By Jennifer Shine, Principal Solution Engineer at Imubit

“We’re in a place right now where technology innovation is outpacing adoption.”

We periodically invite our customers to present in internal meetings to share their end-user or leadership perspective with Imubit teams working behind the scenes. This quote from an executive sponsor earlier this year stuck with me and with many in our organization. While it’s easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of new technology innovation, it’s important to ground ourselves in the fact that technology impact is directly linked to adoption.

As organizations race to integrate AI into their workflows, there’s an often-overlooked risk that can stall progress before real value is achieved: conversion without transformation.

This happens when companies adopt AI tools but continue operating with the same mindset, processes, and decision frameworks as before. In other words, they convert to new technology without transforming how they think or work. Then it’s on to the next project. Without proper change management processes and encouragement (and investment) from leadership to ensure adoption >70% of initiatives will fail to deliver the projected return.

The Efficiency Trap & Stifling Progress

It’s easy to fall into the trap of using AI to automate existing tasks. Automating reports, generating content faster, or accelerating workflows may feel like progress and in some ways, it is. But efficiency alone is not transformation.

If teams simply plug AI into old systems and processes, they’re likely to get faster results but not necessarily better ones. This approach limits innovation and leaves much of AI’s potential untapped.

Avoiding the Efficiency Trap

Transformation means more than doing the same work faster. It requires rethinking:

  • Decision-Making: Using AI not just to accelerate decisions, but to make smarter, more predictive, and data-informed choices that drive better outcomes.

  • Domain Engagement: Leveraging domain expertise in combination with AI to personalize strategies at scale, solve operational challenges proactively, and provide insights that lead to deeper, more meaningful interactions. Rather than generic automation, this approach ensures solutions are grounded in real-world process knowledge, making AI recommendations relevant, trusted, and actionable.

  • Collaboration: Breaking down silos and enabling cross-functional teams to work together using shared AI-driven insights through a secure, integrated platform. By providing a cybersecure, single source of truth, teams across operations, engineering, and commercial functions can align on real-time data and optimization decisions without compromising system integrity or data protection. This ensures consistent, collaborative decision-making while maintaining the highest security standards.

  • Leadership Mindset: Shifting from “how do we do this faster?” to “how do we do this better, smarter, and more impactfully?”
Domain Expertise Still Matters

A critical element of true AI transformation is the integration of deep domain expertise. AI cannot, and should not, replace process knowledge, operational intuition, or industry experience. Instead, it should amplify the expertise of engineers, operators, and decision-makers, helping them make better, faster, and more confident decisions.

Without domain context, AI outputs risk being misaligned with operational realities, leading to superficial improvements instead of real optimization.

At Imubit, we understand and apply this balance. Our Closed Loop AI Optimization (AIO) solution is built and continuously refined with input from experienced process engineers and operations experts, ensuring that the technology reflects the complex realities of the refining, petrochemical, and other heavy process industries. We don’t expect our customers to “go it alone”. We supplement their internal teams with specialized expertise to bridge gaps, interpret AI outputs in context, and collaboratively drive sustainable value.

This combination of AI innovation and human process expertise is what enables real transformation beyond just faster decisions. It’s about smarter decisions that create lasting impact.

Transformation in Practice

At Imubit, we’ve designed our AIO solution to drive this organizational mindset shift. Over the past half-decade, we’ve tested, iterated, and honed our approach to advancing customers’ AI and optimization strategy maturity in 100+ closed loop applications.

Imubit’s AIO just about automating workflows; it enables teams to:

  • Optimize in Real Time: Closed-loop optimization continuously updates plant operating targets based on live conditions and market dynamics—not just faster, but smarter. 

  • Bridge Operations and Commercial Strategy: AIO provides economic optimization across silos, aligning technical teams with business objectives in ways traditional tools cannot. 

  • Incorporate Human Expertise: Imubit’s AIO is built with and for domain experts. It integrates first-principles models, process knowledge, and machine learning to ensure decisions are grounded in real-world operational logic. 

  • Create Organizational Learning Loops: AIO fosters ongoing knowledge transfer between the system and the operations team, embedding learning and adaptation into daily workflows.

This isn’t just about adopting a new tool—it’s about changing how operators, engineers, and commercial teams collaborate, solve problems, and create value.

Why This Matters Now

Companies that treat AI as a plug-in efficiency tool risk falling behind those who use it as a catalyst for innovation. The competitive advantage isn’t just in automation—it’s in creating new value, discovering smarter ways of working, and reimagining operational and commercial alignment.

Don’t Just Convert—Transform

AI adoption isn’t optional. It’s happening organically at all levels of organizations, and it’s never been more time-sensitive to develop an AI strategy because how you adopt it makes all the difference. Here’s the real question every organization should ask:

“Are we using AI to change how we think, collaborate, and grow or just to do the same things faster?”

Leaders who choose transformation over simple conversion—and who respect the critical role of domain expertise—will unlock the true potential of AI. The result is not just efficiency gains, but sustainable growth, innovation, and long-term competitive advantage.

Technology adoption is the first step. Mindset and expertise are the multipliers. Learn how industry leaders CITGO, Oxbow, and Big West Oil have successfully transformed in our on-demand webinar.