Expand Energy Corporation EXE is taking a major step toward scaling artificial intelligence (AI) across its business by selecting Thoughtworks as its strategic technology partner. The engagement is designed to help the company move beyond isolated AI projects and build an enterprise-wide capability spanning AI strategy, platform development and production deployment.
Building an Enterprise-Wide AI Capability
As North America's largest independent natural gas producer, Expand Energy operates across exploration and production as well as energy marketing. These businesses offer significant opportunities to use AI to improve processes and unlock value. The company aims to take a coordinated approach by identifying its highest-value AI opportunities and developing the infrastructure needed to scale them across the organization.
The multi-phase engagement with Thoughtworks will combine AI strategy, use-case prioritization, machine learning platform implementation and production deployment. Expand Energy plans to have a production-ready AI solution in place by the end of 2026, aligning the initiative with its long-term strategic priorities.
Three-Pronged Approach to AI Deployment
Thoughtworks will support Expand Energy through three connected workstreams. The first will focus on identifying and prioritizing high-value AI opportunities by working with business and technical stakeholders across the company. This is intended to ensure AI investments are closely aligned with Expand Energy's strategic objectives.
The second workstream will establish the enterprise AI foundations required for broader adoption. This includes designing and beginning to implement data, platform and governance capabilities that can support AI at scale.
The third will focus on solution delivery and workforce enablement. Thoughtworks will build and deploy a high-priority AI solution while establishing an operating model for continued AI development. Expand Energy teams will also be enabled to adopt and scale AI responsibly across the organization.
EXE Is Moving From AI Pilots to Production
Expand Energy's initiative is aimed at addressing the challenges that often arise when companies attempt to scale AI beyond individual experiments. Rather than separating planning from implementation, the engagement combines strategy and delivery from the outset.
Early proof-of-concept development will provide practical insights into data readiness, integration requirements, adoption challenges and potential business value. These findings can then be used to refine the company's AI roadmap and operating model based on real-world evidence.
Laying the Groundwork for Agentic AI
The partnership also establishes an operational foundation for expanding AI into business operations. Thoughtworks highlighted the importance of moving from isolated AI experimentation toward agentic AI capable of delivering business value at scale.
For Expand Energy, the initiative combines its industry expertise and leadership commitment with Thoughtworks' experience in AI strategy, enterprise machine learning platforms, machine learning operations, responsible AI governance and workforce enablement.
By integrating AI strategy, infrastructure and solution delivery into one program, Expand Energy is positioning itself to identify promising applications and build the capabilities needed to deploy them across the business. The initiative represents an important step in the company's broader digital transformation as it seeks to make AI a scalable part of its operations.
EXE’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Expand Energy is a leading U.S.-based natural gas producer formed through the merger of Chesapeake Energy Corporation and Southwestern Energy Company. Currently, EXE has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Investors interested in the energy sector may consider some top-ranked stocks like Drilling Tools International Corporation DTI, Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. FET and Montauk Renewables, Inc. MNTK, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Drilling Tools International is a global oilfield services provider focused on supplying downhole tools used in horizontal and directional drilling. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DTI’s 2026 revenues indicates 1.6% year-over-year growth.
Forum Energy is a global oilfield products company, serving the subsea, drilling, completion, production and infrastructure sectors of the oil and natural gas industry. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FET’s 2026 earnings indicates 536.5% year-over-year growth.
Montauk Renewables is a fully integrated renewable energy company that specializes in the management, recovery and conversion of biogas into renewable energy. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MNTK’s 2026 earnings indicates 1100% year-over-year growth.
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Expand Energy Corporation (EXE): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).