ORLEN’s transformation to accelerate further. The largest AI implementation in Central Europe

ORLEN is consistently implementing the assumptions adopted in its strategy, which aims to ensure energy security throughout the region and stable supplies of possibly cheap energy to Poles. However, effective energy transformation is not possible without digital tools. Therefore, ORLEN Group, in cooperation with Microsoft, will implement the largest AI implementation in Central Europe. The implemented solutions will support not only the energy area, but also cyber security, production processes, data analysis and increase the efficiency of the company’s employees.

„Energy transformation is a challenge for the entire economy, which requires concrete action here and now. ORLEN’s strategy until 2035 is the largest investment program in the history of the Polish energy sector worth up to 380 billion PLN. Already today this sector has become one big construction site. We want to accelerate even further, which is why we are reaching for tools available on the market that will support our daily work. The ORLEN Group consists of more than 200 companies located in more than a dozen countries. Effective management of such a structure requires constant exchange of information, introduction of new solutions that allow us to maintain competitiveness and achieve business goals even better. Implementing AI solutions throughout the organization of more than 60,000 people will increase the efficiency of our daily operations, relieving employees of simple, repetitive duties, allowing us to make much better use of their unique competencies. They are our most valuable resource,” says Ireneusz Fąfara, CEO of ORLEN.

Digital transformation is one of the main elements of ORLEN Group’s 2035 strategy. “The energy of tomorrow begins today.” In the plan announced in January, the use of digital tools and effective data management across the organization is a key element on the road to energy transformation success.

„We want to strengthen the digital competence of the teams with solutions that support the development and implementation of modern IT tools across the organization. The use of Microsoft Copilot or AI multi-agents will allow us to effectively optimize and strengthen the level of cyber security in the entire ORLEN Group, as well as improve work efficiency and ultimately enable the synergy effect of the capital group and bring real benefits,” says Robert Soszyński, Vice President of the Management Board for Operations of ORLEN.

The signed cooperation agreement with Microsoft is one of the elements of achieving this strategic goal. The agreement calls for the standardization and consolidation of software licenses across the Group, the securing and development of cloud technologies, and the use of intelligent assistants that can relieve employees of daily repetitive tasks, as well as prepare recommendations for action based on analyzed data.

„The implemented solutions will have a wide range of applications and can be successfully used in the analysis of current and planned regulatory changes, controlling, analysis of global strategic data of oil or gas markets, but also website design or supply logistics management. This is another major step in the digital transformation of the ORLEN Group,” says Michal Furman, Executive Director of Digital Transformation and IT.

The cooperation also involves the development of AI competencies inside ORLEN. Based on the signed agreement, a Competence Center for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Innovation and Advanced Analytics will be established, which will act as an internal innovation incubator – to identify and develop projects that bring real business value, support experimentation with GenAI technologies and enable their implementation across the Group. Employee training is also one of the elements of a long-term strategy to develop digital competencies. As part of its partnership with Microsoft, ORLEN will train dozens of IT specialists and data scientists each year.

„Implementing artificial intelligence into an organization today is a strategic decision. Leaders who treat AI as an integral part of the operating model are not only responding to the challenges of the market, but are beginning to actively shape it. The era of organizations in which humans and technology work together on equal terms has begun. It’s about creating conditions where people can focus on what’s really important: making better decisions, developing innovations and building an advantage that is not based solely on time or cost, but on value,” says Iwona Szylar, CEO of Microsoft in Poland.

The signed agreement applies not only to software licenses, according to the agreement Microsoft and ORLEN will jointly organize workshops and conduct analyses of the potential use of AI.