Over the past year, the energy industry has made real progress in connecting operational data across plants and enterprises. Yet the value has been slower to follow. Recent industry research shows that energy firms plan to keep spending on AI despite uneven returns, with poor access to data as a common reason projects fall short. It also finds that most energy and industrial companies still use AI without changing how they work.
Breaking down the remaining data silos is the next step. Once a connected foundation is in place, the question becomes what it can deliver. This year has also been a reminder that plants perform best when they are prepared in advance, with good instrumentation, connected systems, and people and equipment close at hand. In the UAE, that thinking is shaping three priorities for our customers: operational excellence, autonomous operations and project execution.
Built in the region, close to customers
Emerson manufactures and services automation technologies across the Gulf. In the UAE, our Jebel Ali hub has produced control valves and measurement instrumentation since 2008, and nearly 80% of what it makes is exported within the region. In Saudi Arabia, our manufacturing, engineering and innovation hub at King Salman Energy Park (SPARK) complements our facilities in Jubail and our partner facility in Yanbu. Recently, at the Qatar Economic Forum in New York, we announced plans to build a new certified flow calibration facility in Doha, planned to open in December.
Each site supports its host country’s localisation goals, from the UAE’s Make it in the Emirates initiative to Saudi Arabia’s IKTVA and Nusaned programmes and Qatar’s Tawteen. This year has shown what that proximity means for customers: faster response when they need equipment, engineering, or service at short notice; dependable supply; and less exposure to swings in freight and energy costs.
Operational excellence starts with visibility
Intelligent field devices, edge and cloud computing and connected control systems give operators a continuous view of asset health. Maintenance can then be planned around the condition of equipment instead of fixed schedules. Customers are also asking for remote operations and stronger cybersecurity, so that expertise and control remain available wherever they are needed.
Technologies such as Emerson’s DeltaV automation system and AspenTech software bring this information together, allowing improvements in reliability, safety and energy efficiency to be tracked across an entire facility. Many customers now link sustainability goals directly to these productivity targets, since better process control also reduces energy use and waste.
Industrial AI has moved from pilot programmes to deployment plans. Customers want to know how quickly they can put it to work and where it will deliver the greatest return. Across the region, autonomous operations initiatives now cover well automation, production optimisation, equipment health and operator decision support.
Autonomy comes from integration. When measurement, final control, process control, software and AI operate as one system, a plant can adjust to changing conditions and flag risks early, while operators remain responsible for critical decisions. AspenTech’s Virtual Advisor (AVA), an AI-driven advisor embedded in Emerson technologies, brings domain-aware recommendations directly into existing workflows. As routine work becomes automated, people spend more time on analysis and judgement, and fewer need to work in hazardous areas.
Talent completes the picture. Through university partnerships and graduate programmes across the GCC, Emerson is developing local engineers who combine process knowledge with digital expertise and can sustain the region’s industrial capability for decades. Through competency development programmes created with customers, engineers and technicians can undertake 18 weeks of hands-on modules covering automation and safety, supported by career path planning.
Over the past decade, Emerson has also helped customers establish their own technical academies. Over time, this combination strengthens local expertise, reduces reliance on imported capability and enables the GCC to supply the wider region with products and knowledge developed closer to home.
The UAE continues to invest in new gas processing, LNG and downstream capacity alongside its existing asset base. Bringing automation and digital tools in at the start of a project helps protect the schedule. Simulation and process digital twins let teams test design decisions before equipment reaches site, and virtual testing reduces surprises during commissioning.
Local engineering and manufacturing then shorten the path from design to delivery, which matters most on large projects with tight timelines. The same connected approach carries through from engineering into operations, so a new facility starts up with the data foundation it needs for optimisation and, over time, autonomy.
At ADIPEC 2026, we look forward to showing how these capabilities work together and discussing with customers and partners how operational excellence, autonomy, and disciplined execution can support the region’s next stage of growth.
Energy Connects includes information by a variety of sources, such as contributing experts, external journalists and comments from attendees of our events, which may contain personal opinion of others. All opinions expressed are solely the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Energy Connects, dmg events, its parent company DMGT or any affiliates of the same.
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