BHP sets sights on enterprise-wide AI transformation

BHP is taking the next step in an enterprise-wide AI transformation, creating new practice lead roles to architect and scale AI platforms across its operations.

The newly-created AI excellence and data excellence practice leads are presently being recruited by the miner.

They are positioned in recruitment advertisements as senior representatives for the AI engineering and data domains respectively within BHP, and are expected to help the miner scale to meet its AI ambitions.

The AI excellence practice lead will, among other things, "define technical excellence for the advancement of BHP’s AI capabilities including optimisation of models, productionising at scale, strategic integration and orchestration of AI, and ensuring business use is fair, unbiased and ethically responsible."

The remit of the data excellence practice lead is similarly worded: to define "technical excellence for BHP’s global and distributed data systems, prioritising AI consumption, cross-business scalability and integration, governance and security, and total cost of ownership."

Digital Nation understands that the two roles will ultimately report through to chief technical officer Johan van Jaarsveld and group technology officer Thomas Leen, both of whom are listed as being Melbourne-based on their LinkedIn profiles.

The practice lead roles are intended to be based in “Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth or Santiago”, although BHP said it will consider other locations.

BHP has had previous forays into AI and machine learning, mostly aimed at improving exploration and recovery of minerals at various sites.

But, like other major companies, it now has much broader ambitions for the technology, with enterprise-wide adoption seemingly set as the goal, and is now assembling the core of a team to help deliver that.

BHP CEO Mike Henry was buoyant about AI’s prospects at a gathering in the US last month.

“One of the things I'm most excited about in the case of AI is we actually don't yet realise just how big the potential is,” Henry said.

“There's many things in our business where we kind of know we can spot the opportunity: we know how to get from point A to point B. 

“In the case of AI, we can see what's directly in front of us. We have some sense for the potential, but this is something where we will be sitting here in five years’ time having realised opportunities we can't even yet envision today.”

Henry noted that AI and machine learning had proven able to locate mineral deposits that people had missed in their own examination of data.

It had also helped the miner improve the efficiency of infrastructure used to extract copper from ore, and to improve equipment maintenance.

“But we've only scratched the surface here,” Henry said.

The miner is accepting applications for the practice lead roles through to May 25.