Winning in the Age of Industrial AI with Innovation and Sustainability

Summary

ARC Advisory Group hosted its 29^th annual forum in Orlando, Florida, from Feb. 13-15, 2025. The event, called “Winning in the Industrial AI Era,” featured 190 speakers and panelists and 200 companies. 660 people attended, including 50 media and industry association members and 75 international attendees from 15 countries.
 
Tuesday morning’s keynote brought the following executives to the stage to discuss how their companies are leveraging innovative processes and technologies to transform their manufacturing operations: Cerilon CEO Nico Duusema; Robert Kelly, VP Digital Products at BP; Michael Hotaling, Exxonmobil’s Operations and Excellence Digital Manager; and Greg Gorbach, vice president of digital transformation at ARC Advisory Group; and Andy Chatha, CEO of ARC.

Duusema explained that Cerilon’s vision is to be a leading energy transition company, delivering sustainable, long-term value for our shareholders, partners and communities. He identified three spheres of global disruption that are affecting the manufacturing world: innovation and technology, such as simulations and AI; environment and regulatory policy, such as sustainability and reporting challenges; and behavioral, societal and industry, including industry changes and demands.

Trees, Duusema said, grow both above (phototropic) and below (gravitropic). We must grow similarly to survive the changing manufacturing landscape, he said: “This change journey to embrace the future requires us to grow internally first, starting with me and you.”

In ExxonMobil’s presentation, called “Be a Part of the Future: A Journey to a More Visual Way of Working,” Michael Hotaling asked listeners to think about integration and interoperability instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. He suggested that industry-wide transformation will happen by collaborating between suppliers and asset owners, separating hardware from software, separating software from data and deploying agentic AI models within the ecosystem.

Agentic AI describes systems that can act and react autonomously with minimal human intervention. “Generative AI” was one of the key buzzwords last year at the forum, and now it’s a well-known term. This year, the term “agentic AI” came up several times.
 

AI and sustainability

If you want AI, you need sustainability, said Mike Guilfoyle, vice president and practice leader for energy transition, industrial sustainability and supply chain at ARC Advisory Group. Inhis Wednesday morning keynote at the forum, Guilfoyle identified multiple AI use cases impacting sustainability, such as 1) supply chain planning and execution, 2) product development and design, 3) production operations, 4) workforce management, and 5) sales and service. One AI use case in supply chain planning and execution, for example, is demand forecasting, which is when AI analyzes historical and real-time data to predict future demand.
In Q4 of 2024, ARC produced the Accelerate Digital Transformation with Industrial AI Initiatives and Technology Survey. One of the survey questions asked respondents to indicate which initiatives will be significant in driving investments at their companies. “Energy Transition & Sustainability: Decarbonization, ethical sourcing, circular economy, etc.” earned the third spot on the list.

Guilfoyle went on to discuss the characteristics of a sustainability leader. First, a visible culture is necessary, providing executive-level support to enable tangible commitment to specific sustainability goals. Second, engagement and performance matter: those serious about sustainability set targets, monitor emissions, use clean energy sources and see overall business improvement. Third, organizations need public proof, which means their sustainability success is demonstrable, not greenwashing. What’s important is actually doing something, not just talking about sustainability, Guilfoyle emphasized.
 

Other ARC Advisory Group events coming up

ARC will host four more leadership forums this year in Spain, Tokyo, Bangalore and Singapore. The annual ARC Advisory Forum in Orlando will take place again in 2026 from Feb. 9-12.