Abu Dhabi's AIQ targets US and Canada for energy AI exports

Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence company AIQ is targeting the United States and Canada as key export markets for its energy-focused AI technology, chief executive Dennis Jol said, while also flagging opportunities in the North Sea. AIQ has more than 14 AI products in its portfolio, has put 14 of more than 200 use cases on global pilots, and in 2025 signed a $340 million, three-year contract with Adnoc to deploy EnergyAI — described as the first agentic AI for the energy sector — across Adnoc's upstream operations.

"We'd like to take that technology to the United States, to Canada, to wherever else they can use our technology," Mr Jol said in a virtual interview, signalling the company's push to scale beyond existing deployments and partnerships in markets including Colombia, Indonesia and Kazakhstan.

Context and recent developments

AIQ is a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and AI firm Presight and is chaired by Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Adnoc's managing director and group chief executive and UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology. The firm was part of a larger Gulf delegation that was unable to attend CERAWeek by S&P Global in Houston because of the Iran war; the industry event drew more than 11,000 delegates last month.

Key facts and partnerships outlined by AIQ and Mr Jol include:

• The $340 million contract with Adnoc to roll out EnergyAI and other solutions across upstream operations over three years.
• Ongoing partnerships in Colombia, Indonesia and Kazakhstan, with more than 14 AI products designed to boost energy operations.
• Fourteen of over 200 identified use cases are currently on global pilots targeting real-world energy sector problems.
• An upcoming scale-up announcement in a new market, with Mr Jol saying: "We're in the negotiation process of the final … terms and conditions."
• Links to the UAE's wider AI infrastructure plans, including the 5-gigawatt Stargate UAE data centre — with partners such as G42, Oracle, OpenAI, Nvidia, Cisco and SoftBank — expected to come online in 2026 across 19.2 square kilometres.
• Last November the US authorised the export of advanced Nvidia chips to G42, a development industry figures in the UAE welcomed as a boost to local AI ambitions.

Outlook

Mr Jol framed AIQ's strategy as part of a broader effort to turn sovereign compute and data into commercially exportable solutions. "The fact that we're sitting here in an ecosystem within a sovereign cloud, working with sovereign data, puts us in a unique spot to build models," he said, adding that the UAE has "the three ingredients necessary to be competitive: compute, data and talent."

He also argued that energy-sector economics support wider adoption of AI. "When you look at what's happening with electricity pricing and data centres, I think that you'll see that the need for AI to make our energy systems far more optimum is … our biggest opportunity," Mr Jol said. AIQ's near-term plans include finalising negotiations for a market scale-up and leveraging existing pilots to win contracts in North American and European energy hubs.