Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes, tech giant Microsoft and Silicon Valley artificial intelligence company C3:ai last week said they have agreed to partner to bring enterprise artificial intelligence solutions to the energy industry on Microsoft Azure, a leading cloud computing platform. Baker Hughes’ announcement said the alliance “will enable customers to streamline the adoption of scalable AI solutions for the energy industry that help promote safety, reliability and sustainability. It leverages the significant energy technology expertise of Baker Hughes, C3:ai’s proven AI platform and applications, and the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform.” Baker Hughes said the solutions will address inventory optimization, energy management, predictive maintenance, and process and equipment reliability.
Baker Hughes CEO Lorenzo Simonelli told Houston Chronicle that the AI partnership will allow each company to focus on its area of expertise. Tom Siebel, CEO of C3:ai, added, “Companies that adopt this technology will be the next Amazon, and those that don’t adopt will be the next Sears.”