HOUSTON, March 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — KBR (NYSE: KBR) has announced a strategic investment in UK-based Applied Computing, marking a pivotal advancement in KBR’s AI-driven growth strategy. This investment not only enhances KBR’s commitment to providing advanced, explainable artificial intelligence solutions but also secures a board position for KBR within Applied Computing.
The collaboration aims to improve operational efficiency, safety, and sustainability across the energy, chemical, and industrial sectors. Together, KBR and Applied Computing plan to accelerate the development of new digital products and expand AI capabilities within KBR’s global technology portfolio. Under a multi-year joint development agreement, the two companies will work to co-create exclusive AI products tailored for the energy sector by integrating Applied Computing’s proprietary Orbital foundational model with KBR’s licensed process technologies and domain expertise.
KBR’s Chief Digital and Development Officer, Greg Conlon, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, “We’re very excited about what this technology could unlock across the full lifecycle for multiple industries, and we’re thrilled to make this investment in Applied Computing to spur future technologies. This investment strengthens KBR’s position at the forefront of applied AI and enables us to scale innovations across our full range of licensed technologies, potentially creating a new paradigm for OpEx analytics and NextGen CapEx delivery.” This comprehensive approach targets asset operations, capital projects, and the derisking of next-generation technologies.
Callum Adamson, CEO of Applied Computing, highlighted the importance of this collaboration, stating, “It’s our mission to provide operators with a foundation model that unlocks advantage at scale while delivering pathways to production that are safer, more efficient, and far less carbon intensive. KBR is a natural fit for that mission. Their decades of data, industry domain knowledge, and global reach mean we can now accelerate deployment of Orbital across the sector.”
This investment marks KBR’s first strategic foray into the AI sector and aligns with its broader strategy to transform offerings through technology. The Orbital model, a physics-based AI foundation, signifies a critical inflection point in the engineering sector’s adoption of artificial intelligence. KBR intends to bolster Applied Computing through its board role, co-located teams, and global network, facilitating commercial growth.
Applied Computing, founded in London by Callum Adamson and Dr. Samyakh Tukra, has developed Orbital, which is specifically designed for energy operations. The model combines physics-grounded intelligence with various engineering disciplines, including chemical engineering and time-series forecasting. It aims to offer real-time optimization that operators can rely on within complex environments such as refineries and petrochemical facilities. The firm recently secured one of the largest seed funding rounds for a UK AI company, showcasing its potential within the industry.
The partnership between KBR and Applied Computing underscores a significant trend in the energy sector, where companies are increasingly looking toward advanced AI solutions to navigate operational challenges. As demand for efficiency and sustainability grows, this investment could serve as a catalyst for innovation in the sector, redefining how AI impacts the critical systems that drive global economic growth.
As this collaboration unfolds, it will be essential to monitor how the integrated technologies evolve and their impact on the broader energy landscape. The implications of this investment extend beyond immediate operational improvements, potentially reshaping industry standards and practices in the years to come.
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