How Ambyint helps oil and gas producers run safer, more efficient wells and stay competitive
Benjamin Kemp, CEO, Ambyint
Benjamin Kemp, CEO of Ambyint, first encountered the company’s AI-powered technology when he was consulting for an energy producer. The moment he saw it at work in the field, he recognized its potential.
“I said, ‘That’s game-changing technology,” he recalls. The experience would eventually lead him to work for the Calgary-based company that’s now on a mission to transform how oil and gas operates.
Ambyint's continuous production optimization helps oil and gas producers get more from their onshore wells, analyzing well data and automatically carrying out adjustments in real time. By closing the loop between detecting what is changing and acting on it, the platform helps engineers and field teams manage assets more effectively at scale.
Kemp compares it to flying an airplane: “On a domestic flight, the plane is on autopilot more than 85% of the time,” says Kemp. “We’re doing exactly that for oil and gas wells.”
Although skilled engineers remain in control, Ambyint handles the constant micro-adjustments that keep wells running smoothly and safely. “We have not replaced anybody’s job, and we don’t intend to,” explains Kemp. “We’ve just made the job a lot easier to do.”
If you have to get a human to touch the button every time, that’s going to hold you back.
Benjamin Kemp
CEO, Ambyint
AI-powered automation for oil and gas wells
When a well is new, it flows freely. But over time, production declines and operators turn to equipment that helps pull the oil to the surface, like rod pumps, to keep hydrocarbons moving. These systems require constant monitoring and adjustment. Ambyint’s technology collects data from the well, analyzes and contextualizes it, and applies a decade of embedded engineering expertise to understand what the well is doing at any moment.
This means that instead of spending the first hours of a shift reviewing what has happened overnight, oil and gas engineers can turn to Ambyint for a clear summary of:
- what has changed
- what’s likely to happen next
- where their attention is needed most urgently
This allows them to focus on the most complex, highest-value wells—exactly the work they trained for. The technology can also predict what will happen next and, when enabled by the operator, execute adjustments automatically through the producer’s existing Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems—the software that monitors and controls equipment in the field.
As Kemp puts it, “If you have to get a human to touch the button every time, that’s going to hold you back. By the time you touch the button, the well has changed its dynamics.”
How Ambyint helps manage more wells with limited capacity
Automation has been part of the oil and gas sector for years, but the industry is still deeply labour intensive. Trained workers monitor wells, adjust equipment, respond to issues and make judgment calls based on years of experience. But Kemp says producers across North America are trying to manage more wells. That’s where Ambyint can help.
He emphasizes that the companies Ambyint works with don’t have the capacity to monitor every well every minute, especially when conditions change constantly. That “capacity gap” is where Ambyint comes in.
Benefits of AI-powered automation in oil and gas
Ambyint helps producers get more from their existing teams, while also reducing costly issues and improving efficiency. By giving engineers the right information at the right time, the company helps them focus on the problems that matter most instead of manually reviewing data from hundreds of wells. Earlier issue detection, such as spotting a stuck pump, helps prevent expensive maintenance costs.
Ambyint also allows producers to modernize without replacing their existing equipment. Their technology integrates with the equipment companies already have, making it easier to adopt for operators that manage many different types of assets.
An optimized well also uses less energy, with the potential to produce fewer emissions.
But the oil and gas sector isn’t a plug-and-play industry because:
- wells vary widely
- equipment is often inherited through acquisitions
- retrofitting technology can be expensive and slow
According to Kemp, that means producers are cautious about adopting new tools that could affect safety and production. This has made it difficult for new technologies to break in with existing complex legacy systems.
But he says Ambyint has succeeded because it isn’t replacing existing systems. Instead, its technology integrates with the operators existing SCADA systems, making adoption far more feasible for companies managing thousands of wells across large basins.
Scaling a Canadian technology with global potential
BDC Capital has supported Ambyint’s growth, and close partnerships with Canadian producers have also played an important role. One large producer has worked with Ambyint for four years as both a customer and innovation partner. Kemp calls the oil and natural gas company a “sponsor customer” because it helps test, validate and refine new technology. The partnership has also helped Ambyint secure non-dilutive funding through Canadian innovation programs.
Today, Ambyint autonomously manages 12,500 wells, representing 365,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day across North America. But Kemp says that’s still a fraction of the opportunity ahead, with roughly a million wells in North America and several times that globally.
It’s an opportunity the company is now positioned to capitalize on as it continues to scale a made-in-Canada solution that enables producers to manage more wells and make better decisions.
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