ChemE Day 1: The evolving role of AI in process industries
At Gulf Energy Information’s ChemE Show 2026 powered by ACHEMA, Snehal Patel, CEO, Lummus Digital; Todd Jaco, Director of Digital Solutions, Yokogawa; and Steve Williams, Vice President of Product Management, Emerson’s Aspen Technology business, participated in a panel discussion, titled "Digital Twins, AI & Automation: Transforming Process Industries.”
The panel discussed how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming petrochemical operations; however, according to the panel, it will not replace traditional engineering, process control systems or first-principles modeling. Instead, AI has and will continue to improve decision-making speed, accelerate optimization and break down silos.
According to the panelists, the Middle East is the furthest along regarding the adoption of industrial AI. Conversely, North American companies tend to be more cautious, partly due to previous digital experiments that failed to deliver the expected results.
The overall message from the panel was acknowledgment that AI can help improve optimization and assist in training the next generation but requires a level of trust. Ultimately, organizations’ willingness to teach and work with AI models will determine how beneficial it will to the industry.
Story by: Tyler Campbell, Editor, Hydrocarbon Processing
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