Companies in the energy sector have increased their spending on artificial intelligence and are starting to see that pay off, although nearly half have concerns about whether existing power infrastructure can handle the extra electricity demand the technology will bring, a survey led by Adnoc has shown.
About 89 per cent of energy leaders increased AI spending in the past year and 63 per cent expect returns on existing investments to cover or exceed their costs, the Powering Possible report – the third annual study by Adnoc, its international investment arm XRG and Microsoft – said on Thursday.
The study surveyed almost 400 senior executives in the energy and finance sectors.
About 52 per cent of those surveyed are confident that existing infrastructure can meet AI-driven electricity demand – the same percentage recorded in 2025. The report found that 74 per cent expect the technology to increase energy consumption by 2030.
AI is also climbing up the corporate agenda, with 62 per cent of respondents ranking it among their top two priorities, up from 42 per cent in 2025. That is a marked shift in how organisations view AI's role.
"Investment is turning into real business value and resilience, reliability and adaptability now matter as much as efficiency. Intelligence is fast becoming part of how energy is produced, delivered and used," Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and managing director and group chief executive of Adnoc, wrote in the report.
The share of organisations using integrated agentic AI workflows – systems that can make decisions with limited human supervision – more than doubled to 33 per cent from 15 per cent, while 60 per cent of energy industry respondents are piloting or using robotics in physical operations, the study said. Only 1 per cent said they did not use AI at all.
"Agentic AI is helping organisations co-ordinate and adapt in real time," Dr Al Jaber said. "Physical intelligence, which brings AI and robotics together, is turning insight into action by maintaining critical infrastructure and keeping operations running around the clock."
Resilience and modernisation
Resilience has become a major driver of AI investment in the energy sector, as priorities extend beyond productivity and cost efficiency, the study added.
Supply stability and reliability is now the most cited measure of AI's contribution, chosen by 39 per cent of respondents, up from 26 per cent in 2025. Data and prediction accuracy fell to 19 per cent from 24 per cent, while cost savings dropped to 13 per cent from 19 per cent.
Grid modernisation is also a key focus, as AI's growth creates a "significant" infrastructure requirement. Two thirds of respondents referred to grid modernisation and smart-grid technologies as the leading investment priority for supporting AI growth, followed by energy storage at 42 per cent.
Confidence in infrastructure varies sharply by market – 74 per cent of leaders in Brazil and 70 per cent in India believe existing systems can meet AI-driven demand, compared with 40 per cent in the US and 38 per cent in the UK.
"As AI increases demand for power and economies continue to electrify, energy systems will be asked to do more than ever before," Masdar chief executive Mohamed Al Ramahi wrote in the report. "Meeting that challenge is not simply a question of adding capacity. It is about building a system that can adapt, integrate new technologies and respond to changing conditions with confidence."
Industry leaders are also "converging" on a clear set of priorities for AI governance, aimed at creating the conditions for the technology to operate safely, reliably and at scale, the report said.
Security and system reliability topped the list, followed by transparency and accountability of AI decisions, common technical standards and interoperability, and protecting national energy sovereignty.
"Trust will be fundamental ... as AI becomes more deeply integrated into organisations and increasingly capable of taking action, people need confidence in how these systems are governed," Microsoft vice chairman and president Brad Smith wrote in the study. "Innovation and responsibility need to advance together, with people remaining at the centre of how AI is developed and used."
