Enbridge Collaborates with Microsoft to Use AI for Enhanced Safety, Emissions Reduction, and Asset Optimization

Enbridge Inc. is partnering with Microsoft to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) for significant improvements in safety, emissions reduction, and asset optimization throughout its operations.

Having initiated its AI journey over five years ago, Enbridge is now applying advanced technology to enhance operational and environmental performance. Bhushan Ivaturi, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Enbridge, stated, “Our long-term collaboration with Microsoft has enabled us to apply cutting-edge technology, which is helping to solve critical business problems and deliver powerful outcomes. The investments we're making today will play a critical role in enabling technological solutions to the biggest challenges in the evolution of our energy systems as we transition to a lower-carbon future.”

In 2020, Enbridge began a digital transformation aimed at boosting productivity and efficiency while equipping employees with modern tools. Central to this strategy was a secure and advanced technology foundation supported by Microsoft. The company undertook an ambitious cloud migration, successfully transferring over 80 percent of its workloads to the Microsoft Azure platform within two years. This move not only improved computing, networking, and storage capabilities but also enhanced cybersecurity and reduced emissions by decommissioning servers and minimizing the physical footprint of data centers.

Today, this robust digital framework has positioned Enbridge as a leader in AI. Earlier this year, the company introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot to nearly one-third of its workforce, while all employees have access to Bing Enterprise and ChatENB, an internal chatbot powered by Azure OpenAI Service.

Tom Kubik, Enterprise Commercial Multi-Industry Lead at Microsoft Canada, emphasized the importance of Enbridge's cloud-first strategy, stating, “This big bet opened the door to broader opportunities that position Enbridge today to take full advantage of AI. We are proud of the work we've done together and are working towards our common goals of supporting a more connected and collaborative workforce and increasing data and analytics capabilities.”