Kuwait Oil Company Launches AI Innovation Center to Advance Vision 2035

AI Innovation Center at Kuwait Oil Company: What Operations Leaders Need to Know

Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has launched its Artificial Intelligence Innovation Center (AIIC) on August 7, 2025, under the auspices of the Minister of Oil Tarek Suleiman Al-Roumi. The Center is supported by the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) and built in collaboration with Microsoft, Halliburton, and Ghaia.ai.

AIIC is supervised by KOC's South and East Kuwait Directorate and operated by Ghaia.ai on the G Agent platform. The mandate is clear: reduce costs, improve quality, and accelerate decision-making across field and corporate operations.

Why this matters for Operations

• Faster decisions: near real-time situational awareness and automated recommendations for daily ops.
• Higher asset productivity: better rig scheduling, resource allocation, and downtime reduction.
• Cost control: fewer unplanned events, optimized crew and equipment utilization, smarter logistics.
• Quality and safety: consistent execution, proactive alerts, and governed workflows.

Inside the stack: Agentic AI and the G Agent platform

The Center deploys agent-based systems-digital agents that can set objectives, make decisions, and run multi-step tasks with minimal intervention. Ghaia.ai operates the AIIC on its G Agent platform, built through collaboration with Microsoft and Halliburton.

These agents coordinate across teams and data sources, creating a collaborative mesh between humans and software. For operations, that means fewer handoffs, tighter feedback loops, and faster execution.

Early win: Rig scheduling at scale

KOC reports tangible results from an Agentic AI project for rig scheduling. Productivity is up, planning quality has improved, and real-time data analysis is feeding proactive actions in the field.

Expect knock-on gains in materials availability, crew planning, and service provider coordination as the model matures.

What changes in day-to-day workflows

• From static plans to living schedules: agents re-plan rigs and resources as conditions change.
• Exception-first operations: alerts bubble up only what needs human attention.
• Unified data to decision: telemetry, work orders, and logistics flow into one decision layer.
• Human-in-the-loop governance: clear approval points and audit trails for compliance.

KPIs to track from day one

• Rig utilization and move time
• Non-productive time (NPT) and waiting on services
• Plan adherence and schedule volatility
• Work order cycle time and first-time-right rate
• Safety leading indicators and intervention rate

Implementation playbook for operations leaders

• Data readiness: standardize identifiers, improve timestamp accuracy, and map data lineage.
• Process clarity: document current rig scheduling, approvals, and constraints-then codify them.
• Start with a narrow pilot: one basin, a subset of rigs, measurable targets, a 90-day window.
• Governance: define who approves, who overrides, and how exceptions escalate.
• Change management: train dispatchers, planners, and field supervisors on new roles and tools.
• Feedback loops: weekly ops reviews with a clear backlog for model and workflow improvements.

Talent, training, and local capability

The Center provides specialized programs to upskill engineers, analysts, and technical experts. Building in-house capability is a strategic focus, reducing dependency and improving cycle time on new use cases.

If you're planning your team's skill roadmap, explore job-specific upskilling paths here: AI courses by job.

Strategic context

AIIC supports New Kuwait 2035 by lifting operational efficiency and enabling smarter energy solutions. It also positions KOC as a regional reference for applied AI in heavy industry.

Learn about the national vision here: New Kuwait 2035.

What to watch next

• Expansion from rig scheduling to drilling optimization, maintenance planning, and supply chain.
• Integration with field devices for tighter sensing-to-action cycles.
• Use cases in emissions monitoring and energy efficiency with AI-driven recommendations.
• Scaling multi-agent orchestration across departments for end-to-end flow.

Bottom line: KOC's AIIC is a practical step that gives operations leaders better schedules, faster decisions, and clearer accountability. Start with one high-friction process, build trust with measurable gains, and scale what works.