Digital at the Malaysia Petroleum Management arm of Petronas, in his keynote speech.
“AI has a crucial role as an accelerator. Our geoscientists would still find oil and gas without it, but the expectation for AI in our industry is that it will provide that space where it can be done faster, greener and safer,” he told delegates.
Among other keenly discussed themes in Kuala Lumpur were the need to create integrated and interoperable systems to allow the scale up of AI, how the responsible application of AI and a continuing focus on cybersecurity measures were imperative, and how to achieve buy-in from workers to ensure that AI-driven technology can be rolled out faster.
Mokhtar also emphasised another theme that gained a lot of traction at the conference: the efforts being made to ensure the region develops talent the equal of that anywhere else in the world.
“We must not forget that AI and digital twin are still just tools. We still need to rely on the capabilities of the people in the industry – upskilling them with the right knowledge of AI and digital twin is paramount,” he said.
The buzz around this inaugural event highlighted the growing enthusiasm in the region to take the deployment of AI in the energy industry to the next level.
