AIQ broadens overseas reach with India energy deal

UAE-based technology company AIQ has signed an agreement to enter India’s oil and gas sector, extending its international expansion with a deployment covering an unnamed conglomerate’s refineries, fuel stations and digital stores.

Chief Executive Officer Dennis Jol disclosed the agreement at a media briefing on Wednesday but declined to identify the customer or give financial terms. The contract marks AIQ’s entry into one of Asia’s largest energy markets as the Abu Dhabi-based company seeks to build business beyond the UAE.

Jol said AIQ began exporting its technology about 12 to 15 months ago and now operates in North America, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Colombia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Kuwait. The India agreement adds another market to that expansion drive and broadens the company’s exposure beyond its principal customer base.

AIQ develops artificial intelligence and machine-learning systems designed for the energy industry, with applications intended to improve operational performance, safety and efficiency. Its website describes the company as focused on digital transformation across the core energy sector, with more than 100 data scientists and developers and at least 14 AI solutions developed.

The company remains heavily dependent on Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, or ADNOC, which accounts for most of its revenue. Customers other than ADNOC currently contribute about 5 per cent of the business, underscoring the commercial importance of AIQ’s push into international markets.

“At the end of the day, you need an entry into this international market, which we are trying to focus on right now,” Chief Technology Officer Saravan Penubarthi said at the briefing.

AIQ is a joint venture between Presight and ADNOC. Presight holds 51 per cent and ADNOC retains 49 per cent following a change in the ownership structure approved in 2024. The transaction valued AIQ at more than $1.4 billion at the time and was designed partly to give the company access to Presight’s international reach and big-data capabilities.

The expansion comes as energy producers and service companies increase their use of artificial intelligence for tasks ranging from remote operations and predictive maintenance to analysing seismic information and improving production decisions. AIQ says its systems are built around the specialised requirements of energy operations rather than broad consumer applications of artificial intelligence.

The company is also considering acquisitions as another route to accelerate growth. Jol said AIQ has substantial cash available and that deploying capital is a priority, though he did not identify possible acquisition targets or disclose a timetable for potential transactions.

AIQ’s commercial partnerships include Microsoft, Nvidia and Amazon Web Services, as well as oilfield services groups SLB and Baker Hughes. Such partnerships give the company access to cloud computing, advanced processors and specialist energy-sector expertise as it seeks to deploy products across different operating environments.

Its international strategy is intended to reduce the concentration of revenue around ADNOC while demonstrating that technology developed for operations in Abu Dhabi can be adapted for customers elsewhere. The company’s growing footprint now spans markets in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas and Central Asia.

AIQ’s ownership structure places it within a wider Abu Dhabi technology and energy ecosystem. Presight, an Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange-listed artificial intelligence and data analytics company, acquired its majority stake in AIQ as part of an agreement involving ADNOC and G42. ADNOC received a stake in Presight as part of that transaction.

The India deployment is expected to cover multiple parts of the unnamed customer’s downstream network rather than a single facility, according to details provided at the briefing. Refineries, retail fuel stations and digital stores were specifically identified as areas where AIQ technology will be used.

No implementation schedule was disclosed, and executives did not specify which AIQ products would be deployed at the customer’s sites. The company also gave no revenue estimate for the agreement.

AIQ lists Dennis Jol as chief executive and Saravan Penubarthi as chief technology officer. Jol took over as CEO in June 2025 and has more than two decades of commercial and operational experience across the energy industry.