Antonio Pietri, President and CEO of Aspen Technology, Inc., recently sat down with Denise Staubach, Vice President, Marketing Programs to share his thoughts on OPTIMIZE 2021, the premier global event for companies in the capital-intensive industries that want to accelerate their digitalization journey. 

For the first time ever, OPTIMIZE will be a virtual experience where attendees will join executives, operational leaders and technology users from around the globe, making this potentially AspenTech’s largest conference to date. Registration is free and sessions have been scheduled to accommodate different time zones.

 

The Interview 

 

Denise Staubach: From your perspective Antonio, what are the three top reasons someone should attend OPTIMIZE 2021? 

Antonio Pietri: There are many good reasons, but in the context of a virtual event, a top three would certainly include:

 

1. To hear a complete rollout of our strategy and vision for capital-intensive industries around technology and new capabilities such as AIoT, hybrid modeling and the journey to the Self-Optimizing Plant. 
2. To share and participate in discussions around the innovative ways and best practices for creating value from our products and solutions, all of the ongoing and all-important digitalization conversation.
3. To understand the challenges and opportunities related to the energy transition and circular economy imperatives, the role that technology and innovation will play, and what joining The Alliance to End Plastic Waste earlier this year means for our customers (and non-customers).

 

DS: For everyone who attended OPTIMIZE 2019, what’s different about digitalization in 2021? 

AP: Our customers are accelerating their digitalization efforts, partially due to impacts from the pandemic. Businesses understand they need to be more resilient to withstand the likes of a global pandemic and more agile to react to frequent market shifts, increased competition and the urgency to implement sustainable business practices.

 

DS: Personally, what are you most looking forward to for OPTIMIZE 2021? 

AP: Three things come to mind immediately…

The first thing is all these individuals and businesses who share a common connection coming together and how this being together (even virtually) gives attendees a sense of the larger community of which they are a part.

Second is the opportunity to be with industry peers as they share their digitalization journey best practices and experiences implementing AI-powered (and other) technology.

Third has to be having the opportunity to deliver one of the plenary sessions (keynote speeches) at the event. Another benefit of being virtual is that all the plenaries will be available to a much broader audience, both live and on demand after the event.

 

DS: Any other benefits of OPTIMIZE 2021 being a virtual experience? 

AP: Yes, we are very hopeful that because the event is virtual we will see a greater number of attendees from around the world. That’s a huge benefit especially since we are a global company. To encourage attendance from other countries, we have scheduled sessions to accommodate different time zones. 

The other benefit is that attendees will be able to see more sessions held over the course of the three days because everything will be recorded and made available after the event. This is great for employees, too, who are typically unable to see much of the event.

 

DS: This year’s theme is “The Future Starts with Industrial AI.” Could you talk a bit about the significance of this? 

AP: One of the challenges our customers have had over the past few years has been trying to understand how to leverage artificial intelligence in their operations—and do this in a manner that is safe and creates value. So, by bringing customers, experts and users together we can share learnings and successes and provide more information on Industrial AI, which is embedded in all our solutions. For our customers, what that means is that we are able to deliver ready-made solutions for them. We’ve embedded the AI so they don’t have to, which saves them time and money.

 

DS: What’s the connection between digitalization and sustainability? 

AP: From the beginning, our overarching mission has been to help businesses optimize assets and processes. As a result of optimization, you consume less energy to produce the same unit of output. You also reduce waste because you are delivering a quality product the first time around. You don't have to recycle, or you recycle less. As our customers think about efficiencies going forward, they will think about it as a reduction in emissions and waste, which delivers profitability—all within the context of leveraging digital capabilities.

 

DS: Any closing thoughts? 

AP: Yes. I look forward to seeing everyone in May, and hope you take advantage of this unique opportunity to come together with peers, industry experts and technology users from around the world, to hear and share successes, and to accelerate customers’ digitalization journeys.

 

For more information on this event, and to register, please visit optimize2021.com.