In an era marked by rapid technological advancements and ever-changing market dynamics, the oil and gas industry stands at a pivotal crossroads. Leading the charge in navigating this complex landscape is Dr. Williams Ozowe, a seasoned expert in business development, strategic planning, and digital transformations. Currently serving as the Business Consulting Lead for Digital Transformations at Honeywell Connected Enterprise in North and South America, Dr. Ozowe’s career is a testament to his expertise and vision.
At Honeywell, Dr. Ozowe has been instrumental in fostering top-level engagements between the company and executives within the oil and gas sector. His approach to digital transformation involves meticulous analysis of customer operating models, identifying value levers, and crafting robust business cases. His efforts have led to successful collaborations and strategic partnerships, transforming the way businesses operate in this traditionally conservative industry.
“Digital transformation is not just about technology; it’s about changing the way we think and operate,” says Dr. Ozowe. “By leveraging advanced analytics and AI, we can drive efficiency, reduce costs, and create more sustainable business models.” Dr. Ozowe’s role at Honeywell involves leading diagnostic workshops and projects for industrial digitalization.
He prepares project proposals, leads diagnostic study teams, and collaborates with oil and gas customers to craft their digital transformation plans and deliver final project outcomes. His independent work with Honeywell’s executive leadership on digital strategic corporate initiatives has been pivotal in developing and executing go-to-market (GTM) approaches, leading new technological product launches across the Americas, and identifying and assessing customer segments, voice of customer, and product-market fit.
One of his key achievements includes supporting sales pipeline development across the Americas, tracking the value delivery of ongoing digital transformation projects, building and consolidating case studies, and redefining organisational strategy to shift from traditional product development to value-focused selling.
Before his tenure at Honeywell, Dr. Ozowe honed his skills at McKinsey & Company, where he served as a junior engagement manager. There, he led numerous projects aimed at improving operational efficiency and developing innovative solutions for various clients. Notably, he developed a financial growth model for the oil and gas business unit of the largest convenience store chain in the US, assessed historic market trends, forecasted future performance, and identified acquisition targets to increase long-term market share by an additional 8%.
Dr. Ozowe also led the customer operations team at a leading energy utility in the development and delivery of over 40 technological and operational initiatives to improve efficiency across its operations. His efforts in evaluating existing roadmaps, recommending portfolio improvements, and establishing KPIs to track progress resulted in $27 million in annual recurring savings.
In collaboration with the senior client leadership team at a multinational energy utility, Dr. Ozowe crafted the future-state operating model of an AI-powered demand forecast and job schedule optimisation solution, which led to a 10% improvement in workforce productivity. He also oversaw the end-to-end delivery of a proof-of-concept AI predictive model into a multinational telecom’s interactive voice response architecture, achieving an 80% prediction accuracy, a 4% reduction in agent calls, and a 5% reduction in transfer calls.
Dr. Ozowe’s academic background is as impressive as his professional achievements. He holds a PhD and an MSc in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. His research focused on enhancing oil recovery through advanced technologies. His scholarly contributions include ten published papers with over 80 citations, reflecting his commitment to continuous learning and innovation. One of his master’s research projects focused on estimating oil recovery from shale—a complex process due to the low permeability, high kerogen and clay content, and intricate pore structure of organic mudrocks. Dr. Ozowe developed a novel method using pressure decline versus time data to estimate capillary pressure drainage curves in tight rocks. This innovative approach utilised transient pressure decay and total pressure drop data during confinement experiments to estimate minute increments of oil saturation in shale samples from the Bakken, Eagle Ford, and Utica formations. He also investigated the effects of shale type, particle size, and confining pressure on oil intrusion and demonstrated the ability to derive capillary pressure curves, offering valuable insights into shale wettability and permeability in both conventional and unconventional reservoirs and providing crucial insights for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) experiments.
His work presents the use of NMR as a valuable tool in examining fluid distributions and characterising fluid types within tight rocks, combining NMR T1 and T2 data. This method enhances the understanding of fluid behaviour in unconventional reservoirs, which is critical for optimising oil recovery processes. Another of Dr. Ozowe’s most notable research projects is his study on the selection of hydrocarbon gases for Huff-n-Puff Improved Oil Recovery (IOR) in shale oil reservoirs. Published in the Journal of Petroleum Science, this study has been cited 36 times and has significantly impacted the field. Dr. Ozowe simulated the use of various compositions of individual and hybrid gas mixtures in cyclic gas injection to evaluate their efficacy in improving oil recovery in shale. His results showed that hybrid hydrocarbon gas mixtures containing varying compositions of methane, ethane, and propane could outperform single-component gases like CO2 in oil recovery rates. This research eliminates the environmental and safety risks associated with CO2 usage and provides significant insights in determining cost-effective and environmentally friendly gas injection mixtures for EOR in shale oil reservoirs.
One of Dr. Ozowe’s notable achievements was during his time at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he developed automated quality control systems that drastically reduced defect rates and improved product reliability. By implementing a new QA testing framework and using statistical modelling libraries in Python, he reduced man-hours spent by 50% and decreased defect rates by 30%. His knack for integrating technology with process optimisation has been a recurring theme throughout his career, whether in pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, or oil and gas. Dr. Ozowe’s ability to build automated control charts for outlier and anomaly detection in product quality with 90% outlier detection accuracy significantly improved product reliability by 15%. His innovative approach to problem-solving and his expertise in advanced technologies have consistently delivered exceptional results.
Beyond his technical prowess, Dr. Ozowe is a natural leader who excels in executive communication and stakeholder management. His ability to articulate complex ideas and foster collaboration has earned him accolades and respect within the industry. His leadership style is characterised by a focus on continuous improvement and a deep understanding of market dynamics. Dr. Ozowe’s groundbreaking work in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), environmental impact assessments, material science for oil recovery, economic viability and risk management in hydrocarbon extraction, and advanced reservoir characterization techniques showcases his commitment to excellence. His research on estimating oil recovery from shale using innovative methods has made significant contributions to the field, providing valuable insights for the industry.
As the oil and gas industry continues to evolve, leaders like Dr. Williams Ozowe are essential for driving innovation and ensuring sustainable growth. His vision for the future is one where advanced technologies and strategic thinking converge to create more efficient, resilient, and profitable operations. “I am passionate about harnessing the latest technological advancements to improve business processes and efficiencies,” Dr. Ozowe explains. “The future of the oil and gas industry lies in our ability to adapt and innovate, and I am committed to leading this transformation.”
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