Choosing the Right Path for AI Integration in Engineering Companies: A Strategic Guide

The Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) businesses operatingwithin the energy sector are recognizing the increasing importance ofArtificial Intelligence (AI). Many EPC companies and their clients haverealized the benefits of applying AI to their businesses in order to reducemanual work, drive productivity, and streamline future operations of engineeredinstallations in a highly competitive industry. The current AI market offersvarious solutions and services to support this industry, but organizations mustunderstand how to acquire AI technology in the most beneficial way based ontheir business strategy and available resources. This paper presents aframework for EPC companies in their transformation towards AI. Our work isbased on examples of project execution of AI-based products development at oneof the biggest EPC contractors worldwide and on insights from EPC vendorcompanies already integrating AI into their engineering solutions. The papercovers the entire life cycle of building AI solutions, from initial businessunderstanding to deployment and further evolution. The framework identifies howvarious factors influence the choice of approach toward AI project developmentwithin large international engineering corporations. By presenting a practicalguide for optimal approach selection, this paper contributes to the research inAI project management and organizational strategies for integrating AItechnology into businesses. The framework might also help engineering companieschoose the optimum AI approach to create business value.