Energy companies need to integrate new functions in order to better utilize data, says this expert

Using APIs, organizations can more easily combine their own internal data. Getty Images

Houston, home to one of Cognite's U.S. headquarters, is the energy capital of the world. But while many oil and gas industry players and partners come together here, much of the data they use — or want to employ — remains siloed.

There's no lack of data. Connected devices are a wellspring of enterprise resource planning data, depth-based trajectories, piping and instrumentation diagrams, and sensor values. But incompatible operational data systems, poor data infrastructure, and restricted data access prevent organizations from easily combining data to solve problems and create solutions.

We understand these challenges because we work alongside some of the biggest operators, OEMs and engineering companies in the oil and gas business. Lundin Petroleum, Aker Energy OMV, and Aker BP are among our customers, for example.

Flexible, open application programming interfaces can address the challenges noted above. APIs enable users to search, filter and do computations on data without downloading full data sets. And they abstract the complexity of underlying storage formats.

As a result, data scientists and process engineers can access data in an efficient manner, spending more time on their use cases and less effort contending with technical details. Using APIs, organizations can more easily combine their own internal data. APIs also simplify the process of using data from industry partners and other sources.

Most companies have slightly different work processes. But common API standards can help a company combine software services and platforms from others in a way that matches its own business logic and internal processes. That can allow the company to differentiate itself from competitors by employing services from the best suppliers to create innovative solutions.

Standardizing APIs across the oil and gas industry would open the door to a community of developers, which could create custom applications and connect existing market solutions. Then more new and exciting applications and services would reach the market faster.

To ensure adoption and success of such a standardization effort, the APIs would need to be well crafted and intuitive to use. These APIs would have to include the business logic required to perform the operations to empower users. In addition, APIs would need to define and allow for the sharing of desired information objects in a consistent way.

Best practices in defining common APIs for sharing data within the industry include:

  • Introducing APIs iteratively, driven by concrete use cases with business value
  • Ensuring all services using the API provide relevant output and insights in a structured machine-readable format, enabling ingestion into the API to ensure continuous enrichment of the data set
  • Making all data searchable
  • Preventing underlying technology from being exposed through the APIs to ensure continuous optimization and allow companies to implement their technology of choice
  • Supporting all external data sharing through an open, well-documented and well-versioned API, using the OpenAPI standard

If oil and gas industry operators define APIs, suppliers will embrace them. That will "grease" the value chain, allowing it to move with less friction and waste.

Operations and maintenance are a natural place for API harmonization to start. Standardized APIs also can enable operators to aggregate and use environmental, equipment and systems, health and safety, and other data. That will accelerate digital transformation in oil and gas and enable companies to leverage innovative solutions coming from the ecosystem, reduce waste, and improve operations, making production more sustainable.

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Francois Laborie is the general manager of Cognite North Americas.

Luther Birdzell, founder and CEO of Houston-based OAG Analytics is on a mission to democratize data for his upstream oil and gas clients. Courtesy of OAG Analytics

Houston entrepreneur is using his analytics company to change the oil and gas industry

Featured Innovator

Luther Birdzell has been on a mission to democratize data for the upstream oil and gas industry since he started his company, OAG Analytics, in 2013.

For him, there's just not enough data scientists for hire to do the same thing internally for different companies. He thought of a way where he can give clients an easy-to-use platform to have access to data that could save oil and gas companies millions of dollars. So, that's exactly what he did.

"Over the past five and a half years, we've built that platform," Birdzell says. "We are currently helping to optimize over $1 billion in capital deployment around drilling and completions."

The company has grown to 25 employees and tripled its revenue last year. The team is forecasting another year of high grow for 2019.

Birdzell spoke with InnovationMap to talk about his start in software, the company's growth, and why nonprofit work has been important to him as a business leader.

InnovationMap: Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

Luther Birdzell: When I was about two years old, my grandfather ran a meat business in New York City — in the meatpacking district, back when that area actually had meat packers. It just was in my bones from a really young age that I wanted to start a business.

IM: How did you get into software development?

LB: I studied electrical engineering in college. For my first seven years, I worked within consulting, implementing systems that made data more valuable to subject matter experts. I was primarily supporting management teams and mostly tech teams.

Then, I met the founders of iTKO, who were doing software testing for clients, and I helped them figure out a way that was complementary to what they were doing. We took a capability that can enable software developers that can help companies reduce their data center costs by a lot. It was a capability that was really restricted to specialized programing. Together we figured out how to make that a capability that anyone in an IT company used. That resulted in companies being able to higher fewer people to maintain servers, as well as reduce other costs. Companies were saving of millions of dollars per year per project.

IM: When did the idea for OAG come to you?

LB: Computer Associates bought iTKO from us in 2011. When I resigned from CA in 2013, it was very clear to me that artificial intelligence, big data, machine learning, and the cloud, were all tech ingredients for adding more value to data. Then the oil and gas business came into focus.

When I founded OAG Analytics, our mission then — and still is today — was to build a platform for the upstream oil and gas industry that enables them to manage their data, introduces world-class machine learning in minutes without having to write a single line of code, and allow them to run simulations on the resulting analysis.

IM: What makes OAG successful?

LB: My vision was to create a platform that could be trusted to support billions of dollars of capital optimization through transparency and control. A black box doesn't work for the kind of problems we're helping our customers optimize. They need something that's easy to use, simple, powerful, and also gives them complete control.

IM: What's the barrier of success for your clients?

LB: We have customers who have increased their capital efficiency on drilling programs that are about $500 million by over 25 percent, while still getting the same amount of oil out of the ground.

IM: What was the early reception like?

LB: We found a lot of interest in talking about how it works. In 2013, 2014, 2015, well over half the industry knew enough about this technology from other industries to have high confidence that it would affect the oil and gas industry one day. They were willing to spend an hour or two on what it is and how it works. But the number of companies who were really willing to invest in a meaningful way was really small.

There were companies, like EOG Resources, for example started spending millions of dollars developing this technology in house. Other companies seeing EOG and Anadarko success, raised the bar on the level of proof.

There's an increasing number of companies in the industry who realize that AI isn't a futuristic thing anymore. There are companies using it today, and the companies using it right are making more money. But, they're learning it's hard to do right. It could take years and millions of dollars to develop this yourself, but we're helping companies get up to speed in a matter of months, and our total cost for the first year is well under a million bucks to do this. They want us to train them how to use it, then act as support, rather than run it all for them.

IM: Do you plan to stay in just upstream oil and gas?

LB: We're 100 percent focused on upstream oil and gas, and always have been, but as we continue to grow, we're going to follow the market and what customers want. Repurposing our platform for other applications in oil and gas, energy, and even beyond that. We're evaluating. The vision has always been to democratize AI, and oil and gas is where we started.

IM: Do you have an exit strategy?

LB: As far as exits, I get asked this a lot. I don't believe in exit strategies. I believe in building a great company. I've seen a lot of founders make a lot of mistakes trying to cut corners to get to early exits. Our goal is to be a great company, and that starts with the right vision and then getting the right people and hires.

IM: How has Houston been as a place to have a startup in energy?

LB: Houston is unparalleled in the oil patch or the ability to support day trips. There's two airports and tons of direct flights to other cities in the oil patch. It's the only city you can cover all the other cities from with day trips. The efficiency of being able to be on site with customers is such an advantage.

There are a lot of industry experts in and around Houston, but a startup software company works very differently from an oil company. I think we have a long road ahead of us before we have an ecosystem in place to support startups and give them the best chance of success. Some of that comes from advisers, some from the ecosystem, and some part of it just takes time. But once those pieces come into play, talent follows. I think Houston is a very natural hub for energy tech.

IM: Volunteering is an important part of your business. Why is that something you've focused on?

LB: Something in the DNA of our business is giving back. We do that through direct community action. We've volunteered as a company, and we're always on the lookout for ways we can engage with and make the most contribution to the community. We do this primarily for personal reasons, but the universe has been very generous over my career with reciprocating a professional upside.

You volunteer in high school to get into college, then maybe some in college. And you might think, "oh that's for philanthropists or retired people and I'll get back to that later." But the reality of that is it feels better doing some of that now, so we do.

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Portions of this interview have been edited.

Andrew Bruce had the idea for Data Gumbo when he realized how difficult it was to share data in upstream oil and gas. Courtesy of Data Gumbo

Data Gumbo CEO discusses Houston's startup ecosystem and goals for his company

Featured innovator

For Andrew Bruce, an oil and gas professional and entrepreneur, there's nothing like Houston.

"I've lived in Boston, New York, and London, and I've spent a lot of time in Norway," Bruce says. "They are all wonderful places, but I've never experienced anything quite like Houston."

After a long career in oil and gas, Bruce found himself a victim of the oil downturn. Once laid off, he decided to focus on a new idea for a way to provide access to upstream oil and gas data to companies. He founded Data Gumbo Corp., a blockchain-as-a-service company based in Houston, in 2016. The company closed its seed round last year and is moving toward a series A.

While Bruce credits his trajectory from laid off to startup CEO to a lot of hard work and a bit of blind luck, he says that Houston's people and the help they are willing to provide has been extremely beneficial to the growth of Data Gumbo.

"I'm just brainstorming, but I think a lot of [what makes Houston great for startups] comes from the fact that we all recognize the cyclical nature of the oil and gas industry, we are obligated to look out for each other even when people are laid off," Bruce says. "Maybe it comes from that kind of recognition that we're all in this together and we have to try to work through it."

InnovationMap: Tell me a little bit about your background.

Andrew Bruce: Started out as a programmer, and was transferred from New York City to Houston to build a consulting practice for financial systems. My background originally in London was building systems for the deregulation of banking industry that was happening in the mid 80s.

When I came to houston, I got involved in energy trading systems. I built a small software startup, and eventually got involved in National Oilwell Varco and the drilling business. As part of that, I kicked off a program called NOVOS to build an autonomous drilling rig. Came across the challenge of not having access to data for that rig. Data Gumbo was a direct result of that.

I started Data Gumbo to solve the problem of not being able to get data from industrial installations. Along the way, I came across the opportunity for blockchain because the real problem people were trying to solve was mistrust and inefficiency of the process. I stumbled into blockchain kind of backwards.

IM: How does Data Gumbo work?

AB: The whole idea is to build out the blockchain network, and provide a network that they can subscribe to and start doing business on that network. It's a service, so there's a subscription fee. It gives them access to the savings they already have available within their organizations.

IM: Who are the type of customers you're looking for?

AB: Midstream and upstream oil and gas companies, and the service companies that serve them.

IM: What was the reception like at first?

AB: Difficult. We got a lot of questions and concerns about what blockchain is, why they need it, and whether or not they can trust it. We were introducing a completely new concept to a conservative industry.

IM: What were some challenges and opportunities?

AB: No. 1 is the Operators Blockchain Consortium, which was 19 different oil companies coming together to understand blockchain and its opportunities. That's helped. And 75 percent of our early calls were sort of evangelism of explaining blockchain and how it's different from cryptocurrency. So, it was an educational process. The industry was independently going down the road of understanding the technology. And, to be perfectly honest, it was a bit of blind luck that we chose this technology that the industry was getting behind anyways.

IM: What doors does your recently closed seed round open?

AB: Now we're pursuing a series A equity round. Seed was a bridge to equity funding. It was primarily individuals in town who got behind the company and believed in what we were trying to do. They helped open some doors, but primarily it was financing to get us to series A and prove the concepts from a sales and product market fit perspective.

IM: What are you long-term goals for Data Gumbo?

AB: To take the company public and to remain independent. We believe that we want to provide a service to the customers that is independent from any other offers. We want to stay true to our roots and be a blockchain network infrastructure people can trust and rely on for not just upstream oil and gas, but also getting into trucking and shipping and other adjacent industries so we can satisfy the whole supply chain.

IM: How is it being located in Houston?

AB: Houston's startup community has been amazing. When we started this journey, it had been a while since we had any entrepreneurial contacts, so it was basically like starting from scratch. Organizations like Station Houston and, later on, The Cannon helped provided great contacts. People from those organizations — and the business community as a whole — has been really generous with their time. Houston is probably second to none when it comes to people's willingness to help.

IM: What does Houston still need to work on as an innovation ecosystem?

AB: I don't think it's Houston specifically, but a generalization is that large corporations are set up to buy from large corporations. As a small company or startup to sell to a super major is difficult because the sales cycle is so long and the requirements are set up to buy from other large companies. If there was a way for creating an entrepreneurial division of these companies so that they can experiment with and support startups, that would be tremendous. If you're a startup, you should be focused on sales, but cracking that nut within a large company is really hard.

IM: What keeps you up at night as it pertains to business?

AB: People. I've viewed my roles with a huge responsibility. There are people who make a bet on a company, whether they be investors or employees, and you've got to be able to fund the company. So, whether it be through sales revenue or fundraising, making payroll and building a company that people can get a return on their investment is a huge responsibility. So, that's what keeps me up at night — making sure that I'm repaying people's faith in what we're doing.

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Portions of this interview have been edited.

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Venus Aerospace picks up investment from Lockheed Martin Ventures

space funding

Venus Aerospace, a Houston-based startup specializing in next-generation rocket engine propulsion, has received funding from Lockheed Martin Ventures, the investment arm of aerospace and defense contractor Lockheed Martin, for an undisclosed amount. The product lineup at Lockheed Martin includes rockets.

The investment follows Venus’ successful high-thrust test flight of its rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) in May. Venus says it’s the only company in the world that makes a flight-proven, high-thrust RDRE with a “clear path to scaled production.”

Venus says the Lockheed Martin Ventures investment reflects the potential of Venus’ dual-use technology for defense and commercial uses.

“Venus has proven in flight the most efficient rocket engine technology in history,” Venus co-founder and CEO Sassie Duggleby, a board member of the Texas Space Commission, said in a news release. “With support from Lockheed Martin Ventures, we will advance our capabilities to deliver at scale and deploy the engine that will power the next 50 years of defense, space, and commercial high-speed aviation.”

Chris Moran, executive director and general manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures, said Lockheed Martin has been a longtime supporter of early-stage “transformational” technologies.

“Our investment in Venus Aerospace reflects a conviction that next-generation propulsion will define which nations lead in space and defense for decades to come,” Moran added in the release. “We are committed to helping Venus scale this technology and integrate it into critical systems.”

Since its founding in 2020, Venus has secured more than $106 million in funding. In addition to Lockheed Martin Ventures, investors include Airbus Ventures, America’s Frontier Fund, Trousdale Ventures, and Prime Movers Lab. Supporters of Venus include NASA, the Air Force Research Lab and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

8+ can't-miss Houston business and innovation events for November

where to be

Editor's note: Houston’s innovation calendar is packed this November, with opportunities to connect across climatetech, health care and entrepreneurship. From Greentown Labs’ flagship summit and veteran-led showcases to discussions on medical innovation and startup growth, here's what not to miss and how to register. Please note: this article may be updated to include additional event listings.

Nov. 4 – Greentown Climatetech Summit

Greentown Labs' Climatetech Summit Houston will bring together philanthropists, executives and innovators in the energy transition space. Expect to hear from John Arnold, co-founder and co-chair of Arnold Ventures, and Greentown CEO Georgina Campbell Flatter, who will participate in the day-long event’s keynote fireside chat, along with remarks from Houston Mayor John Whitmire, a course led by TEX-E Executive Director Sandy Guitar and more. Ten Greentown Labs startups will present pitches, and attendees will also be able to meet founders and Greentown members during the afternoon startup showcase.

This event is Tuesday, Nov. 4, from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at Greentown Labs. A networking reception follows from 5-7:30 p.m. at Axelrad Houston. Learn more here.

Nov. 11 – Veterans & Visionaries

Houston Veteran Network will celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit of veterans at its Veterans & Visionaries event. Veteran business owners will have the opportunity to showcase their businesses, connect with investors and participate in speed networking.

This event is Tuesday, Nov. 11, from 2-7 p.m. at the Ion. Find more information here.

Nov. 12 – Energy Drone and Robotics Forum

The Energy Drone + Robotics Coalition will offer a chance for industry leaders, operators and engineers to connect. Attendees will explore real-world uses, hear lessons from successful deployments, and gain practical insights and tools for scaling through various workshops, keynote addresses, Q&As and more.

This event is Wednesday, Nov. 12, from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the Ion. A Bots & Brews / Industrial AI Connect Reception will be held at Second Daught from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Find more information here.

Nov. 12 – TMC Envision 2025: Showcasing Healthcare Innovation

Celebrate 10 years of TMC Innovation at Envision, which shines a light on how TMC’s health tech companies are shaping the future. The event will feature talks from TMC’s Devin Dunn, Jason Sakamoto and Tom Luby that will focus on hospital innovation, health care policies, Texas-specific funding and regulatory dynamics and more.

This event is Wednesday, Nov. 12, from 3:30-6:30 p.m. at TMC Innovation Factory. Find more information here.

Nov. 13 — 2025 Houston Innovation Awards

Join InnovationMap at Greentown Labs on Nov. 13 for the fifth annual Houston Innovation Awards. Our annual celebration of all things Houston innovation offers an exclusive opportunity to network with leaders in the innovation ecosystem and culminates in the awards ceremony, where this year's winners across 10 prestigious categories will be unveiled. Individual tickets and corporate 10-packs with reserved seating are still available.

This event is Thursday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at Greentown Labs. Get your tickets here.

Nov. 13 – Houston Methodist Leadership Speaker series

Head to the Houston Methodist Tech Hub at Ion to hear the latest installment of the Houston Methodist Leadership Speaker Series. The month’s event will feature Dr. Shlomit Schaal, executive vice president and chief physician executive at Houston Methodist. She is also the president and CEO of the Houston Methodist Physician Organization. Schaal will focus on physician group innovation.

This event is Thursday, Nov. 13, from 4:45-6 p.m. at the Ion. Find more information here.

Nov. 18 – Rice Customer-based Strategy Symposium

Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business will present this recurring forum for exchanging innovative ideas on customer-centered strategy planning and execution. The symposium features peer-reviewed research from leading academics with industry trends and insights from executives. Hear from Jones School Dean Peter Rodriguez, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, Laura Lopez, SVP of marketing, communications and public relations at Houston Methodist; Farid Virani, CEO of Prime Communications; and several Rice MBA graduates and executives.

This event is Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, from 7:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. at the Ion. Learn more here.

Nov. 20 – Houston Startup Speedrun

Wade Pinder, founder of Product Houston, will host the Houston Startup Speedrun. This intensive and fast-paced program is designed to provide early-stage founders and aspiring entrepreneurs with a comprehensive understanding of the “Startup Founder's Journey” and the Houston startup ecosystem. The event is broken up into 10 consecutive 50-minute sessions, including topics such as “Creating a Compelling Business Plan,” “Operations and Scaling” and others.

This event is Thursday, Nov. 20, from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. at the Ion. Find more information here.

Nov. 20 – State of the Texas Medical Center

The Greater Houston Partnership will present the State of the Texas Medical Center. Hear from William F. McKeon, president and CEO of TMC, and GHP president and CEO Steve Kean as they discuss “the tremendous progress happening in health care delivery and life sciences in the world’s largest medical center.”

This event is Thursday, Nov. 20, from 4-6:30 p.m. at Helix Park. Find more information here.

Houston's most promising health tech startups lead innovation news to know

Trending Topics

Editor's note: As October comes to a close, we're looking back at the biggest innovation stories in recent weeks. From innovations in health tech to Mark Cuban's hot take on AI, here are the top InnovationMap stories from Oct. 15-31:

1. 6 Houston health tech startups making major advancements right now

Tatiana Fofanova and Dr. Desh Mohan, founders of Koda Health. Photo courtesy Koda Health.

The Health Tech Business category in our 2025 Houston Innovation Awards (taking place Nov. 13) will honor an innovative startup within the health and medical technology sectors. Six forward-thinking businesses have been named finalists for the 2025 award. They range from an end-of-life care company to others developing devices and systems for heart monitoring, sleep apnea, hearing loss and more. Continue reading.

2. 7 innovative startups that are leading the energy transition in Houston

Houston-based Solidec was founded around innovations developed by Rice University associate professor Haotian Wang (far left). Photo courtesy Greentown Labs.

As part of the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards, our Energy Transition Business category honors innovative startups that are providing solution within renewables, climatetech, clean energy, alternative materials, circular economy, and more. Seven energy transition companies have been named finalists for the 2025 award. They range from a spinoff stimulating subsurface hydrogen from end-of-life oil fields to a company converting prickly pear cactus biogas into energy. Continue reading.

3. Mark Cuban calls AI ‘the greater democratizer’ for young entrepreneurs

Mark Cuban described AI as "the great democratizer" for low-income, young people at the Clover x Shark Tank Summit this month. Photo courtesy Clover.

Texas billionaire Mark Cuban—whose investment portfolio includes Houston-based Holliball, a startup that makes and sells large inflatable holiday ornaments—believes AI is leveling the playing field for budding low-income entrepreneurs. At the recent Clover x Shark Tank Summit in Las Vegas, the Shark Tank alum called AI “the greater democratizer.” Continue reading.

4. CPRIT hires MD Anderson official as chief cancer prevention officer

Ruth Rechis has been named chief prevention officer of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. Photo courtesy CPRIT.

The Austin-based Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, which provides funding for cancer research across the state, has hired Ruth Rechis as its chief prevention officer. She comes to CPRIT from Houston’s University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where she led the Cancer Prevention and Control Platform. Continue reading.

5. Axiom Space announces new CEO amid strategic leadership change

Axiom Space has named Jonathan Cirtain as its new CEO. Photo via axiomspace.com.

Six months after promoting Tejpaul Bhatia from chief revenue officer to CEO, commercial space infrastructure and human spaceflight services provider Axiom Space has replaced him. On Oct. 15, Houston-based Axiom announced Jonathan Cirtain has succeeded Bhatia as CEO. Bhatia joined Axiom in 2021. Cirtain remains the company’s president, a role he assumed in June. Continue reading.

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