ABU DHABI, 3rd November, 2026 (WAM) – Artificial intelligence (AI) agents are expected to become part of everyday operations in the oil and gas industry over the next five years, enabling professionals to devote more time to analysis and decision-making, according to Leonardo Machado, Vice President of Growth and Business Development at Shape Digital.
Speaking to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on the sidelines of ADIPEC 2026, Machado said AI agents could increasingly perform multiple tasks simultaneously, although the pace of technological change and its impact on the industry remain difficult to predict.
He highlighted the agreement signed on Monday by ADNOC, G42 and OpenAI as a significant step towards expanding the use of industrial AI. Under the agreement, ADNOC will become the first energy company to deploy OpenAI Frontier, an advanced AI platform designed to coordinate AI agents across complex business operations.
Machado said the combination of G42's infrastructure, OpenAI's advanced AI models and ADNOC's operational expertise provides a framework for accelerating AI adoption in the oil and gas sector.
He explained that Shape Digital has recently expanded its technological capabilities, enabling maintenance engineers, technical specialists and other industry professionals to develop their own applications and AI agents using company data, OpenAI's models and predictive models from Shape Digital's portfolio.
Building confidence in AI-supported decision-making requires reliable, properly contextualised sensor data and validated predictive models, Machado said. He noted that pilot projects can help assess data quality and model accuracy before wider deployment.
Shape Digital, which is headquartered in Houston and has significant operations in Brazil, is moving into Europe and considers establishing an office in the Middle East its next strategic step, according to Machado.
Addressing growing global energy demand and the power requirements of AI technologies, Machado highlighted two energy-efficiency solutions in Shape Digital's portfolio.
The first optimises production facilities to reduce fuel consumption while maximising plant capacity, helping lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and operating costs.
The second, a flare management solution launched two months ago, continuously monitors flaring emissions and has achieved reductions of around 12%, according to Machado.
Shape Digital develops industrial AI platforms for asset-intensive industries, supporting improvements in equipment reliability, energy efficiency, flaring emissions management and process safety.