Global automation leader Emerson previewed key focus areas for its upcoming OPTIMIZE™ 26, the premier event for AspenTech users, taking place May 11-14, 2026 in Houston. The event will feature two tracks – process industries and power & utilities – focused on helping customers apply AI, data management, modeling and optimization and digital grid management strategies to deliver greater business impact and measurable results.
During the opening OPTIMIZE sessions, attendees will hear from senior executives and leaders across both industries. Keynote speakers for the power and utilities track include Calvin Butler, president and chief executive officer at Exelon, Chris Campbell, senior director of operational technology services at Salt River Project, Mario Suykerbuyk, executive director, digital and technology transformation, TenneT TSO B.V. and Susana Barros de Almeida de Graaff, executive director operations, TenneT TSO B.V.
Keynote speakers for the process industries track include Adriano Alfani, CEO at Versalis, Dylan Pugh, vice president engineering at ExxonMobil and Emmanuelle Brechet, vice president, data technologies at TotalEnergies. More than 100 additional customer presentations will follow across dedicated tracks.
“In an era defined by volatility and uncertainty, the next generation of industrial operations must be agile, efficient and increasingly autonomous,” said Vincent Servello, president of Emerson’s Aspen Technology business. “OPTIMIZE 26 will demonstrate how our customers are applying decades of proven domain expertise and Industrial AI to strengthen operational performance, accelerate decision making and strengthen reliability across their organizations.”
OPTIMIZE™ 26 will feature updates and insights spanning the full AspenTech portfolio, including:
- Asset Performance Management –The latest release of Aspen Mtell®, enabling companies to accelerate value realization and scale from foundational asset health monitoring to AI enabled failure prediction and continuous operational improvement.
- Digital Grid Management – Innovations supporting power generation, transmission, distribution, and pipeline operations. Highlights include the integration of AspenTech Cimphony™ Network Model Management with advanced applications built upon the AspenTech OSI monarch™ SCADA platform, helping utilities shift from system centric to data centric operations driving improved grid optimization and enterprise efficiencies.
- Industrial Artificial Intelligence – Introduction of AspenTech AVA™, an AI platform designed for industrial companies to accelerate AI adoption across the enterprise for measurable business impact. With AI-assisted recommendations embedded within operations, companies gain greater agility, efficiency and autonomy to help them respond quickly to evolving operating conditions.
- Industrial Data Platform – Advancements to the AspenTech Inmation™ Data Fabric that unify OT data into a persistent, contextualized, AI ready foundation, enabling organizations to progress from data consolidation to increasingly autonomous, enterprise wide operations.
- Manufacturing and Supply Chain – AI-powered innovations that support production optimization, including new advanced optimization capabilities for crude scheduling and blending in Aspen Unified, AI hybrid models for operational agility and new and enhanced AVA advisors in Aspen GDOT™, Aspen DMC3™ and Aspen Unified PIMS™.
- Performance Engineering – Customer case studies highlighting how AspenTech solutions accelerate concurrent Front End Engineering Design (FEED), optimize design decisions with simulation, support operations with process digital twins and unlock Industrial AI value through hybrid modeling.
- Subsurface Science & Engineering – AspenTech Subsurface Intelligence™ (ASI), an open, cloud-native agentic environment that incorporates AI to transform the user experience and accelerate subsurface-related decision making while leveraging existing investments in legacy applications.
OPTIMIZE will be attended by approximately 1,400 people representing more than 350 companies, 20 industries and 45 countries. With 30 demos and more than 210 sessions, the OPTIMIZE agenda reflects innovation across Emerson’s AspenTech portfolio and examples of customers driving significant operational performance at their organization.
