Energy Trading Week (ETW) Americas continues to serve as a critical pulse-check for the commodities industry. This year’s event delivered timely insights into how energy and commodity firms are evolving their operations amidst rising complexity and pressure.
While high-level discussions ranged from market volatility to geopolitics and regulatory challenges, one consistent theme emerged: Technology is the key to unlocking data management, process automation, and risk mitigation in commodities operations.
TL;DR: At ETW Americas, industry leaders made it clear that operational transformation is no longer a back office concern — it's central to managing risk and driving efficiency in commodity trading. Key themes included the growing role of AI in commodity operations, increased urgency around operational risk mitigation, and a shared desire to unlock value from unstructured data.
Key Highlights:
Through conversations at our booth and during our ClearDox Advisory Board (CAB) meeting, we heard directly from industry leaders that they aren’t simply exploring what’s possible with AI — they are focused on what works.
The clear priority for our customers and those we spoke with centered on two interconnected goals:
This focus immediately brought artificial intelligence (AI) into the spotlight. Industry professionals were asking, "What's working, and what's not?" as they navigate the practical application of AI in their operations.
Across the board, ETW attendees emphasized the growing role of AI in commodity operations, particularly in parsing complex documents, identifying risk, and supporting decision-making. But the emphasis wasn’t on broad AI hype — it was on embedded use cases:
Rather than replacing teams, AI is helping operations staff do more with less — transforming them into strategic partners across the trade lifecycle.
Conversations revealed that back office priorities are being redefined to include operational automation, actionable insights, and robust risk management. From contract mismatches to inventory discrepancies, unaddressed operational risks can cascade downstream, distorting decisions and increasing financial exposure.
Conference participants were also actively exploring the role of AI in workforce augmentation — how their teams can work smarter with technology assisting them to drive scale. Instead of simply "moving documents around and manually operating tasks," operational staff are emerging as knowledge workers, empowered by technology to help move the business forward.
The most forward-thinking firms at ETW Americas are focusing on early risk detection, rather than reactive cleanup. This includes improving the visibility of real-time operations data, aligning cross-functional teams, and embedding automation at key handoff points. Rather than managing operations through spreadsheets and email threads, the goal is now to surface the right information at the right time — and act on it with confidence.
Wondering how you can apply AI to power your commodities back office operations? Let’s chat.