BHGE and C3.ai JV to deliver AI solutions to oil and gas industry

GE company Baker Hughes (BHGE) and C3.ai have signed a joint venture (JV) agreement to deliver digital transformation technologies that will drive increased productivity for the oil and gas industry.

The deal will integrate BHGE’s oil and gas portfolio of services with C3.ai’s artificial intelligence (AI) software suite, which will help to improve productivity and efficiency, as well as predict problems before they even occur.

BHGE chairman and CEO Lorenzo Simonelli said: “Integrating our strong digital capabilities and oil and gas industry expertise with C3.ai’s unique AI solutions, we will accelerate the overall digital transformation of this industry.”

C3.ai CEO Thomas M. Siebel said: “The oil and gas sector is undergoing a digital transformation to improve efficiencies and increase safety, while simultaneously reducing environmental impact.

“These changes will be driven through advanced AI use cases deployed across the entire oil and gas value chain. Combining BHGE’s strengths with the unique industrial AI capability of C3.ai, we will deliver transformative change to one of the world’s most important industry sectors.”

BHGE and C3.ai will market and deploy the latter’s AI technology into oil and gas businesses. The partnership will leverage BHGE’s existing digital portfolio to collaborate on new integrated AI applications that are specific to the oil and gas industry.

This partnership will offer combined teams of oil field and AI expertise deployed directly into customer environments to provide AI solutions that cater to particular business needs.

Shell Group CIO Jay Crotts said: “Shell utilises the C3.ai platform to accelerate digital transformation across our business, focusing on using AI and machine learning to improve overall operations starting with predictive maintenance.

“Shell also has a long-standing relationship with BHGE in oilfield services and software development. There is real potential in exploring the fusion of existing oilfield technology and emerging digital technology, in this case combining C3.ai’s capabilities with BHGE’s domain expertise.”

Under the joint venture agreement, Baker Hughes owns a minority equity stake in C3.ai and consequently has a seat on C3.ai’s board of directors.

BHGE will also expedite its own deployment of AI using the C3 AI Suite across its business. This will allow the company to improve core operations and better serve customers with AI-enabled products and services.