Powering Possible report: 62% of energy leaders now rank AI among their top two priorities

AI investment and adoption are accelerating across the global energy industry, with leaders increasingly seeing financial returns and recognizing the technology’s potential to strengthen energy reliability and resilience, according to new research from ADNOC, XRG and Microsoft.

The third annual Powering Possible report, titled Energy Resilience in the Intelligence Era, reveals a significant shift from AI experimentation to implementation. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of energy leaders now rank AI among their top two corporate priorities, up from 42% in 2025, while adoption of agentic AI has more than doubled in the past year.

Investment is also beginning to pay off. Almost nine in ten (89%) respondents increased AI spending over the past year, while 63% expect returns on existing investments to cover or exceed their costs.

However, the rapid growth of AI is also creating new challenges for energy infrastructure. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of leaders expect AI to increase energy consumption by 2030, yet only 52% are confident existing infrastructure can meet the additional electricity demand.

Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, ADNOC Managing Director and Group CEO and Executive Chairman of XRG said: “AI is creating significant new opportunities for the energy industry to drive greater value, strengthen resilience and improve safety and reliability. At ADNOC, we are embedding AI, robotics and advanced technology across our operations to optimize every barrel, every molecule and every megawatt we produce. As AI scales, energy and technology must advance together.”

Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President, Microsoft, said: “As AI becomes embedded in the sectors that underpin the global economy, the measure of progress will not be adoption alone, but whether it delivers lasting value while earning public trust. In the energy sector, where reliability and security are fundamental, that requires strong governance, clear accountability and sustained investment in people and skills. Innovation at scale must be matched by responsibility at the same scale.”

The 2026 report, based on a survey of almost 400 senior energy and finance leaders, shows how AI is scaling from pilots into everyday operations. The share of organizations deploying integrated agentic AI workflows more than doubled from 15% to 33%, while those still piloting isolated applications fell from 35% to 15%. Among energy-industry respondents, 60% are already piloting or deploying autonomous and robotic systems in physical operations, from inspecting infrastructure to performing hazardous tasks.

As deployment matures, the definition of value is broadening. Supply stability and reliability is now the most cited measure of AI’s contribution, rising from 26% in 2025 to 39% this year. Cost savings remain part of the value equation, though the share naming them as AI’s leading contribution fell from 19% to 13%. The shift comes as 86% of leaders say global energy supply has become more complex and harder to predict over the past five years.

That wider view is particularly evident in complex energy systems, where continuity and resilience can matter as much as near-term efficiency. Fifty-seven percent of respondents identify the optimization of power flows, dispatch and balancing as the area where AI could make the greatest contribution to the energy transition.

AI’s expansion nevertheless creates a significant infrastructure requirement. Grid modernization and smart-grid technologies are the leading investment priority for supporting AI growth, cited by 67% of respondents, followed by energy storage at 42%. Confidence varies sharply by market: 74% of leaders in Brazil and 70% in India believe existing infrastructure can meet AI-driven demand, compared with just 40% in the United States and 38% in the United Kingdom.

Those priorities sit within a wider expansion, from generation and networks to digital infrastructure, that will need to advance together if supply is to keep pace with demand and AI is to help strengthen the capacity, flexibility and reliability of the energy system. The findings underscore the need for investment in energy and digital infrastructure to advance together, backed by strong cybersecurity, trusted AI-ready data, common standards, sound governance and a skilled workforce, so AI can be deployed safely and reliably at scale.

Powering Possible 2026 is being published ahead of the fourth ENACT Majlis in Abu Dhabi, which will bring together leaders from energy, technology, finance and government to examine the development of a more resilient and integrated energy system. It also precedes ADIPEC 2026, taking place in Abu Dhabi from 2–5 November.

Note to Editors

Powering Possible 2026 is available to download here: https://ad