NMDC Group Runs More Than 70 AI Models Across Its Yards and 170-Vessel Fleet, CEO Says

Zaghloul set out the figures in an interview with Al Bayan on the sidelines of ADIPEC 2026 in Abu Dhabi. The models are run by the group's in-house AI centre and serve an organisation of more than 35,000 employees and four major fabrication yards, he said.

The comments come from one of the main contractors behind the UAE's offshore energy and coastal infrastructure, at a time when its costs are rising. In nine-month results published on October 30, NMDC reported revenue of AED21.408 billion, up 4 per cent on a year earlier, while net profit after tax fell 14 per cent to AED2.374 billion, according to Baird Maritime's account of the results. The group blamed a fall in EBITDA on cost overruns, saying insurance, logistics and fuel prices had risen with regional unrest. Zaghloul presented AI as a tool for exactly those pressures: reducing operational bottlenecks, tightening financial discipline, keeping schedules on track and giving early warning of risks in operations and supply chains.

He said heavy engineering, dredging and engineering, procurement and construction firms only get value from technology when it speeds delivery, improves engineering decisions and protects workers on land and at sea. His main example was Aman, a computer-vision safety system the group uses across its fabrication yards and vessels. It analyses live video from work sites and flags hazards such as missing personal protective equipment or risks from suspended loads, so crews can step in before an accident. The system recently won an AI excellence award for the Middle East energy sector at Oil & Gas magazine's 2026 awards, he said.

According to Zaghloul, the group's rule is that technology should sharpen engineering expertise, not replace it. He said dredge masters, project managers and engineers pick up AI and virtual reality tools readily once they see how the tools help them plan complex lifts safely, run vessels more efficiently and simplify procurement.

Where NMDC Sees AI Next

Zaghloul named three areas where AI and energy and marine infrastructure are starting to overlap. The first is subsea autonomy and marine modelling. Here the group is using its new dredger Abu Al Bukhoosh, which holds Green Passport certification, robots and autonomous and remotely operated underwater vehicles for high-resolution seabed surveys, and a new NMDC Coastal and Hydrodynamic Centre in Abu Dhabi that runs two- and three-dimensional wave simulations in the country to reduce risk on marine projects. The second is digitally driven modular fabrication at its yards in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, including the Mussafah fabrication yard and a new NMDC Energy modules yard, aimed at shortening delivery times. The third links the marine logistics fleet of NMDC LTS with the oil and gas well services and industrial maintenance offered by NMDC Emdad.

He said many of the agreements the group is signing at ADIPEC this year focus on digital transformation and on sourcing industrial inputs locally. In his view, national companies that want to develop technology rather than just buy it have to combine decades of field engineering data with in-house digital work.

Backlog and Water Push

Zaghloul expects the largest investment flows in the coming period to go to energy security and gas infrastructure, clean energy such as offshore wind and green hydrogen, and supporting infrastructure led by water security. On water, he pointed to NMDC's acquisition of a 51 per cent stake in Spain's Lantania water business, now called NMDC Lantania Water.

He put the group's projects under execution at Dh54.1 billion and said its pipeline of opportunities exceeds Dh100 billion across the UAE, the Middle East, Asia and Europe. Reports of the backlog's timing differ. Al Bayan and Khaleej Times give Dh54.1 billion as the figure at September 30, while Baird Maritime's breakdown of the results puts the backlog at AED51.3 billion at that date, reaching AED54.1 billion once AED2.8 billion of orders won by NMDC Energy in October are included. The group secured AED9.7 billion of new awards in the first nine months of the year.