Since I joined AspenTech, almost every customer I’ve met with has brought up artificial intelligence (AI). They want to know how they can adopt AI for their uses. Everyone understands AI is at a critical point and should be a key part of your strategy for a variety of reasons. It increases your productivity, it helps with decision making, it helps with deeper insights, it helps with analytics and it helps with usability. Overall, AI progresses your strategies faster by putting machines to work on your behalf. 

Why AI Matters Now

Deloitte’s Exponential Technologies in Manufacturing study reports, “There is a clear and compelling case for manufacturers to leverage exponential technologies and incorporate digital transformation throughout their organization… It is imperative that manufacturers quickly move to adopt and use exponential technologies to tap into this disruptive change; the longer they wait, the further behind they may fall.” 

The Deloitte research on exponential technology includes many areas of focus for AspenTech and our customers, such as AI, machine learning, advanced analytics, simulations and IoT. These tools deliver major advantages over the manual processes and disconnected data of the past. After all, who doesn’t want to work both faster AND smarter? Still, many organizations remain skeptical and slow to embrace digital transformation. While those organizations are waiting to see how this trend plays out, others are accelerating their digital investment and realizing powerful returns. Customers in multiple industries have reported cost savings, increased revenue and a range of other benefits as a result of their AspenTech implementations.      

Our customers are excited about AI: their challenge is how to implement it to the best use. They’re determining the use cases and focusing on implementing the technologies in a way where they can clearly understand how it’s going to help them. They’re outlining key metrics for success and determining how they can develop more widespread use of AI throughout their organizations and tie it into their future strategies. 


Setting the Stage for AI Success

The best ways companies are preparing for the shift to AI – where we’re seeing results – is knowing what problem they are trying to solve with AI. Success comes to those who understand exactly what they’re trying to do, whether it’s prolonging the use of an asset, getting proactive warnings if a problem is going to occur, quickly troubleshooting quality and production issues, or prescribing an answer to a potential bottleneck based on a variety of different scenarios. Organizations planning for effective digital transformation carefully consider which assets, use cases, and problems they see forthcoming, then evaluate which technologies can deliver the greatest value, which offer the highest return and which is the best plan for success. 

AI is in early adoption stages and we need to be successful together. I’ll be facilitating a session at OPTIMIZE 2019 on planning your digital journey. We’ll explore how you can leverage advanced technologies as part of a holistic asset optimization strategy covering the design, operate and maintain lifecycle to run your assets faster, safer, longer and greener. My colleagues and I want to hear from you at the conference on how you’re doing on the implementation of AI. AspenTech’s team looks forward to sharing what we’re doing to make it easier to implement to your benefit. We hope to have a great partnership and a great learning experience together.

Join us in Houston, TX 13-16 May 2019 to explore best practices in digital acceleration: register now for OPTIMIZE 2019.