Shadowing Practice: Why Abu Dhabi Wants to Export Energy AI - Learn English Speaking with Video

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The energy sector helped build Abu Dhabi.

Now the Emirate is betting on AI to help build its future.

Problems that used to take geoscientists weeks and months to do, now we're able to do it in 45 minutes.

At AIQ, that means using artificial intelligence to make one of the world's most complex industries more productive, more predictive, and more efficient.

Well, this is where the real magic happens.

This is where the real intelligence is actually built.

We take a closer look at how AIQ is putting that vision to work.

AIQ was launched in 2020 to help accelerate the energy industry's adoption of artificial intelligence.

The company uses AI to optimize drilling, production, and maintenance by analyzing operational data in real time.

Its edge comes from developing and testing AI inside Adnok, the UEE's state -owned oil giant, before scaling those solutions to customers around the world.

The company is jointly owned by Adnok and Presite, an Abu Dhabi -based AI and data analytics company that emerged from the G42 technology group.

AIQ says its goal is to improve the safety

and efficiency of energy operations and has ambitions to export UAE -developed AI to energy markets around the world.

We've been around for six years now.

What started off as this bold vision to transform the energy industry with AI, we've since done about 200 AI use cases.

We've productized 14 of them.

Today we're in 25 % of ad -nox wells, we're in 20 % of their reservoirs, we're 100 % of their hell of a journey.

So take me back to 2020 and what's the biggest problem that this entity is trying to solve?

When we were formed, it was really to accelerate the development and deployment of AI to the energy systems.

The idea was taking the infrastructure that we had with G42

and pre -site and the sovereign infrastructure we had to go with the data

and actually build models to solve problems in the industry.

We were out there trying to make our energy systems and transform them and become more productive.

AIQ's tools span the energy value chain, from subsurface exploration and drilling, to production, maintenance and safety.

But AIQ is still a young company in an industry built on caution.

In energy, trust matters as much as technology.

Its challenge is not just to build AI tools, but to prove they can work safely, reliably and at scale inside live operations.

Let's get down to brass tacks here.

How exactly does AIQ make money?

Well, through several ways.

I mean, we've got our professional services, but we've also built products that we can license, the deployment of those products,

and then of course the maintenance support moving forward for those products.

And so walk me through those products in particular.

You mentioned there's about 200 individual use cases today.

What is the most significant among those use cases and what exactly is it doing?

It's evolved since the inception of AIQ.

And we think about AI people started talking about in 2016, 2018.

So in 2020, we started building this bold vision, which were a bunch of point solutions.

2025, it was really about agentic AI and agentic solutions.

A new force is transforming energy, smarter decisions, and endless possibilities.

I'm approaching the receiver.

We announced our first of its kind, large scale, Gentic AI with Energy AI.

We've taken over 1 .1 million documents

and we've been able to take workflows within the subsurface

and actually solve problems that used to take geoscientists weeks and months to do.

Now we're able to do it in 45 minutes.

So we built solutions, everything from the boardroom to the control room.

So across that value chain in the industry.

And when you go and have conversations with CEOs in the industry or you're speaking to these companies,

potential clients, how receptive are they to Abu Dhabi AI?

Well, I think they are very receptive to AI in general.

I mean, whether it comes from Abu Dhabi or elsewhere, I think one of our biggest differentiators is Abu Dhabi AI is

that we've been able to take this infrastructure that we've got here through our G42 all the way with the AdNoc data.

And we've been able to build models around that.

Many of our competitors talk about being able to theoretically build these models with physics models,

but they don't have the real -time data that we've got.

And we've had some of these models in the systems for over six years.

So when we talk to these CEOs, we talk about that we've done it.

These are proven technology that we can put in their systems.

And in the industrial world that we live in, in the energy sector,

you can't really mess with some of these wells that are producing wells with what you own theoretically can do.

It has to be what you've done.

Just characterize it for me.

How transformative has AI been to the energy industry?

Gosh, I mean, I think we're just scratching the surface.

I think it's been quite significant.

Our ability to help our customers analyze, visualize, and decide, or whether it's automating wells.

We really focus on three different things at AIQ.

One is autonomous operations.

We want to make sure

that we can keep people as far away from the well sites as possible

because that's going to make everything a lot more safe.

We think about subsurface solving problems, you know, underground what we cannot see.

And then of course the physical intelligence where we want to connect the digital world with the physical world in real time.

As AI becomes more embedded in critical energy infrastructure,

protecting sensitive operational data is becoming just as important as improving performance.

When we think about data sovereignty, we think about our customers' data.

And for us, data sovereignty sits within our customer's tenant, which is within our G42,

Core 42 infrastructure, or within our tenant, which also sits within that national sovereign cloud that we've got.

So that's really the way we think about data.

And we think about data wherever our customers store that data.

We never take data out of our customers' platforms to actually deliver what we need to deliver when it comes to models.

How do you overcome the inevitable security question, though?

And is that a challenge that you've seen being presented by CEOs that you speak with or those in the energy industry?

Well, I think many in the energy industry would realize

and understand that ADNOC is probably one of the most strict when it comes to cybersecurity, when it comes to security.

And what we've proven in the last six years, that we can operate within that framework.

So whatever challenges our customers have when it comes to cybersecurity,

we believe that we've worked with some of the most strict and sovereign parameters that we've had to work with.

So we know how to do it.

And this idea of being interoperable is also important as you continue to scale globally, right?

Absolutely.

And our customers are sitting on different tech stacks.

Some are using Amazon, some are using

Microsoft, some want to use Tropic, others want to use OpenAI.

So we're quite agnostic with what systems they'd like to use.

For AIQ, the relationship between AI and energy runs both ways.

As AI reshapes the energy industry, the industry's role in powering AI is becoming just as critical.

We really believe that where there's AI, there's energy.

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Where there's energy, there'll be AI.

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We answer the AI for energy question, right?

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I mean, as the world needs more AI, what needs more energy, we want to make that energy system far more productive,

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far more efficient, far more safe, and far more sustainable.

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So that's really what we do.

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And our data centers, the new refineries.

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Yesterday, we were taking oil and gas, we were turning them into fuel and chemicals.

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And today we're taking oil and gas and putting them in data centers and turning them into electrons.

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So exporting it before we're through pipelines, now through the cloud and fiber optics.

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So that relationship between AI and energy continues to get closer and closer and continue to merge.

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When you cast your mind forward into some of the solutions

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that you think AIQ will be able to deliver and provide across the energy industry in the years to come,

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what is the moonshot and what are you ultimately working towards?

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Well, what we're really shooting towards is really our customers have one mission and that's really,

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the extraction and sale of the products, the oil and gas products.

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So what we'd like to do is be able to solve the entire value chain optimization problem, whether it's which wells to shut off,

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which ones to turn on, which ones to optimize, and be able to do it more efficiently

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and be able to shoot down the other side of that pipeline.

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The lowest cost per barrel is really what our moonshot is.

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I myself have been out on an Adnock platform

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and it's incredible to see the level of autonomation that's taking place in real time across this industry.

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Do you see a future

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when one day perhaps we might be able to completely eliminate human interaction on physical rigs moving forward?

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Everything we do is, I believe, just because of the world that we live in is going to always augment the human capability.

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And we'd like to automate as much as possible.

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But I believe that we need to minimize the human capability, but we want to be able to produce more.

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We want to be able to make it a safer place.

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But our goal is never to eliminate the human because at the end of the day, these are big decisions that need to be made.

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And as you see out there.

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I mean, it's still.

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quite mechanical out there and there's a lot of moving parts

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and pieces and we're always going to need a human in the loop.

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Abu Dhabi -based AIQ is part of the UEE's wider push to become a global leader in artificial intelligence.

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Under the country's AI Strategy 2031, AI is being deployed across key sectors including energy.

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AIQ's advantage has been built at home inside state -owned oil company Atnox Operations and Abu Dhabi's digital infrastructure.

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The next question is how well that model travels.

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The company says it's now testing that internationally with pilot projects and partnerships underway in markets including Colombia,

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Kazakhstan, Oman and Indonesia.

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Are there any new markets that you're looking at getting involved in right now?

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North American market, the US and Canada, we're looking in Europe and then the global south and Australia.

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Are you finding that there's a lot of competition in the sector right now to try

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and adopt this technology first or fastest?

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Yeah, it's quite fragmented.

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I mean, they always say that it reminds me a lot of the ERP race of the 1990s, right?

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I mean, some folks would give their business to the Microsofts of the world

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and others were giving it to SAP and others were giving it to startups.

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But you got customers that are trying to do it themselves.

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So we find ourselves competing with customers that want to do it themselves.

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And then everyone that has been forced by their board to get into the AI business, all the way through to new players and startups with,

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you know, five to 12 people, you know, in the company.

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So, you know, it's a competitive business.

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And at the end of the day, I think that, you know,

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this race is going to end the same way where there's going to be a few big players at the end.

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And I think that we believe that AIQ will be one of them.

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When you look at what the UAE is doing, leading in this space.

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Do you see the UAE in the future perhaps being a net exporter of artificial intelligence into the future?

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I think you're already seeing it.

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I mean, when you look at, I mean, you know, our parent, you know, Preside, they're already exporting this technology and helping a lot of,

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you know, governments with a lot of the smart city, smart government solutions with infrastructure solutions.

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So you're already looking at a lot of the ecosystem companies in Abu Dhabi exporting that technology.

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For many years, we were importing a lot of technologies here in the UAE to work, whether in our government sector,

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with our financial sector, our health sector.

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When you look at today what we're doing here in Abu Dhabi, we're building this technology here and we're exporting it to the world.

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More than a year into the role as AIQ's CEO, Joel says it has been a steep learning curve,

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even for someone who has spent two decades working in the UAE's energy industry.

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I didn't start off as a tech CEO.

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I spent the last 20 years in the industry here in

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the UAE working with the energy systems in one of the most commoditized businesses.

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But whether it's AI or a commodity product like pipe bells and fittings,

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I believe that when you can prove to a customer you're either going to save the money or make the money,

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it's really value selling is what you do.

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What would you say is the biggest difficulty that you've faced so far?

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Really trying to get our customers to understand what AI is and how it can truly transform the industry.

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I think when you think about transformation, it really makes you think about roles in industry, roles in company.

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I always like to use the example of Uber, right?

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I mean, when you think about Uber transforming the transportation industry,

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you know, you can't really ask the taxi driver on what kind of tools they need.

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So I think when you think about transforming this industry, it's really, you know, collaborating internally and externally.

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And we believe here at AIQ, collaboration is acceleration.

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And how would you characterize your own leadership style?

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Well, I think that, you know, a lot of what I picked up in my previous companies was accountability, integrity, and fun.

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Why is fun important as a leadership style?

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Well, I think that in the fast race that AI is in,

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and, you know, we got folks that don't sleep at night programming and coding in the startup world that we're in,

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we've got to make sure that we love what we do.

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I always tell our folks that if they've got

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that Sunday night gut check and actually toss and turn to go to work on Monday, I think you're in the wrong job.

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And so I think fun is probably the most important thing

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and allow everybody to get up every morning and do what they want to do.

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What gets you out of bed in the morning?

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All the above, right?

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I mean, ultimately for me, it's the real challenge.

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And right now, the challenge of AI, the challenge of going out there and proving to the world

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that these solutions that we've created in Abu Dhabi is truly valuable.

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And I think that that and making a difference is really what gets me awake in the morning and gets me going.

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Thank you.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Why Abu Dhabi Wants to Export Energy AI”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: energy, industry, Aiq, customer, Abu. This video has 77 sentences and 2573 words to shadow. The speech runs for 14:57. The speaker talks at a natural 172 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 22 of its 77 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
infrastructure noun	/ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/	An underlying base or foundation for a building, organization, or system.
export noun	/ˈɛks.pɔɹt/	Something that is exported.
transform verb	/tɹænsˈfɔɹm/	To change greatly the appearance or form of.
solve verb	/sɒlv/	To find an answer or solution to a problem or question; to work out.
artificial adjective	/ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/	Man-made; made by humans; of artifice.
folk noun	/foʊk/	People, persons.
productive adjective	/pɹəˈdʌk.tɪv/	Capable of producing something, especially in abundance; fertile.
drill noun	/dɹɪl/	A tool or machine used to remove material so as to create a hole, typically by plunging a rotating cutting bit into a stationary workpiece.
sovereign noun	/ˈsɑv(ə)ɹɪn/	A monarch: a supreme ruler of a country in a monarchical system.
startup noun	/ˈstɑɹtˌʌp/	The act or process of starting a process or machine.
cloud noun	/ˈklaʊ̯d/	A visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air.
efficient adjective	/ɪˈfɪʃənt/	Making good, thorough, or careful use of resources; not consuming extra. Especially, making good use of time or energy.
bold adjective	/ˈbəʊld/	Courageous, daring.
strict adjective	/stɹɪkt/	Strained; drawn close; tight.
operational adjective	/ˌɑ.pəˈɹeɪ.ʃə.nəl/	Of or relating to operations, especially military operations.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
start off verb	To begin.
get down to verb	To start focusing on doing something serious
get up verb	To move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb.
go out verb	To leave, especially a building.
move forward verb	To cause to make progress.
see out verb	To accompany a guest to the door when he or she leaves (also used figuratively).
shut off verb	To stop or turn off by closing something, such as a valve.
take over verb	To assume control of something, such as a business or enterprise, and sometimes by force.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

Let's get down to brass tacks here.
I think it's been quite significant.
I think you're already seeing it.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
“Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true	used to take
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	We've been · We've productized · we've also built
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is actually built · was launched · were formed
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	vision, which were · tenant, which is · someone who has

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 53 contractions and reduced forms, such as we've, we're, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: artificial /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, efficient /ɪˈfɪʃənt/, operational /ˌɑ.pəˈɹeɪ.ʃə.nəl/, partnership /ˈpɑɹtnɚʃɪp/, efficiency /ɪˈfɪʃ.ən.si/
Long words — get the stress right: infrastructure /ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/, artificial /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, operational /ˌɑ.pəˈɹeɪ.ʃə.nəl/, eliminate /ɪˈlɪm.ɪ.neɪt/, capability /ˌkeɪ.pəˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like infrastructure, export, transform.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Why Abu Dhabi Wants to Export Energy AI - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?