An Aberdeen-headquartered artificial intelligence company developing technology to cut the cost, complexity and risk of offshore decommissioning has been selected for one of the world’s most prestigious commercial AI accelerator programmes.
rahd·AI, which turns decades of buried well records into structured, traceable intelligence to support true 4D decommissioning planning, has secured a place in Cohort II of the Presight AI Accelerator in Abu Dhabi.
With every data point linked back to its underlying source document, rahd·AI’s platform is designed to give engineers clearer visibility of well histories, reduce design risk and shorten campaign durations, while providing regulators with the audit trail they need for faster, more confident approvals.
The technology enables operators to plan decommissioning campaigns more quickly, reduce engineering time, improve regulatory confidence and lower project costs in a global decommissioning market expected to exceed $200 billion by 2040.
Selection for Presight’s accelerator came after what the organisers described as a fiercely competitive international process that drew applications from AI businesses operating across multiple sectors.
A total of 376 AI companies from 62 countries applied, 33 reached the final shortlist and just 12 were ultimately selected, with rahd·AI the only UK company to secure a place in Cohort II.
Presight’s programme is explicitly designed for proven, market-ready AI companies rather than early-stage start-ups, targeting businesses that already demonstrate traction and are ready to scale into new markets.
Collectively, the shortlisted cohort of companies has raised more than $341 million in investment and generated $28 million in contracted recurring revenue, with the accelerator focused on helping participants secure commercial contracts, enterprise partnerships and government opportunities across the Middle East and beyond.
Operated by Presight, the Abu Dhabi-listed artificial intelligence and big data analytics company within the G42 technology group, the accelerator provides direct access to one of the world’s fastest-growing applied AI ecosystems.
For rahd·AI, participation represents a significant commercial opportunity, providing a route into the Middle East as its fourth international market alongside the UK, the United States and Australia.
Companies selected for Cohort II receive access to enterprise-scale computing infrastructure and technical support from specialists at Presight, G42, MBZUAI and Microsoft, together with introductions to major government and corporate customers across the region.
The programme also gives participants the opportunity to pitch to Presight–Shorooq Fund I, a $100 million global AI investment fund established to back high-growth AI businesses capable of scaling internationally.
Jake Stride, Chief Executive of rahd·AI, said the accelerator selection marked an important inflection point in the company’s growth story.
“This is a significant milestone for rahd·AI and a huge endorsement of the technology our team has built,” he said.
“Being selected as the only UK company from such a competitive global field demonstrates that we are solving a problem with worldwide relevance,” Stride added.
“The Presight AI Accelerator is not about ideas; it is about helping proven AI companies scale internationally through real commercial opportunities.”
He said the geographic focus of the programme aligned closely with the company’s ambitions in offshore energy markets.
“The Middle East is an important strategic market for us and this programme provides unrivalled access to customers, partners and investors across one of the world’s fastest-growing AI ecosystems,” Stride said.
“Combined with the continued enhancement of our platform and our recent progress in the United States, this creates real momentum as we continue building a globally significant AI company from Aberdeen,” he added.
Innes Grant, Chief Operating Officer at rahd·AI, said the quality of the companies selected and the organisations behind the programme underlined the accelerator’s strategic value.
“Presight and G42 are recognised globally for applying AI at enterprise scale,” he said.
“Their validation provides an exceptional platform from which to enter the Middle East and accelerate our international growth,” Grant added.
Founded in Australia and developed in Aberdeen, rahd·AI aims to become the global platform for offshore decommissioning intelligence, with its technology already deployed in live customer environments.
The company has already demonstrated cost savings through customer projects and believes its technology could reduce offshore decommissioning costs by up to 35%, potentially generating billions of pounds of savings for industry and taxpayers alike if adopted at scale.
As governments and operators look to manage the long tail of offshore infrastructure while meeting climate and fiscal constraints, sector observers will see rahd·AI’s position in Presight’s accelerator as another sign that Scottish AI capabilities around data-heavy industrial problems are finding traction far beyond the UK continental shelf.
