AIQ, an Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence company focused on the energy sector, sees opportunities to export its technology to the United States and Canada, the company’s chief executive said.
“We want to take that technology to the U.S., to Canada, wherever our technology can be used,” CEO Dennis Joll said in a virtual interview.
AIQ products are already in use in the UAE. Last year, the company announced a $340 million deal with Adnoc to use EnergyAI, the energy sector’s first agent AI. Agent AI refers to systems that operate autonomously, as opposed to systems that only respond to prompts. Under the three-year agreement, EnergyAI and other solutions will be deployed across Adnoc’s upstream operations.
AIQ is a joint venture between Adnoc and AI company Presight, and is chaired by Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of Adnoc. He is also the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology.
The company currently has partnerships in Colombia, Indonesia, and Kazakhstan, as well as a portfolio of more than 14 AI products to improve the performance of energy businesses.
AIQ was part of a broader delegation from the Gulf region who were unable to attend S&P Global’s CERAWeek in Houston last month due to the Iran war. The annual energy conference was attended by more than 11,000 participants and set the industry’s agenda for the year.
“We’ve been able to take this UAE technology that we’ve built here in the UAE and are really proud of and take it to the world to really make our energy system better,” he said.
Jol said AIQ also hopes to announce expansion in countries “soon.” “We are in the process of negotiating final … contract terms,” he said.
Key pillars of diversification
AI is a key pillar of the UAE’s economic diversification program as it aims to become a global technology hub.
The 5 GW Stargate UAE data center (partners include G42, Oracle, OpenAI, Nvidia, Cisco and SoftBank) is expected to be operational in 2026 and will span 19.2 square kilometers. In November, the US approved the export of advanced NVIDIA chips to the G42 in a major boost to the UAE’s AI ambitions.
“The fact that we are part of the ecosystem here in the Sovereign Cloud and work with sovereign data puts us in a unique position to build models,” Joll said.
He was also optimistic about the UAE’s position in the AI race, saying it has the three ingredients needed for competitiveness: computing, data and talent.
“If you look at what’s happening with power prices and data centers, I think you’ll see that the need for AI to make the energy system more optimal…is the biggest opportunity,” he said.
