IEEE Spectrum

This is a sponsored article brought to you by ADIPEC.Returning to Abu Dhabi between 3 and 6 November, ADIPEC 2025 - the world's largest energy event - aims to show how AI is turning ideas into real-world impact across the energy value chain and redrawing the global opportunity map. At the same time, it addresses how the world can deliver more energy - by adding secure supply, mobilizing investment, deploying intelligent solutions, and building resilient systems.AI as energy's double-edged swordAcross heavy industry and utilities, AI is cutting operating costs, lifting productivity, and improving energy efficiency, while turning data into real-time decisions that prevent failures and optimize output. Clean-energy and enabling-technology investment is set to reach US$2.2 trillion this year out of US$3.3 trillion going into the energy system, highlighting a decisive swing toward grids, renewables, storage, low-emissions fuels, efficiency and electrification.At the same time, AI's own growth is reshaping infrastructure planning, with electricity use from data centers expected to more than double by 2030. The dual challenge is to keep energy reliable and affordable, while meeting AI's surging compute appetite.A global energy convergenceTaking place in Abu Dhabi from 3-6 November 2025, ADIPEC will host 205,000+ visitors and 2,250+ exhibiting companies from the full spectrum of the global energy ecosystem, to showcase the latest breakthroughs shaping the future of energy. Under the theme Energy. Intelligence. Impact.", the event is held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and hosted by ADNOC.With a conference program featuring 1,800+ speakers across 380 sessions and its most expansive exhibition ever, ADIPEC 2025 examines how scaling intelligent solutions like AI and building resilience can transform the energy sector to achieve inclusive global progress.Engineering the futureTwo flagship programs anchor the engineering agenda at ADIPEC's Technical Conferences: the SPE-organized Technical Conference and the Downstream Technical Conference.Technical Conference attendees can expect upwards of 1,100 technical experts across more than 200 sessions focused on field-proven solutions, operational excellence, and AI-powered optimization. From cutting-edge innovations reshaping the hydrogen and nuclear sectors to AI-driven digital technologies embedded across operations, the Conference showcases practical applications and operational successes across the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors.Clean-energy and enabling-technology investment is set to reach US$2.2 trillion this year out of US$3.3 trillion going into the energy system.Technical pioneers demonstrate solutions that transform operations, enhance grid reliability, and enable seamless coordination between energy and digital infrastructure through smart integration technologies. In 2025, submissions hit a record 7,086, with about 20% centered on AI and digital technologies, and contributions arriving from 93 countries.Running in parallel to the engineering deep-dive, the ADIPEC Strategic Conference convenes ministers, CEOs, investors, and policymakers across 10 strategic programs to tackle geopolitics, investment, AI, and energy security with practical, long-term strategies. Over four days, a high-level delegation of 16,500+ participants will join a future-focused dialogue that links policy, capital, and technology decisions.Core program areas include Global Strategy, Decarbonization, Finance and Investment, Natural Gas and LNG, Digitalization and AI, Emerging Economies, and Hydrogen, with additional themes spanning policy and regulation, downstream and chemicals, diversity and leadership, and maritime and logistics. The result is a system-level view that complements the Technical Conference by translating boardroom priorities into roadmaps that operators can execute.Why AI matters now