Aberdeen tech firm secures sole UK spot in $100m Abu Dhabi AI accelerator

An Aberdeen artificial intelligence company, Rahd·AI, has secured the only UK place in Cohort II of the Presight AI Accelerator in Abu Dhabi, one of the world’s most selective commercial tech programmes. Chosen on 6 July from a field of 376 applicants across 62 countries, Rahd·AI is one of 12 global scale-ups admitted to the programme run by Presight, an Abu Dhabi-listed big data analytics company majority-owned by UAE technology conglomerate G42.

“Being selected as the only UK company from such a competitive global field demonstrates that we are solving a problem with worldwide relevance,” said Jake Stride, chief executive of Rahd·AI.

The cohort collectively represents significant commercial heft: the 12 firms hold a combined market valuation exceeding $2.1 billion, have raised more than $341 million in funding, and generate over $28 million in contracted annual recurring revenue. The Presight AI Accelerator is aimed specifically at mature, venture-backed companies rather than early-stage startups and offers participants access to Microsoft-backed enterprise computing infrastructure, introductions to Middle Eastern government ministries, and the opportunity to pitch to the Presight‑Shorooq Fund I, a $100 million global AI investment fund.

Rahd·AI specialises in converting decades of unstructured paper well logs and engineering records into structured 4D offshore decommissioning intelligence. By restructuring fragmented legacy data, the company’s platform is designed to help North Sea operators de-risk engineering designs, shorten offshore campaigns and reduce costs. The technology can reportedly deliver up to 35% savings on decommissioning bills, and the company — backed by climate tech venture studio Ventex — has already demonstrated around 10% cost savings during live pilot deployments in the UK and Australia.

The global market for retiring aging offshore oil and gas infrastructure is projected to exceed $200 billion by 2040. The UK Government has set a target aiming to reduce the country’s domestic decommissioning bill by 35% by 2035, underlining the commercial opportunity for technologies that can compress timelines and lower expenditure on complex offshore campaigns.

Rahd·AI’s management team includes Stride as chief executive and Innes Grant as chief operating officer. The firm’s selection into the Presight cohort represents a strategic opening into the Middle Eastern market and broader international scale-up support, with explicit links to enterprise-grade cloud compute and a sizeable AI investment fund.

What the programme offers and next steps

• Access to Microsoft-backed enterprise computing infrastructure to support scalable AI workloads.
• Introductions to government ministries in the Middle East that could accelerate commercial deployments.
• An opportunity to pitch to the Presight‑Shorooq Fund I, a $100 million global AI investment vehicle.

For Rahd·AI the accelerator presents a route to scale its Aberdeen‑born technology internationally, build commercial partnerships in the Gulf, and pursue follow‑on investment. The combination of demonstrated pilot savings, backing from Ventex and a place among a tightly curated cohort now positions the company to chase larger contracts in the growing decommissioning market as operators seek to cut costs and compress schedules.