Microsoft at CERAWeek 2024: Enable energy transformation with data and AI

Amid rapid changes across the energy landscape, one question remains constant: how do we achieve a balance between growing energy demand and evolving supply issues on our journey toward sustainability? With challenges that include market volatility, geopolitical tensions, and evolving customer needs, the energy industry looks to technology for answers.

From startups to global enterprises, Microsoft is helping organizations of all sizes unlock the power of data and AI to accelerate the energy transition and create a data driven digital foundation for a sustainable future. Microsoft, our partners, and customers, are deploying innovative solutions that enable energy transformation in ways that weren’t possible before—to empower employees, increase operational efficiency, achieve net-zero commitments, and grow sustainable businesses.

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CERAWeek always brings new ideas and people together, and we are thrilled once again to participate in this important exchange of ideas, insights, and innovation. We need a diversity of voices to tackle the multidimensional energy transition, and we’re committed to working with customers and partners to accelerate digital transformation and our journey to a sustainable future.

At CERAWeek 2024 from March 18 to 22, 2024 in Houston, Texas, Microsoft will address the complexities of the multidimensional energy transition—markets, climate, technology, and geopolitics. We hope to see you at this annual gathering of energy executives, policymakers, and thought leaders from around the world. This year, attendees will explore strategies for a multidimensional, multispeed, and multifuel energy transition. Look for us throughout the week on the main stage, in leadership circles, Innovation Agora sessions, and at the Microsoft Agora House, where we’ll showcase new technologies, solutions, and perspectives together with our customers and partners.

Accelerate the energy transition with AI

Themes at CERAWeek 2024 include energy markets, climate and sustainability, new supply chains for net-zero, technology and innovation, and power markets in transition. Microsoft’s leaders from energy, sustainability, cloud and AI, and security will be addressing these topics and speaking about the impact of AI and other technologies at the following sessions:

Scott Guthrie, Executive Vice President, Cloud + AI: “The Multidimensional Energy Transition: A world of choices.”
Matt Kerner, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Cloud for Industry: “AI: How will it impact the energy business?“
Kelly Bissell, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Security: “AI Enhancing Cybersecurity across the Energy Sector.”
Bobby Hollis, Vice President Energy: “Future Forward: Harnessing the power of Gen-AI in climate solutions.”
Christoph Schittko, Principal Software Engineer and Kadri Umay, Principal Program Manager, Microsoft: “Empowering the Energy Industry to Achieve Net-Zero Carbon Emissions with Data and A.”
Conor Kelly, Principal Program Manager and Dag Boye, Industry Advisor, Microsoft: “Accelerating Business Transformation and the Energy Transition with Real-World AI.”
Hanna Grene, Global Leader Go-to-Market and Operations, Energy and Resources Industry: “Effectively Decarbonizing the Electricity Grid.”
Hany Soliman, Americas Business Leader Energy and Resources Industry: “Hydrogen and Power: Keeping the lights on in a zero carbon system.”
Hema Prapoo, Worldwide Oil and Gas Leader: “Unveiling the latest breakthroughs in climate change mitigation.”
Sverre Brandsberg-Dahl, Partner Chief Technology Officer, Energy Industry: “Accelerating CO2 transportation and storage solutions.”

I am pleased to participate alongside my Microsoft colleagues as a speaker on the topic, “Will AI accelerate the energy transition” and in an interactive “Next Gen” session featuring rapid-fire insights by leading minds on energy innovation along with CERAWeek 2024 future energy leaders.

Showcasing innovation with customers and partners

At the Microsoft Agora House, we’ll join our customers and partners in showcasing some of the latest innovations driving safety, productivity, efficiency, and sustainability. Visitors to our Agora House can learn about:

Microsoft Copilot for Dynamic 365 Guides: Transform frontline operations with AI and mixed reality
AI, automation, and mixed reality solutions are poised to reshape industries everywhere. While industrial organizations worldwide overhaul their operations, frontline workers are still awaiting their digital renaissance. Within the energy industry, high turnover and the need to accelerate skilling prompted Chevron to better equip its workers for the future. Copilot in Dynamics 365 Guides offers Chevron the opportunity to optimize its operations, empower workers, and infuse informed decisions throughout its value chain. Together, AI and mixed reality enable Chevron to define energy in human terms.
Microsoft Copilot for Security: Protect critical infrastructure at the speed and scale of AI
Discover how Copilot for Security helps a broader set of security and IT professionals protect both their IT systems and industrial assets at the speed and scale of AI. Witness the power of Copilot synthesizing data from new sources, adding context and enrichment, and delivering new levels of effectiveness and efficiency, all in natural language, powered by generative AI.
Microsoft Azure Data Manager for Energy: Accelerate your journey to energy data modernization
Azure Data Manager for Energy helps energy companies gain actionable insights, improve operational efficiency, and accelerate time to market on the enterprise-grade, cloud-based OSDU® Data Platform service. The Microsoft partner ecosystem plays a crucial role in Azure Data Manager for Energy. For example, SLB’s Enterprise Data Solution seamlessly integrates with Azure Data Manager for Energy and simplifies data handling and discovery for domain-specific applications. Customers like Equinor are targeting data efficiency and a low-carbon future with Azure Data Manager for Energy and Aker BP is leveraging the platform to transform its data and operations.
Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability: Unlock the power of AI to meet your sustainability goals
Discover how AI in Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability helps unlock data insights to accelerate sustainability progress, business growth, and climate innovation. Now in preview, Sustainability data solutions in Microsoft Fabric allows organizations to accelerate their time to insights and sustainability progress by providing out-of-the-box environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data model, connectors, and reporting. By connecting your ESG data with Fabric you can turn volumes of sustainability data into meaningful insights and progress.

Partnerships for energy industry transformation

Complex climate challenges require deep collaboration and innovation across industries and geographies. Microsoft values its partnerships and the industry-specific solutions partners provide, and we’re honored to highlight many of these change-makers at CERAWeek 2024. Microsoft partners in our Agora House are at the forefront of accelerating data modernization and leveraging generative AI so companies can achieve their safety, efficiency, productivity, and decarbonization goals. Featured partners and their solutions include:

Accenture is reinventing business and workforce productivity with generative AI.
Cognite is partnering with Microsoft to unlock real-time industrial insights with AI and to bring enterprise data operations to the generative AI era.
Schneider Electric is advancing decarbonization by integrating more distributed energy resources into the power grid. Microsoft and Schneider Electric are collaborating to leverage copilots and generative AI to transform outage management and control center operations.¹
SLB is accelerating the energy transition with speed and scale through data, AI, innovation, and partnerships with digital solutions enabling carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS).

Other partners we are highlighting and presenting at the Microsoft Agora House include:

Amperon	EY
AspenTech	Honeywell
AVEVA	S&P Global
Baker Hughes	NobleAI
Context Labs

Customers leading the way with AI and Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365

Microsoft customers are at the forefront of digital transformation with AI. For example, Petronas, Cegal, and Microsoft have teamed up to drive innovation with an innovative platform based on Microsoft Azure high-performance computing (HPC) and AI technologies.² This initiative, which involves moving HPC workloads to the cloud, is anticipated to benefit energy operations for Petronas.

More energy companies have announced commitments to implementing copilot to empower their workforce and advance their digital transformation journeys. Pacific Gas & Electric is leveraging Microsoft Power Platform, including AI and copilot features to address up to 40% of help desk demands to save more than $1 million annually. Global energy firm TotalEnergies is using Copilot for Microsoft 365 and Power Platform to improve operational efficiency, and this year all 100,000 employees will be trained to use these AI tools.³ Bp will also roll out Copilot for Microsoft 365 to its global workforce and empower them to improve workflows and enhance productivity.⁴

Startups speeding the energy transition

The climate crisis impacts everyone, and diversity in the startup ecosystem helps to ensure that solutions also apply to everyone. People of color are disproportionately affected by climate change, yet Black and Latino founders receive less than 1.5% of total United States venture capital funding, women-founded organizations received 1.9% of those funds, and Black and Latino women founders less than 0.1%.⁵

Transformation starts with people, not technology, and Microsoft is proud to support underrepresented climate tech startups. At CERAWeek 2024, we are honored to feature nine startup pitch sessions with underrepresented founders and chief executive officers who are driving the future of clean energy and climate tech innovation at our Experience Zone. The Microsoft Agora House presents a unique opportunity to meet these startup leaders and learn about their innovations. The lineup includes:

Arolytics	Heliogen
BlocPower	New Sun Road
Earthbond	Solstice
frakktal	Twelve
GreenIRR

Other startup presenting in our Experience Zone include FlexDAO, Line Vision, and Utilidata from the Microsoft Energy Transition Studio for Startups, a new program designed to empower energy transition startups worldwide. By providing technical expertise, commercial support, and access to capital, the Microsoft Energy Transition Studio for Startups aims to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy, carbon capture, carbon management, and geothermal, to help the world get closer to and achieve net-zero. If your organization is developing energy transition or climate tech solutions, or to nominate a company, apply to the first cohort of Microsoft Energy Transition Studio for Startups.

See you in Houston

We hope you’ll join us in person at the conference and in the Microsoft Agora House, where we can connect and share more on transformational technologies like generative AI and their impact on the energy ecosystem. See you in Houston, Texas from March 18 to 22, 2024.