Exploring Open Collaboration, Innovation and Energy Transition
Gerben De Jong, SVP IDT & CIO, Integrated Gas & Upstream Projects & Technology, Shell
In the powerful opening keynote of Future Digital Twin & AI 2025, Gerben de Jong, SVP IDT & CIO at Shell, set the tone for the conference with a compelling vision of how energy companies must embrace open collaboration, digital innovation, and responsible AI to accelerate their transformation agendas.
Framing the world as being at a critical inflection point, Gerben de Jong reflected on how technology has repeatedly reshaped industries—and how the convergence of AI, digital twins, and data intelligence now offers a new leap forward for the energy sector. He positioned digital twins not as abstract technologies, but as practical enablers of bottom-line value—enhancing safety, reducing downtime, and improving operational decision-making through insight-driven, real-time models.
Drawing on Shell’s own digital transformation journey, Gerben de Jong addressed the need to evolve beyond proof-of-concept initiatives into scalable, modular, and productised solutions. He underscored that successful digital twins must be built with business value at the core and AI embedded natively—not as a bolt-on—to truly transform work processes and accelerate time-to-value.
The keynote also explored the future role of Agentic AI, noting that while generative tools have accelerated automation, the next frontier lies in AI systems that can adapt, reason, and act autonomously—while still working in tandem with human oversight and expertise.
With a message grounded in realism, responsibility, and results, Gerben de Jong challenged attendees to bridge the gap between technological promise and operational impact, and to focus on digital actions that directly support Shell’s broader strategy of becoming the world’s leading integrated energy company.
