Months of oilfield work in 45 minutes? AIQ CEO explains how AI could change drilling

In an exclusive interview, Jol explained how AI could reshape the oil and gas industry, why mistakes made by intelligent systems can have serious consequences and what his company is already doing in Kazakhstan.

AIQ applies artificial intelligence to reservoir analysis and production optimization. How can these technologies specifically improve drilling operations in Kazakhstan, from selecting drilling locations to reducing nonproductive time and the risk of costly failures?

When ChatGPT hallucinates, it’s cute. But in our operations in the industrial sector, hallucination could be catastrophic. So in everything that we do, we always keep humans in the loop.

One of the four main domains that we operate within is subsurface. What AI can do for the subsurface is look at seismic interpretation, field development planning and all the different workflows involved. What used to take months and years to do, we can now do in 45 minutes.

It helps us make decisions about where to drill. Drilling holes in the ground is a very capital-intensive operation.

AI can drive efficiencies, whether that’s predicting stuck pipe or predicting and simulating rig moves. Any way that we can reduce the costs of an already capital-intensive operation would be beneficial.

The next area is production optimization. Once we find where the reserves are, we drill and produce. AI helps us produce within our systems in the most efficient manner.

The last area is the facilities themselves, making sure they are up and running and operating efficiently. That is what we try to achieve with AI at AIQ for our customers.

AIQ has stated that its AR360 solution can deliver a 75% productivity gain in reservoir model reviews. What does that figure mean in practical terms, and has AIQ measured comparable results in Kazakhstan?

AR360 is one of the tools we have that leverages existing technologies. We take human workflows and drive a much faster cycle when it comes to the analytics performed with that tool.

We also created Energy AI, one of the largest first-of-its-kind agentic platforms. We took 1.1 million documents, including structured and unstructured data, and used that information for validation across 42 workflows and existing tools, bringing everything together to make decisions faster.

For our customers, this means they can make field development planning decisions much faster. They can drill wells sooner and more effectively, and get oil out of the ground and to market faster.

Since AIQ announced its agreements with KazMunayGas and QazaqGaz in May 2025, what has changed on the ground in Kazakhstan? Which projects are operational, which remain at the pilot stage, and what results can you share?

We try not to speak about our individual customers, but in Kazakhstan, we’re looking at several different use cases with several operators.

Building on the success of our parent company, Presight, and the relationship between the UAE and Kazakhstan, we’ve been able to leverage infrastructure, support and local manpower that we’ve brought on board in Kazakhstan to start deploying our use cases.

Looking at some of the proofs of concept and use cases we’re working on, we’re aiming to drive productivity and sustainability, and make systems more efficient and safer.

One use case involves computer vision to help with safety compliance. It can make systems safer and allow us to be proactive about safety instead of reactive.

You previously mentioned AI-enabled digital transformation with North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC) in Atyrau. What progress has been made in this cooperation, and are there any new projects or developments you can share?

We’re working with our customer, NCOC. They are very progressive, just like the Kazakh leadership and the Kazakhstan government, and we’re working on several things at the moment that we’ll be announcing soon.

We have a lot to announce in the coming months. Right now, we’re working with a variety of customers in Kazakhstan on different solutions.

We’re very active, together with our partnership with Presight, in developing, deploying and accelerating AI transformation in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan is investing in its own AI capabilities and computing infrastructure. What would it take for the country to move beyond adopting foreign AI solutions and begin developing industrial AI technologies that could be exported to other markets?

Kazakhstan’s leadership is already moving forward, and AIQ operates further downstream of those developments.

We get to leverage a lot of the infrastructure Kazakhstan is building. The country’s vision and infrastructure are enablers and accelerators for companies like ours to develop and deploy applied intelligence in the energy sector and deliver outcomes for customers.

All of that infrastructure, digitalization and the conversations taking place in Kazakhstan are moving ahead very quickly. We get to be part of that as an ecosystem here in the UAE.

For us, these developments will only accelerate what we do.

Looking ahead to the next 12 to 24 months, what specific milestones should Kazakhstan expect from AIQ in terms of deployments, investment, local partnerships or skills development?

We’re working very closely with our partners in Kazakhstan. Over the next 12 to 24 months, you’ll see announcements and continued investment in Kazakhstan.

We believe Kazakhstan is putting in place the right enablers and accelerators for us to be successful in the country. This will, in turn, drive productivity, sustainability, efficiency and safety within the energy sector.

We’re expecting something in the next three to six months, but there’s a lot to do. We’ve got great ambitions, and so do our partners, and we want to make sure that we do this right.