Asia leads current adoption levels, with North America, including Canada planning the most aggressive acceleration, fueled by AI driven energy demand and expanding data center infrastructure
Schneider Electric, a global energy technology leader, today unveils new research highlighting a powerful combination of pressures pushing autonomous operations to the top of the agenda for the energy and chemicals sector across Canada and North America.
The study of 400 senior energy and chemicals executives across 12 countries shows a sharp rise in urgency around autonomy. A third of executives (31.5%) say advancing autonomy is a ‘critical’ priority in the next five years, rising to 44% over a ten-year horizon. Fewer than 5% globally view it as a low priority.
Leaders cite strong commercial pressures. They warn that delaying adoption risks higher operating costs (59%), worsening talent shortages (52%), and declining competitiveness (48%). Yet adoption is not without obstacles. Key barriers include high upfront costs (34%), legacy systems (30%), organizational resistance (27%), cybersecurity concerns (26%), and regulatory uncertainty (25%).
Schneider Electric’s Global Autonomous Maturity Report shows the sector at a critical point of transformation as electrification, automation, and digitalization converge. Surging AI demand, driven predominantly by hyperscale cloud and data center growth in North America, is placing unprecedented pressure on energy systems. Electricity demand is projected to nearly double to 1,000 TWh by 2030, intensifying the need for flexible, efficient, and resilient operations.
Within this emerging AI energy nexus, 49% of executives identify AI as the single biggest enabler of autonomous acceleration, followed by cybersecurity advancements, cloud and edge computing, digital twins, advanced process control, and open, software defined automation.
“Across Canada and North America, organizations are already operating at a high level of autonomy, with clear plans to accelerate over the next decade,” said Emily Heitman, President of Schneider Electric Canada. “As AI reshapes both energy demand and industrial performance, autonomous operations are becoming essential to maintaining reliability, safety, and competitiveness. This shift is not about replacing people, it’s about empowering skilled teams to focus on higher value work and operate complex systems more safely and efficiently.”
The momentum is clear, but progress is uneven, with the data highlighting regional differences in readiness levels. While Asia currently leads in autonomous operations maturity, North America is set for the fastest acceleration in adoption over the next five years. This growth is being driven by the region’s scale in energy production and consumption, combined with rapid expansion of data center infrastructure and increasing expectations around performance and resilience.
“Autonomous operations are redefining how energy and chemicals companies manage their facilities end to end,” said Heitman. “By combining automation, power management, and digital intelligence, Canadian operators can gain real time visibility and deploy AI enabled systems that predict, adapt, and self optimize, helping them meet rising energy demand while strengthening safety, reliability, and sustainability.”
Recent deployments illustrate this shift. At Shell’s Scotford Refinery in Canada, Schneider Electric is helping modernize operations through open, software defined automation, supporting more flexible and autonomous operations. At European Energy’s Kassø Power to X facility, the world’s first commercially viable e methanol plant, Schneider Electric technologies are enabling AI supported, self optimizing clean fuel operations with resilient remote monitoring.
The research was commissioned in partnership with Censuswide and Development Economics, supported by insights from Independent Energy Market Analyst, Gaurav Sharma. It captures insights from 400 senior energy executives across 12 countries in four key regions, including North America, Europe, Asia, and the GCC, supported by desk research and conversations with industry stakeholders and commentators across the global energy and chemicals sector.
