Pittsburgh-based Gecko Robotics, which recently reached unicorn status after its Series D funding in July this year valued the company at US$1.25 billion, has expanded its partnership with ADNOC with three new agreements to explore deploying robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) across the Abu Dhabi company’s operations and boosting future skills training for UAE nationals.
The agreements cover a multi-year technology deployment for ADNOC Gas, joint training programs with the ADNOC Technical Academy (ATA), and the rollout of robotics and AI-powered analytics across ADNOC’s assets to enhance efficiency, reduce downtime and support data-driven maintenance.
AIQ, ADNOC’s joint venture with Presight, signed the first of these agreements – a multi-year partnership to deploy the Cantilever operating system across ADNOC Gas’ assets, marking AIQ’s entry into robotics.
Gecko Robotics also presented ADNOC Gas CEO Fatema Al Nuaimi with the first UAE-manufactured robot at the ENACT event held in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Cantilever is Gecko’s cutting-edge robots and AI-powered software platform which digitises the entire asset-integrity workflow, from inspection to decision, by integrating robotic inspection data with operational systems, process data, and analytics. The result is a single intelligence environment where engineers can visualize asset health, query performance through natural-language AI, and act on predictive insights in real time.
The Inspection AI platform will generate over US$300 million in maintenance and inspection cost savings over the next five years.
Under a separate agreement, ADNOC and Gecko Robotics will explore the wider deployment of advanced robotics and AI-powered analytics, potential manufacturing of robotic systems in the UAE and the deployment of AI solutions for ADNOC’s operational requirements.
The third agreement is with ATA for collaboration on training programs.
Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, ADNOC’s Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer, commented: “ADNOC is harnessing the power of AI and advanced technology to transform the way we work, driving greater efficiency, safety and performance across our operations.
“These three agreements mark another stop on our journey to becoming the world’s most AI-enabled energy company as we accelerate robotics deployment, empower local talent and strengthen the UAE’s position as a global hub for energy innovation.”
Jake Loosararian, CEO of Gecko Robotics, praised Dr Al Jaber’s vision and added: “There is a race to lead the AI and energy moment. And the energy companies that win won’t just utilise technology, they will become technology companies.
“There is only one way to win this race and that’s to acquire physical data using robotics and unlocking human and machine performance from the AI that data fuels. Few understand this secret, but one leader seems to see it before the rest, and his name is Dr Sultan Al Jaber.”
ADNOC Gas was the first UAE client of Gecko Robotics in 2023. Gecko is also exploring manufacturing robotics in the UAE based on strong indications for future demand from ADNOC Gas and across the ADNOC Group for the usage of its robotics and AI systems.
Fatema Al Nuaimi, CEO of ADNOC Gas, said: “Efficiency improvements, cost reduction, and safety enhancements are what we strive for in our day-to-day operations. Finding technology that delivers all three is the main aim in our AI and technology transformation journey.
“Integrating robotics and AI into our operations marks a major milestone in that journey. This partnership demonstrates how we can leverage cutting-edge technologies to strengthen asset reliability, enhance safety, and set new benchmarks for operational excellence across our network.”
Under the three-year agreement, Gecko will lead the AI integration and predictive analytics layer with its Cantilever platform, while AIQ will take the outputs of the program and deploy them to the broader ADNOC ecosystem. The first year will focus on joint deployment and data modelling, followed by scaled platform access and continuous AI optimisation over the next two years.
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