While commercial risks exist for companies failing to adopt artificial intelligence, maritime business leaders must take a critical, structured approach to deploying this rapidly evolving technology, advised technology experts at the recent Demystifying AI in Maritime Summit organized by Intent Communications and Consulting.
The summit brought together digital and AI leaders from across mainstream technology, road, rail, aviation, commercial law, healthcare, and finance. The event bridged the gap between rapid technological evolution and maritime’s unique operational requirements, delivering cross-industry learning and actionable strategic insights.
“We must be thoughtful in our adoption of this rapidly changing tool; it’s essential we understand and mitigate the risks as much as possible, pinpoint where the biggest value is at an industry-wide and company level, develop our own guidance and best practice, work with regulators, and not only prepare our workforce for the changes ahead but listen and include them at the center of this change.”
Balancing hype, trust, and operational risk
Summit sessions delivered a practical blueprint for boardrooms: cutting through AI hype, evaluating use cases, preparing sea- and shore-based workforces, managing change, and fortifying cybersecurity against expanding threat surfaces.
Grant Allen, Technology Program Manager at Google, noted, “AI offers so much potential and great things can be done with it, but we should never forget that it is humans grappling with that tool. If it sounds like a people and change management problem, then it is; winning over hearts and minds is key. If people don’t believe there is a future for them using AI, then they won't use it.”
A core consensus emerged: AI readiness relies on clean, structured data foundations to prevent errors and hallucinations. Furthermore, organizations must recognize that AI acts as a risk multiplier, opening new avenues for cyber threats across interconnected supply chains.
Daisy Radford, Principal at global risk consultancy Control Risks, highlighted, “The same things supercharging our tasks are supercharging cyberattacks too and creating a bigger attack surface. It is not just your own adoption of new tools to consider, but suppliers and the suppliers of suppliers. The number of vulnerabilities is compounding and paths are increasing to more easily access critical systems.”
A year-long industry campaign
The summit marks a major milestone in Intent Communications and Consulting’s broader, year-long Digitalization and AI in Maritime campaign, which includes a series of executive roundtables and an upcoming industry insights report.
Chris Greenwood, Commercial Director for Western Europe & Americas at Bureau Veritas Marine and Offshore (a platinum sponsor of the campaign and summit), commented: “The past year’s roundtables as part of the Demystifying Digitalization and AI in Maritime campaign have allowed us to have honest conversations about what AI means for all of us. Gatherings like this really matter, as no single organization has all the answers. By collectively having these conversations, we can ensure our ambition with this amazing technology is matched by the robust governance needed to build trust. A common theme throughout the past year is that our ability to capitalize on AI is not about technology, but about trust.”
Nadkarni added, “The Demystifying AI in Maritime Summit cut through the hype and helped attendees gain a shared understanding of the opportunities and pitfalls of AI from technology experts in their respective fields and industries. This summit forms part of our wider, year-long Digitalization and AI in Maritime campaign, to pull in knowledge about this transformative technology that is rapidly changing not only the way maritime works, but the world. We look forward to carrying these discussions forward next year.”
Intent Communications and Consulting will continue publishing campaign insights, hosting roundtables, and delivering strategic advisory throughout 2026 and 2027.
