3 ways artificial intelligence is changing Houston's future

Guest column

Artificial intelligence is changing Houston — one industry at a time. Photo via Getty Images

Artificial intelligence is the buzzword of the decade. From grocery shopping assistance to personal therapy apps, AI has sunk its teeth into every single industry. Houston is no exception to the AI boom. Enterprise-level companies and startups are already flocking to H-town to make their mark in AI and machine learning.

Since the world is generating more data every minute — 1,736 terabytes to be exact — Houston-based companies are already thinking ahead about how to make sense of all of that information in real-time. That's where AI comes in. By 2021, 80 percent of emerging technologies will have AI foundations — Houston is already ninth on the list of AI-ready cities in the world.

AI and machine learning can process large amounts of data quickly and use that data to inform decisions much like a human would. Here are three ways Houston-based companies are using these emerging technologies to revolutionize the city's future.

Health care

The health care industry is primed for AI's personalization capabilities. Each patient that doctors and nurses encounter has different symptoms, health backgrounds, and prescriptions they have to remember. Managing that amount of information can be dangerous if done incorrectly. With AI, diseases are diagnosed quicker, medications are administered more accurately, and nurses have help monitoring patients.

Decisio Health Inc., a Houston-based health tech startup has already made its mark in the healthcare industry with its AI software helping to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Their software, in collaboration with GE Healthcare Inc, allows health care providers to remotely monitor patients. By looking at data from ventilators, patient monitoring systems, health records, and other data sources, doctors can make better decisions about patients from a safe distance.

Climate change

Climate change isn't solved overnight. It's an issue that covers water salinity, deforestation, and even declining bee populations. With a problem as large as climate change, huge amounts of data are collected and need to be analyzed. AI can interpret all of that information, show possible future outcomes, track current weather patterns, and find solutions to environmental destruction.

One Houston-based company in the energy tech industry, Enovate Upstream, has created a new AI platform that will help digitize the oil and gas sector. Their AI-powered platform looks at data from digital drilling, digital completions, and digital production, to give oil companies real-time production forecasting. Their work will hopefully make their oil production more efficient and reduce their carbon emission output. Since oil drilling and fracking are a major cause for concern around climate change, their work will make a difference in slowing climate change and make their industry as a whole more climate-conscious.

Energy

Energy is an industry rich with data opportunities—and as Houston's energy sector grows, AI has become a core part of their work. Houston's large influence in the energy sector has primed it for AI integration from startups like Adapt2 Solutions Inc. By using AI and machine learning in their software, they hope to help energy companies make strategic predictions on how to serve energy to the public efficiently. Their work has become especially important in the wake of COVID-19 and the resulting changing energy needs.

Another Houston-based company using AI to influence the energy industry is the retail energy startup Evolve Energy. Their AI and machine learning system help customers find better prices on fluctuating renewable resource—helping them save money on electricity and reducing emissions. The positive feedback from the public on their AI model has shown how energy companies are using emerging technologies like AI in a positive way in their communities.

The bottom line

Houston is more primed than most cities to integrate AI and machine learning into every industry. While there are valid concerns as to how much we should lean on technology for necessary daily tasks, it's clear that AI isn't going anywhere. And it's clear that Houston is currently taking the right steps to continue its lead in this emerging AI market.

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Natasha Ramirez is a Utah-based tech writer.

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Houston is a top city for female entrepreneurs, according to a recent study. Getty Images

Houston named top city for female entrepreneurs, 2 local startups collaborate, and more innovation news

Short stories

Houston's innovation ecosystem has been booming with news, and it's likely some might have fallen through the cracks.

For this roundup of short stories within Houston innovation, Houston is recognized for its female-friendly business community, Texas ranks as top for gig economy, the latest Chevron investment is in nuclear energy, and more.

Houston named among top cities for female entrepreneurs

Houston ranked No. 11 on a new study on top cities for female business owners. Via fundera.com

According to a new study from Fundera, Houston ranks among the top 15 cities for female entrepreneurs in the United States. The Bayou City came in at No. 11 based on data pulled from The American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau as well as the Tax Foundation. Metrics included:

  • Percent of self-employed business owners who are women — 18 percent of total score.
  • Percent of women employed in their own business — 18 percent of total score.
  • Earnings gap between male and female business owners — 18 percent of total score.
  • Housing cost as a percent of earnings for female entrepreneurs — 18 percent of total score.
  • Percent of residents with bachelor's degree, denoting high-skilled workforce — 9 percent of total score.
  • Job growth — 9 percent of total score.
  • Tax rates — 9 percent of total score.

"One of the most diverse cities in the country, Houston is also good to its women entrepreneur population," the study reads. "Its biggest strength here, however, may be in its job growth numbers, which were likely impacted by 2020's coronavirus pandemic. It remains to be seen whether the city's strong economic numbers will continue in the years to come."

Lubbock, the only other Texas city to crack the top 15, came in at No. 13.

Galen Data and Zibrio team up with new partnership

A Houston company's balance tracking technology is tapping into another Houston company's cloud technology. Photo courtesy of Zibrio

Houston-based tech companies, Galen Data and Zibrio, have announced a new medical device partnership. Zibrio's SmartScale, which can measure and track physical balance to identify an person's chance of falling, will be able to leverage the Galen CloudTM in order to securely connect data from the device with a patient's physician to support remote patient care.

"Our partnership with Zibrio is a case study in helping an early stage medical device company focus on what they do best," says Galen Data CEO Chris DuPont in a news release. "Galen Data provided outside expertise that has saved Zibrio the needless cost and burden of designing a cloud solution from scratch."

According to the release, the CDC reports that 28 percent of individuals over 65 fall each year, and falls are the leading cause of accidental death in those over 65. Amid the pandemic, the Australian PT Association found an increase in fall right of up to 30 percent.

"With COVID-19 impacting activities of older adults, it was even more critical to find a cost-effective solution to better track, manage, and analyze balance data from our SmartScale," says Zibrio founder and CEO, Katharine Forth, in the release.

IGNITE Madness startup applications close Sept. 4

Ignite Healthcare Network, a health tech startup group that promotes and advances female entrepreneurs, is closing startup applications for its October 22 and 29 event, Ignite Madness. The competition mimics a March Madness-style bracket and will be judged by 10 judges.

The brackets include:

  1. Mental /Behavioral Health
  2. Telemedicine/Remote Patient Monitoring
  3. Medical Devices
  4. Patient Engagement
  5. Employee Wellness
  6. Population Health/Analytics
  7. Femtech/Women's Health
  8. WILDCARD: Other Disruptive Solutions
Apply online for up to $300,000 in cash and prizes.

Texas named the 6th best state for freelance and gig workers

Gig workers are welcome in Texas. Screenshot via directlyapply.com

A job discovery platform, DirectlyApply, has identified the best gig economies to work in and Texas ranked as No. 6. The study looked at nine cost and job opportunity factors, which included the cost of living, the number of restaurants and attractions, the number of advertised gig roles, etc.

Texas has a reported 4,859 gig jobs and 16 gig companies operating locally, and the state sports an average gas price of $0.63 a liter and $1,422 a month to rent an apartment. New York, Florida, California, Ohio, and Illinois ranked ahead of Texas, respectively. The full study is available online.

Adapt2 Solutions recognized with award

Jason Kram is the executive vice president of Adapt2 Solutions. Photo courtesy of Adapt2 Solutions

Houston AI software company, Adapt2 Solutions, has been selected as the winner of the "Best AI Solution for Big Data" award in the 2020 AI Breakthrough Awards program conducted by AI Breakthrough. The awards recognize artificial intelligence and machine learning innovation. This year, the contest saw more than 2,750 nominations from over 15 different countries throughout the world, according to a news release.

"Energy enterprises are dealing with an increasingly complex and ever-changing landscape, including increased renewables, volatile markets, and increased pace of technology innovation for each of the commodity market," says James Johnson, managing director of AI Breakthrough, in the release.

"Adapt2 Solutions is in a unique position to support energy companies with powerful artificial intelligence technology to help their operations to automate, optimize and maintain a competitive advantage. We want to recognize this achievement by awarding them with 'Best AI Solution for Big Data' and we extend a hearty congratulations to the entire Adapt2 team on their well-deserved industry recognition."

The win comes at a strategic time for the company. Adapt2's predictive analytics models forecast unexpected fluctuations in power capacity. Amid the pandemic, this technology enables energy companies to map out demand at a time when they're balancing strained revenue and squeezed spending is paramount, Executive Vice President Jason Kram previously told InnovationMap.

"In times of disruption, big data can inform decision-making for energy companies to optimize energy-market operations with timely and reliable data," Kram says.

Houston Methodist introduces contactless temperature screening

Houston Methodist has set up over a hundred contactless temp checks across its facilities. Photo courtesy of Houston Methodist

Houston Methodist has incorporated new technology from care.ai, an AI-powered temperature monitoring platform, to conduct contactless temperature checks for visitors across 100 locations throughout eight hospitals and 36 physician clinics.

Upon entrance to designated areas, visitors stand in front of a tablet that scans an individual's temperature through the use of thermal technology aimed at the forehead. The technology aims to speed up screening measures and free up staff from the checkpoints. Should a visitor have an elevated skin temperature out of normal range, Methodist staff is contacted.

Chevron invests in nuclear fusion startup

The latest investment from CTV is in nuclear energy. Photo via chevron.com/technology/technology-ventures

Chevron's investment arm, Chevron Technology Ventures, recently announced an investment in Seattle-based Zap Energy Inc., which is working on a modular nuclear reactor. CTV sees nuclear energy as a promising avenue for innovation "across the globe access to affordable, reliable, and ever-cleaner energy," according to a news release.

"We see fusion technology as a promising low-carbon future energy source," says Barbara Burger, president of CTV, in a release. "Our Future Energy Fund investment in Zap Energy adds to Chevron's portfolio of companies we believe are likely to have a role in the energy transition."

This Series A investment is the 10th for Chevron's Future Energy Fund, which focuses on investments in companies that enable macro decarbonization, the mobility-energy nexus, and energy decentralization.

"Our Future Energy Fund investments provide us with strategic insight into power generation markets and potentially disruptive impacts of innovative approaches, like fusion, geothermal, wind, and solar, on the conventional power value chain," says Burger.

Houston-based Adapt2 Solutions has created AI-backed technology to help energy companies make strategic predictions in these unprecedented times. Getty Images

Houston startup uses AI and data to predict energy usage across sectors

crystal ball

Among the many complications presented by the coronavirus pandemic is coping with power needs. Movie theaters, malls, schools, and stadiums are among the places where energy use has been uneven at best. And the unevenness promises to continue as a lot of locations turn the lights back on but their operating hours remain in flux.

Houston-based Adapt2 Solutions Inc. believes its software can help energy companies power their way through the pandemic-driven haziness of power demand from commercial and residential customers.

"Today's energy companies need the speed and flexibility that cloud-native technology provides to fully leverage the massive amounts of data available to them," Jason Kram, executive vice president of Adapt2 Solutions, said in a December 2019 release.

Kram says that by capitalizing on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud computing, his company's predictive analytics models forecast unexpected fluctuations in power capacity. Amid the pandemic, this technology enables energy companies to map out demand at a time when they're balancing strained revenue and squeezed spending is paramount, according to Kram.

Armed with this forecast data, Adapt2 Solutions' customers — including utility companies, energy traders, and power generators — can more easily plot power production, sales, and purchases, Kram tells InnovationMap. This data can be applied to conventional power, renewable energy, and battery-stored power.

"In times of disruption, big data can inform decision-making for energy companies to optimize energy-market operations with timely and reliable data," Kram says.

Adapt2 Solutions' load forecasting feature generates the predictive analytics models. This feature is embedded within the company's Adapt2 Bid-to-Bill flagship product, which helps energy companies manage front-office and back-office operations. Its other products are Adapt2 Green, designed for the renewable energy market, and Adapt2 Trade-to-Tag, aimed at improving management of energy trades.

"With Adapt2's AI-enabled solutions, we strive to help more customers focus on their core operations and bring business units together on a single platform to create an integrated approach," Kram says.

The company's customers include Consolidated Edison Inc. (ConEd), Duke Energy Corp., the East Kentucky Electric Cooperative, Exelon Corp., Invenergy LLC, Sempra Energy, the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Tyr Energy LLC, and Vistra Energy Corp.

Adapt2 Solutions employs about 40 people, Kram says, and plans to grow its revenue and headcount by 25 percent to 40 percent this year. He says Adapt2 Solutions has managed to turn a profit even though it hasn't taken any outside funding since Francisco Diaz founded the company in 2008.

In March, Inc. magazine placed Adapt2 Solutions at No. 222 on its inaugural list of the fastest-growing private companies in Texas. The company's revenue shot up 72 percent from 2016 to 2018.

"The growth in our business reflects a growth in our customers' business, further validating that we have taken the right steps to help energy enterprises better respond to market and technology changes," Diaz said in a March release.


Jason Kram is the executive vice president of Adapt2 Solutions. Photo courtesy of Adapt2 Solutions

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Houston VC funding surged nearly 50% in Q1 2026, report says

VC victories

First-quarter venture capital funding for Houston-area startups climbed nearly 50 percent compared to the same time last year, according to the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor.

In Q1 2026, Houston-area startups raised $532.3 million, a 49 percent jump from $320.2 million in Q1 2025, according to the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor.

However, the Q1 total fell 23 percent from the $671.05 million raised in Q4 2025.

Among the first-quarter funding highlights in Houston were:

  • Utility Global, which focuses on industrial decarbonization, announced a first close of $100 million for its Series D round.
  • Sage Geosystems raised a $97 million Series B round to support its geothermal energy storage technology.

Those funding rounds underscore Houston’s evolution as a magnet for VC in the energy sector.

“Today, the energy sector is increasingly extending into the startup economy as venture capital flows into companies developing the technologies that will shape the future of global energy,” the Greater Houston Partnership says.

The energy industry accounted for nearly 40 percent of Houston-area VC funding last year, according to market research and lead generation service Growth List.

Adding to Houston’s stature in VC for energy startups are investors like Chevron Technology Ventures, the investment arm of Houston-based oil and gas giant Chevron; Goose Capital; Mercury Fund; and Quantum Energy Partners.

How Houston innovators played a role in the historic Artemis II splashdown

safe landing

Research from Rice University played a critical role in the safe return of U.S. astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis II mission this month.

Rice mechanical engineer Tayfun E. Tezduyar and longtime collaborator Kenji Takizawa developed a key computational parachute fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis system that proved vital in NASA’s Orion capsule’s descent into the Pacific Ocean. The FSI system, originally developed in 2013 alongside NASA Johnson Space Center, was critical in Orion’s three-parachute design, which slowed the capsule as it returned to Earth, according to Rice.

The model helped ensure that the parachute design was large enough to slow the capsule for a safe landing while also being stable enough to prevent the capsule from oscillating as it descended.

“You cannot separate the aerodynamics from the structural dynamics,” Tezduyar said in a news release. “They influence each other continuously and even more so for large spacecraft parachutes, so the analysis must capture that interaction in a robustly coupled way.”

The end result was a final parachute system, refined through NASA drop tests and Rice’s computational FSI analysis, that eliminated fluctuations and produced a stable descent profile.

Apart from the dynamic challenges in design, modeling Orion’s parachutes also required solving complex equations that considered airflow and fabric deformation and accounted for features like ringsail canopy construction and aerodynamic interactions among multiple parachutes in a cluster.

“Essentially, my entire group was dedicated to that work, because I considered it a national priority,” Tezduyar added in the release. “Kenji and I were personally involved in every computer simulation. Some of the best graduate students and research associates I met in my career worked on the project, creating unique, first-of-its-kind parachute computer simulations, one after the other.”

Current Intuitive Machines engineer Mario Romero also worked on Orion during his time at NASA. From 2018 to 2021, Romero was a member of the Orion Crew Capsule Recovery Team, which focused on creating likely scenarios that crewmembers could encounter in Orion.

The team trained in NASA’s 6.2-million-gallon pool, using wave machines to replicate a range of sea conditions. They also simulated worst-case scenarios by cutting the lights, blasting high-powered fans and tipping a mock capsule to mimic distress situations. In some drills, mock crew members were treated as “injured,” requiring the team to practice safe, controlled egress procedures.

“It’s hard to find the appropriate descriptors that can fully encapsulate the feeling of getting to witness all the work we, and everyone else, did being put into action,” Romero tells InnovationMap. “I loved seeing the reactions of everyone, but especially of the Houston communities—that brought me a real sense of gratitude and joy.”

Intuitive Machines was also selected to support the Artemis II mission using its Space Data Network and ground station infrastructure. The company monitored radio signals sent from the Orion spacecraft and used Doppler measurements to help determine the spacecraft's precise position and speed.

Tim Crain, Chief Technology Officer at Intuitive Machines, wrote about the experience last week.

"I specialized in orbital mechanics and deep space navigation in graduate school,” Crain shared. “But seeing the theory behind tracking spacecraft come to life as they thread through planetary gravity fields on ultra-precise trajectories still seems like magic."

Rice Alliance names first head of platform & more innovation headlines

Trending News

Editor's note: The top April innovation headlines to know include Rice Alliance's newly minted head of platform and FDA approval for a local medtech startup. Below are the five most-read InnovationMap stories from April 1-15, 2026:

1. Rice Alliance names Houston healthtech exec as first head of platform

The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship has named its first head of platform. Houston entrepreneur Laura Neder stepped into the newly created role last month, according to an email from Rice Alliance. Neder will focus on building and growing Houston’s Venture Advantage Platform. The emerging platform, which is being promoted by Rice Alliance and the Ion, aims to connect founders with the "people, capital and expertise they need to scale." Continue reading.

2. Houston medtech startup clears FDA approval for new surgical tool

Prana Surgical has developed a minimally invasive, image-guided, single-use tissue extraction tool. Photo via LinkedIn

Houston-based Prana Surgical will soon bring a new electrosurgical tool to operating rooms around the country. The Prana System officially cleared U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval earlier this month. Prana Surgical began as Prana Thoracic in 2022. Back then, the company primarily focused on developing screening tools for lung cancer diagnosis. It raised $6 million in series A funding rounds in 2023 and 2024 before transitioning to broader surgical needs in 2025. Continue reading.

3. Houston leads U.S. in population growth for 2025, Census says

The 10-county Houston metro added 126,720 residents from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025. Photo via Getty Images

Imagine that the Houston metro area swallowed a city the size of Pearland in just one year. That’s essentially what happened from 2024 to 2025, with the Houston metro ranking first in the U.S. for population growth based on the number of people. New estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show the 10-county Houston metro added 126,720 residents from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025. That’s just shy of Pearland’s roughly 133,000-resident tally. Continue reading.

4. 8+ can't-miss Houston business and innovation events in April


From the Rice Business Plan Competition to the Veterans Business Battle, here's what not to miss in April and how to register. Photo courtesy the Ion

Houston's weeklong innovation festival kicked off April, followed by Rice University's globally recognized pitch competition returning for its 26th year. Plus, find coworking pop-ups, industry meetups, pitch battles and even a crawfish boil on the calendar. Continue reading.

5. Houston unicorn closes $421M to fuel first phase of flagship energy project

Tim Latimer, CEO and co-founder of Fervo Energy. Photo courtesy of Fervo Energy

Houston geothermal unicorn Fervo Energy has closed $421 million in non-recourse debt financing for the first phase of its flagship Cape Station project in Beaver County, Utah. Fervo believes Cape Station can meet the needs of surging power demand from data centers, domestic manufacturing and an energy market aiming to use clean and reliable power. According to the company, Cape Station will begin delivering its first power to the grid this year and is expected to reach approximately 100 megwatts of operating capacity by early 2027. Fervo added that it plans to scale to 500 megawatts. Continue reading.

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