Regional Deep Dive: Digital Transformation in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) Energy Sector

Navigating a New Energy Era in MENA

The Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region stands at a pivotal crossroads in the global energy landscape. As the world’s traditional energy powerhouse, MENA is now balancing its legacy hydrocarbon infrastructure with ambitious goals for renewables, decarbonization, and economic diversification. This dual mandate—maintaining energy security while accelerating the energy transition—demands a new approach to digital transformation, one that is agile, scalable, and tailored to the region’s unique market dynamics and regulatory environments.

The Challenge: Legacy Systems Meet the Energy Transition

MENA energy companies face a complex set of challenges:

• Legacy Infrastructure: Decades of investment in on-premise, commodity-specific systems have created data silos and process inefficiencies, making it difficult to respond quickly to market changes or regulatory shifts.
• Integration of New Energies: The rapid growth of renewables, hydrogen, and carbon markets requires seamless integration with existing operations and the ability to manage new forms of risk and compliance.
• Regulatory Evolution: Governments across the region are introducing new frameworks for emissions, sustainability, and market liberalization, increasing the need for transparency, auditability, and real-time reporting.
• Agility and Scalability: As MENA energy companies expand globally and diversify portfolios, they need cloud-native solutions that can scale rapidly and support multi-jurisdictional operations.

The Solution: OpenEnergy.ai and Publicis Sapient’s Digital Transformation Framework

Publicis Sapient, in partnership with Microsoft, has developed OpenEnergy.ai—a secure, cloud-based platform purpose-built for the energy sector. Leveraging Microsoft Azure, OpenEnergy.ai accelerates digital transformation by standardizing and modernizing enterprise architecture, enabling energy companies to:

• Rapidly develop and deploy new business applications using low-code tools
• Break down data silos with a unified energy domain model
• Integrate advanced analytics, AI, and machine learning for real-time decision support
• Automate workflows across the front, middle, and back office
• Reduce total cost of ownership with pay-as-you-go models and modular services

This approach is underpinned by a proven transformation framework:

1. Decouple and Modernize: Migrate legacy systems to the cloud, decouple front/mid/back office functions, and reduce reliance on manual processes.
2. Federate and Contextualize Data: Create a unified data lake that brings together trading, operational, and sustainability data for real-time analytics.
3. Automate and Optimize: Leverage AI and automation to streamline trade lifecycle management, risk analysis, and regulatory reporting.
4. Enable New Business Models: Support carbon credit trading, renewables integration, and data monetization through a flexible, secure digital ecosystem.

Real-World Impact: Regional Case Studies and Partnerships

1. Diversified Energy Company in the Gulf:

A leading MENA-based energy company partnered with Publicis Sapient to build an end-to-end value chain optimization platform on Azure. By integrating data from transaction, finance, and operational systems, the company created a self-service analytics platform that enabled data-driven decisions across the business. The result: multi-million-dollar efficiencies, increased revenue, and optimized operational costs.

2. Miral, Abu Dhabi:

Miral, a major destination management company in Abu Dhabi, collaborated with Publicis Sapient and Microsoft to create an immersive digital experience for Yas Island. Leveraging Azure, the project unified data and digital assets to position Yas Island as a top global destination, demonstrating the power of cloud transformation in the region’s broader economic diversification efforts.

3. Global Oil & Gas Leader:

A US-based oil and gas company with significant MENA operations adopted Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) on Azure to optimize its C/ETRM systems. The transformation delivered a 25% reduction in total cost of ownership and an 80% decrease in time to provision new hardware, enabling the company to scale operations in line with market demand.

Enabling the MENA Energy Transition: The Digital Ecosystem Advantage

A data-centric digital ecosystem is the foundation for MENA’s energy future. By breaking down silos and integrating legacy and new energy operations, companies can:

• Gain Agility: Respond to market and regulatory changes in real time
• Enhance Collaboration: Foster cross-functional teamwork and innovation
• Achieve End-to-End Visibility: Monitor assets, contracts, and sustainability metrics across the value chain
• Drive Innovation: Unlock new business models in renewables, hydrogen, and carbon markets
• Automate for Efficiency: Streamline trade lifecycle management and free up resources for higher-value activities

Why Publicis Sapient?

With over 30 years of experience in energy transformation and a deep presence in the MENA region, Publicis Sapient combines global expertise with local insight. Our partnership with Microsoft and our OpenEnergy.ai platform empower MENA energy companies to:

• Modernize at their own pace, minimizing business disruption
• Build a digital foundation for both legacy and new energy operations
• Accelerate the journey to net-zero and global competitiveness

Ready to Reimagine Your MENA Energy Future?

The MENA region’s energy leaders are already embracing digital transformation to modernize, optimize, and compete on the global stage. Whether you are looking to break down data silos, integrate renewables, or unlock the power of AI and cloud, Publicis Sapient is your partner for the journey ahead.

Contact our Energy & Commodities team at energyandcommodities@publicissapient.com to start your transformation journey.

Publicis Sapient is a digital business transformation partner helping established organizations get to their future, digitally-enabled state. We fuse strategy, consulting, and customer experience with agile engineering and problem-solving creativity. Learn more at publicissapient.com.