Why Australia’s sustainable industrial age needs AI   

By Alexey Lebedev

Sustainability is no longer just an option for businesses across the country — it’s an imperative.  As Australia prepares for mandatory climate-related  disclosures for ESG reporting, leading companies across every sector are placing a strong focus on their emissions and environmental responsibility. Those organisations in the industrial sector – even those with hard-to-abate emissions – are no different.

But they’re not doing this just to save the planet or to provide mandated ESG reports. It’s become clear that businesses can not only drive operational performance but also create value for stakeholders and contribute to the conservation of resources. And the key enabler is technology. Research from AVEVA shows that 89 per cent of global industrial companies are heavily investing in digital transformation to meet sustainability goals—a trend mirrored in Australian industries, where AI and digital technologies are already transforming sectors like mining, agriculture, and manufacturing.

But how are they doing it? Is it through technologies like solar power or less power-hungry hardware? Well yes, but it’s more than that – there’s a software element that is transforming these businesses from the ground up.

Businesses that embrace highly specialised digital technologies to optimise both performance and resilience are those whose businesses are succeeding – and those same technologies are working to enhance sustainability projects and energy efficiency.

Specialised AI: The key to efficiency

Future industry leaders are turning to application-specific artificial intelligence (AI) in the cloud to enhance operational efficiency, sustainability, and even profitability.

Australian industries, such as mining and agriculture, are already utilising AI-powered solutions like predictive maintenance and real-time AI scheduling to reduce risks and optimise their supply chains. These technologies help streamline operations, enabling businesses to adapt to the growing pressures of sustainability and competitiveness.

Digital twin technologies, for example, are being implemented to reduce errors and improve collaboration, project transparency, and engineering efficiency – which leads to enhanced asset performance, operational excellence and sustainability. In short, a digital twin is a virtual representation that serves as the real-time digital counterpart of a physical object or process. Whether it’s used in the design phase, when a digital twin might represent a plan for an asset, or after construction, when a digital twin maps to an operating asset, it ensures all stakeholders have access to the same continuously updated information.

Fed by real-time data, digital twins can improve every stage of the engineering life cycle, ranging from improved design fidelity and decision-making to optimised construction and management. This ultimately helps make more informed decisions that can help them achieve their sustainability goals as they are able to model site operations or energy usage via the digital twin.

Fortescue, for one prominent Australian example, is using various industrial software solutions to gather and visualise data to optimise performance across its operations. It has laid the foundations for a complete operational digital twin which will accelerate its green industrial revolution in a hard-to-decarbonise industry – particularly through its innovations in green hydrogen.

But that’s not the only software evolution which is helping usher in this revolution.

How AI can accelerate sustainability in industrial settings

AI is an expansive term, encompassing various techniques like pattern recognition, anomaly detection, and predictive analytics. When applied to industrial operations, its benefits are enormous. By connecting data across an organisation and leveraging AI to generate insights, companies can identify more efficient ways of working and create environmentally conscious industrial processes.

By driving advancements in energy management, fuel consumption, and equipment longevity, AI will help businesses meet their environmental targets. Recent research highlights how just 16% of the world’s largest companies are on track to reach net zero emissions by 2050. According to Accenture’s “Destination Net Zero” report, nearly half (45%) continue to increase their carbon footprint, which the company believes highlights the urgent need for AI-powered monitoring solutions to help reverse emissions growth.

And AI has the potential to solve these issues.  Microsoft is investing in advanced AI-powered tools to manage carbon emissions across supply chains. For example, its ESG value chain solution simplifies supplier data collection and identifies emissions reduction opportunities. It’s also working closely with industry experts and partners to help organisations gather and organise data from various sources for AI applications and green software initiatives.

But it’s not just solving energy efficiency issues; AI technologies are evolving rapidly from task-based systems to objective-driven models with human oversight. This shift presents enormous opportunities for businesses to streamline operations.

For example, mining giant BHP says AI “supports the enhancement of mining precision in exploration and extraction by using advanced algorithms to identify mineral deposits and accurately optimise operational processes. By analysing extensive geological data, such as surveys, soil compositions, and historical extraction records, AI algorithms can assist with accurately predicting the location of mineral deposits, reducing unnecessary drilling and excavation.”

And Idemitsu Kosan, a Japanese energy company, has deployed a Schedule AI assistant at its Hokkaido Refinery. The deployment will optimise their planning and scheduling processes to achieve greater productivity and stabilise production flows. Analytics automatically generate and evaluate multiple schedules and anticipated events within the complete supply chain, and the AI-powered solution then recommends the crude scheduling strategy that best fits its safety, sustainability and economic value chain objectives.

However, it’s essential to recognise that AI isn’t a replacement for human decision-making. Rather, it’s a tool that augments human intelligence, providing workers with the insights and capabilities they need to make better decisions. Furthermore, with the next generation of digital natives joining the workforce, they’ll expect to have AI tools to work with and alongside. As such, while AI will continue to evolve, its role will remain one of partnership—working in step with humans and integrated into their workflows to make businesses smarter and more sustainable.

As industries face increasing pressure to reduce their environmental footprint, companies that integrate highly specialised AI into their operations will stand out. The combination of digital insights, machine learning, and predictive analytics can drive significant improvements in sustainability, operational efficiency, and overall business success.

In the end, the integration of AI isn’t just about technology—it’s enabling people to reshape the future of Australian industry for the better.

Alexey Lebedev is Vice President, Pacific, AVEVA