Abu Dhabi Review: ADNOC Gas and ADNOC Upstream Take Cognite AI Impact Awards

Industrial AI is increasingly judged by its effect on enterprise and shop-floor decisions, not by isolated pilots. That message framed a Cognite awards presentation in Abu Dhabi, where ADNOC Gas and ADNOC Upstream were named regional winners of the AI Impact Awards. The announcement took place before nearly 200 senior leaders drawn from energy, gas, and petrochemical organizations across the region, during the latest stop on Cognite’s 2026 Impact World Tour. The tour had already passed through Houston, Oslo, Mumbai, and Tokyo, and its remaining schedule runs through the end of the year.

What the recognition program is designed to measure

Within the AI Impact Awards Program, the evaluation lens is applied to AI-driven innovation, operational excellence, and use of the Cognite Industrial AI and Data Platform to make asset-heavy operations safer, more sustainable, and profitable. Regional honors are disclosed at World Tour stops so the agenda keeps real-world achievement in Industrial AI in view. This year’s winners in the EMEA region include:

• ADNOC Gas received the Impact Award for Enterprise Scale. The citation points to continued development and scaling of its Industrial Data Intelligence (IDI) platform to strengthen access to contextualized operational data and support deployment of digital and AI-enabled solutions.
• ADNOC Upstream received the Impact Award for Innovation in Production Optimization. The AiPSO project turns multi-source operational signals into a single, contextualized data foundation to optimize production workflows and resource efficiency in real time.

These winners join a group of past Impact Awards honorees that includes Cognite partners Microsoft, Radix, and Rockwell Automation, as well as Cognite customers Aker BP, Cosmo Energy, International Paper, SLB, and others.

Perspectives from industrial AI users

The Abu Dhabi agenda also gave two industrial AI users space to explain their adoption paths. Ghalib Al Afifi, Senior Vice President, Global AI & Digital, of Borouge International, described how the global petrochemicals company is scaling AI across its global footprint through strategic partnerships and workforce capability building.

Separately, Dr. Slahadin Al Ashair, Project Manager, Intelligent Operations Centre, at ADNOC Offshore, detailed how its Digital Factory uses Cognite to power more than 11 AI-enabled digital twins through a Reality-Based Prescriptive Analytics (RB-PdsM) approach he helped pioneer.

Regional footprint and local capability

The Abu Dhabi stop extended a broader regional investment story. Last year, Cognite incorporated a dedicated UAE entity, creating a local hub for expertise, technology, and customer support. That step signals Cognite’s commitment to its growing customer base across the Middle East, while the UAE continues its push to be a global leader in applied AI.

Implementation lessons from the cited cases

For managers and engineers, the practical value of the Abu Dhabi announcements lies in the sequence the cases imply. The Enterprise Scale honor is linked to a data intelligence platform, not simply to model experimentation. The AiPSO project is linked to a single, contextualized data foundation, not to fragmented operational signals. The Digital Factory example is linked to a prescriptive analytics pattern, not to visualization alone. These distinctions are useful when evaluating an industrial AI roadmap: the platform, data context, workflow optimization, and real-time resource efficiency are the parts that appear repeatedly in the winners’ descriptions.

The guest sessions point to two other implementation requirements. Borouge International’s discussion highlights that scaling AI across a global footprint is tied to strategic partnerships and workforce capability. ADNOC Offshore’s discussion shows that digital twins can become more operationally relevant when connected to a Reality-Based Prescriptive Analytics (RB-PdsM) approach. The event therefore frames industrial AI as a combination of data foundation, platform tooling, workforce readiness, and disciplined use cases.

Risks and common misconceptions for industrial readers

Readers should be cautious about treating an awards list as a substitute for operational proof. The most useful takeaway is not that a company won a prize, but that the recognized work is associated with measurable industrial objectives: safer operations, more sustainable operations, and profitable operations in asset-heavy settings. That objective can be undermined if organizations treat an AI project as a stand-alone demonstration, ignore the data foundation, or expect digital twins to deliver value without prescriptive context.

Another caution is scope drift. The AiPSO project is described as optimizing production workflows and resource efficiency in real time; the IDI platform is described as strengthening access to contextualized operational data and supporting deployment of digital and AI-enabled solutions. Those are narrow, operationally grounded claims. When readers translate the cases into their own environments, the safer question is whether their teams can integrate multi-source operational signals, maintain data context, and connect outputs to production decisions.

Action recommendations for operations and technology teams

• Begin from a defined operational outcome: production optimization, resource efficiency, safety, sustainability or profitability in asset-heavy work.
• Require contextualized operational data before scaling digital and AI-enabled solutions.
• Test whether multi-source operational signals can be consolidated into a single data foundation capable of supporting real-time decisions.
• Connect digital twins to prescriptive analytics rather than leaving them as isolated representations.
• Plan workforce capability and partnership structures needed to scale across sites and regions.
• Use regional support capability, such as a local hub for expertise, technology, and customer support, as a practical factor when deploying in the Middle East.

FAQ

Why was Abu Dhabi relevant to this AI story?

Abu Dhabi was the venue where Cognite named ADNOC Gas and ADNOC Upstream as regional AI Impact Awards winners in front of nearly 200 senior leaders from energy, gas, and petrochemical organizations across the region.

What made ADNOC Gas the Enterprise Scale winner?

The Impact Award for Enterprise Scale recognized continued development and scaling of the Industrial Data Intelligence (IDI) platform to strengthen access to contextualized operational data and support deployment of digital and AI-enabled solutions.

What did ADNOC Upstream’s production optimization award cover?

The Impact Award for Innovation in Production Optimization was tied to the AiPSO project, which turns multi-source operational signals into a single, contextualized data foundation to optimize production workflows and resource efficiency in real time.

What role did Cognite play in the event?

Cognite ran the 2026 Impact World Tour stop and presented the AI Impact Awards Program honors for use of the Cognite Industrial AI and Data Platform in asset-heavy operations.

Why does the Middle East angle matter?

Last year, Cognite incorporated a dedicated UAE entity, creating a local hub for expertise, technology, and customer support, which points to its growing customer base across the Middle East as the UAE positions itself as a global leader in applied AI.