Small and medium enterprises that fail to adopt AI risk becoming outdated
- 12 hours ago
- 2 min read
Published on: Saturday, July 04, 2026
By: Crystal E Hermenegildus
Kota Kinabalu: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that fail to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) risk becoming outdated as the oil and gas industry moves towards remote operations and greater automation, says Principal Engineer at Rockfield Technologies Australia, Dr Madhu Krishna Menon.
He said while SMEs may continue to remain competitive in the short term through strong client relationships and a proven track record, industry trends indicate AI will become increasingly essential in supporting future operations.
“Your reputation, how well you have done the job and your relationship with the client will still help you immediately.
“But if operators are moving towards hands-free operations, with fewer people offshore and more remote operations, they will increasingly need decision-support tools.
If you do not grab that opportunity, then you might get outdated,” Madhu said.
He said this during the “Driving Energy Innovation Through Technology” session at the Sabah Oil, Gas and Energy Conference and Exhibition (SOGCE).
Madhu said the transition towards remote operations means operators will rely more on intelligent systems to analyse vast amounts of operational data and assist engineers in making informed decisions.
Rather than simply monitoring alarms, AI-powered decision-support systems can help determine whether changing operating conditions are normal, whether existing standard operating procedures are sufficient or whether intervention is required before equipment performance deteriorates.
He said industrial facilities generate enormous volumes of data from hundreds of thousands of instrument tags.
This will create significant opportunities for SMEs to develop AI solutions that improve operational efficiency and asset reliability.
Madhu also dismissed the perception that AI adoption requires substantial capital investment, saying many companies already possess the operational data needed to begin developing AI applications.
“There is no need for new sensors. The client already has the data,” he said.
Madhu said that instead of investing in expensive computing infrastructure, SMEs can take advantage of cloud computing services that allow them to rent processing power on an hourly basis to analyse large datasets.
“If everybody is looking for a big budget to implement AI, then we’re not moving forward,” He said.
By combining existing operational data with industry expertise and affordable cloud computing provides a practical pathway for SMEs to begin adopting AI without significant upfront investment, he said.
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