Que: What major shifts are you seeing today in the oil and gas ecosystem with the growing influence of digitalisation, and what are the key drivers pushing digitalisation in this segment?

Ans: Neerav Mehta: If you look at the oil and gas industry, the complexity and scale of projects are continuously increasing. At the same time, the need for skilled manpower, integrated information, timely decision-making, and faster project execution is also rising. Given these challenges, digitalisation plays a critical role.

When it comes to addressing complexity and the skill gap, digitalisation brings several productivity-enhancing initiatives such as automation, integrated thinking, and the removal of silos, all of which help the entire ecosystem. A major shift we are also seeing is toward sustainability. In that area, digitalisation contributes significantly through waste elimination and process simplification, which benefits the industry as a whole.

Que: How is L&T Hydrocarbon leveraging digital tools to address these specific challenges across projects?

Ans: Neerav Mehta: We initiated a core digital transformation program around 2018–2019. Our goal was to digitally transform every process and operation, moving away from manual processes, emails, and Excel files, and adopting a system-based approach.

We now capture all data digitally and integrate it onto a single platform. This allows us to create dashboards and use AI-driven tools so that information is available at the fingertips. It also improves transparency across teams. Ultimately, this helps us predict bottlenecks in advance, enabling timely interventions and better decision-making.

Que: Could you walk us through the core objectives of the Epsilon platform and the challenges it aims to solve?

Ans: Azmathullah Mohammed: When we talk about an EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) project, it involves many interconnected activities that require smooth coordination and continuous data flow. That’s where we partnered with L&T Energy Hydrocarbon to develop a project management solution called Epsilon, an integrated platform designed to digitally unify the entire EPC workflow.

Epsilon is based on Dassault Systèmes' 3DEXPERIENCE platform. It creates a virtual twin of L&T Hydrocarbon’s operations, not just ingesting data, but contextualising it across various EPC functions. This integration enables intelligent decision-making and supports sustainable project management.

We are also enhancing Epsilon with generative AI capabilities, allowing automation of tasks that were previously manual, thereby improving efficiency further.

Que: What role did Dassault Systèmes play in co-developing Epsilon, and how is it integrated with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform?

Ans: Azmathullah Mohammed: We started with a clear objective: improving efficiency across all operations while making project management more sustainable. We built a platform with 3D at the centre, enabling real-time, data-driven decision-making.

This helps optimise material and resource utilisation on-site and also allows us to redefine execution strategies. The platform supports realistic visualisation and integrates all data points across the EPC workflow, making it a powerful tool for both planning and execution.

Que: With the complexity of large EPC projects, how does the 3DEXPERIENCE platform enable better project life cycle management?

Ans: Azmathullah Mohammed: In general, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform offers pre-defined, templatised business process experiences tailored for EPC projects. These experiences help create a virtual twin of the entire asset and put a process validation layer on top of it, incorporating data from all domains involved.

The platform supports better decision-making and helps drive sustainability in operations. We're now working on embedding generative experiences, AI-powered tools that automate domain-specific tasks and processes.

We launched Generation 7 (Gen 7) of the platform in February 2025. It’s designed to support infrastructure companies, EPC firms, and owner-operators in both executing and maintaining complex projects. The virtual twins created during project execution can be extended into the operations and maintenance phase, allowing owner-operators to monitor, track, and manage maintenance activities in real time.

Neerav Mehta: From the perspective of L&T Energy Hydrocarbon, handling complex projects means isolating key pain points; for example, piping execution is one of the most challenging areas. We’ve used the Epsilon platform’s virtual twin capabilities to simplify such problems, identify bottlenecks early, and enhance collaboration through 3D visualisation. This not only helps in solving complexity but also improves overall profitability.