Engineers who put AI on the plant floor.
Ai-OPs is a U.S. software company building AI for heavy industry: forecasts, soft sensors and control that run next to the equipment, on the site's own network. We were doing it before it had a name.
We work where the process runs.
We bring real-time optimization, predictive insight and anomaly detection to frontline processes, and we work all the way down to driving the equipment directly.
Whether it's holding froth depth in a flotation cell, balancing parallel crude units or cutting energy spend, the work happens where it matters most: the plant floor.
What we stand for.
Reliability first
A model earns a place next to your controls by holding up on data it never saw, not by looking good on a chart.
Human and AI
We build tools that give operators more reach, not tools that replace them. Writing to equipment stays a person's decision.
Honest answers
Ask us anything and you'll get a straight answer, including when a model isn't the right tool.
How we got here.
- 2019
Founded
Ai-OPs was founded by engineers, data scientists and industry veterans who saw a gap between industrial control systems and modern AI.
- 2020
First in the world
We became the first company to put reinforcement learning in direct control of an industrial process, closing the loop on real equipment.
- 2021 on
Growth
From a first deployment at a Gulf Coast refinery to partnerships with reps and integrators around the world, and Koios on sites across industries.
The team.
Phillip Hansel
CEO & Co-FounderPhillip drives the integration of AI into industrial operations through edge-based software and hardware. With over 16 years leading control systems engineering, his mission is to give engineers and operators back their time.
Curtis Wright
CAO & Co-FounderCurtis is a mechanical engineer with experience across defense, energy, and oil and gas. He pioneered the use of reinforcement learning for direct control of industrial processes and brings expertise in AI, optimization and machine learning.
Ryan Hutchison
CTO & Co-FounderRyan brings deep expertise in engineering, systems integration and software development. After more than a decade as a systems integrator, he focuses on technology strategy and building scalable, reliable architectures.
Connor Smith
CPO & Co-FounderConnor is an engineer who has led product design across software platforms and heavy industrial control systems. His work emphasizes functional elegance and operational clarity.
Mobile, Alabama, and partners in four regions.
Headquarters in Mobile, Alabama, with partners who bring local support to sites around the world.
Bring us your most difficult process.
Have a question, or a loop that could use a model? Tell us what you're working on and the right engineer will get back to you.