Octave Intelligence plc has launched Octave CoLabs, a customer-led innovation program that embeds its product and technical leaders directly inside industrial customers' operations. Bechtel and Fluor are the first participants in the initiative, which targets the decades of siloed operational data sitting inside heavy industry and aims to turn it into production-ready AI applications with measurable economic benefit.
Each engagement runs 11 weeks and pairs Octave staff with customer teams to build AI workflows grounded in real data and actual site conditions. The goal is not a proof-of-concept but a functioning solution with defined, validated benefits. Teams use a structured framework that allows multiple iterations, pushing ideas toward tangible value quickly.
"Industrial organizations need help cutting through the AI hype to find solutions that drive real business value," said Jay Allardyce, Chief Product Officer at Octave. "CoLabs puts Octave's domain experience directly into the trenches alongside our customers. Together, we build context-aware AI applications that deliver production-ready applications with a clear path to scale."
How CoLabs works
Industrial sites hold vast stores of design and engineering data, maintenance logs, alarm histories, and operational event records - often locked in separate systems. CoLabs develops frameworks with customers to use that data for agentic AI applications that reason across complex systems. The program moves from an initial idea to a working solution, with teams composed of both Octave and customer employees working in new, iterative ways.
The initiative reflects a broader push toward AI for Operations in sectors where the cost of error runs high. Allardyce emphasized that the focus is on "context-aware" applications, not generic tools, and that each engagement must prove economic benefit before scaling.
Leadership and initial partners
Octave appointed Dan Brennan as Vice President of Customer Innovation to lead the program. Brennan previously served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of BakerHughesC3.ai, where he architected one of the largest AI partnerships in the energy sector. His background combines deep industrial domain knowledge with the mechanics of scaling AI across complex organizations.
"The companies that define the next generation of heavy industry will use AI to help decide what should happen and why, before the cost of being wrong becomes irreversible," said Brennan. "We are excited to partner closely with our customers to deploy digital labor that reasons across complex industrial systems."
Why this matters for operations professionals
CoLabs offers a model for how operations leaders can move from AI experimentation to deployment without sacrificing the context that makes industrial AI useful. The 11-week, data-grounded approach shows that meaningful applications can be built without waiting for perfect data infrastructure. Operations managers looking to build similar capabilities can explore an AI Learning Path for Operations Managers to strengthen their own ability to scope and lead such initiatives.
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