How Odfjell turned AI into a tool crews actually use

An AI chatbot called ODI, short for Odfjell Digital Intelligence, has quickly become one of the most widely used digital tools at Odfjell. Designed to help crew and shore personnel find answers within company procedures, operational documentation and approved external data sources, e.g. vessel information. The chatbot attracts more than 300 users each month who collectively perform over 3,000 interactions with the chatbot, and the numbers are growing. 

The ODI chatbot and its name was announced a year ago at the Global Safety Day when the theme was “The role of AI and digitalization at work”. Its success is notable because it runs counter to much of the industry’s discussion around artificial intelligence. While maritime AI conversations often focus on automation, predictive analytics and operational optimisation, one of Odfjell’s most successful deployments helps people find information.

For Alena Pedersen, Vice President Corporate IT and Digitalisation at Odfjell, new technology succeeds when it removes friction from everyday work.

“If you do not combine the technology and access to data with changes in processes and people behavior, then you simply won’t have a successful digitalisation. Then you just have what I would say an expensive decoration of your business.”

That perspective comes from experience both within shipping and from her previous work in the energy sector and supply chain transformations. While many organisations focus on introducing new systems, Pedersen argues that technology alone rarely solves a problem. In some cases, it can make matters worse.

“One of the biggest pitfalls is when you are just digitalising the inefficient process you have. You are actually just adding on top of the inefficiency and the strain, not least on the crew on the vessel, but also for your shore operations.”

Solving problems people actually have

The challenge of technology adoption is often discussed in shipping. New solutions seem impressive, so they are procured and then introduced to the employees with an expectation to simply embrace it. If adoption is low, then the first reflex is to conclude that people are resisting the change. 

Pedersen says the starting point should be different. When good people don’t use the technology, it´s a design problem. . 

“People WILL embrace the digital solution when it makes their everyday life easier, and for that to be true, you have to start with a problem, not a solution.”

At Odfjell, ODI was introduced to tackle a very common and practical problem. Before its deployment, seafarers, ship management teams and others often had to navigate hundreds of procedures and documents when preparing for e.g. inspections and verifications.

“It was very difficult to navigate in the previous system, and you also had to search in many different places.”

Now, users can go to this one place, ask questions in their natural language and receive answers linked directly to the original source material.

“Imagine that you provide a tool which instantly provides value to your employees and they can use their natural language to find answers to the problems they have here and now.”

The maritime industry often struggles with technology adoption, and the chatbot’s level of engagement offers an important lesson. Crew members are far more likely to embrace digital tools when they remove administrative burden rather than create additional tasks.

The human side of maritime digitalisation

The success of ODI also challenges a common concern surrounding AI.

Across industries, workers often worry that artificial intelligence will replace jobs. Shipping is no exception. Pedersen acknowledges those concerns but says Odfjell’s experience has been very different.

“We need to be aware that many people are fearing that they are going to lose their jobs to AI. And I find that the best way to address this fear is by providing clear goals for introducing AI and examples of where it brings value to the table.”

At Odfjell, the company’s objective with the introduction of AI is to improve the quality of work, increasing revenue and helping employees make better decisions faster. Of course, the time savings and cost reductions are implicit values of AI, but definitely not the main driver. 

For Pedersen, the biggest value of AI in shipping right now is about helping people navigate growing volumes of data, and transforming that more easily into valuable information. That is particularly relevant in an industry where compliance requirements, operational procedures and documentation continue to expand. 

Generative AI has opened new possibilities because it can work with information that was previously difficult to use effectively, as emails, messages and pdf-files.

“All that text has suddenly become valuable because generative AI made it usable and available for processing.”

The result is a different view of digitalisation. Success is not measured by how advanced a technology appears or how many systems are deployed across a fleet. It is measured by whether it solves a real operational problem.

From Odfjell’s experience, one of the strongest examples of a successful AI deployment is not as fancy as autonomous vessels, predictive maintenance engine or sophisticated optimisation platform might be. It is a tool that helps seafarers and other employees to easily find the information they need, when they need it.

Digital Ship Summit 2026

For the upcoming Digital Ship Summit 2026, Pedersen looks forward to hearing how maritime companies in different regions are approaching digitalisation, including AI. She takes a global perspective on shipping and is therefore eager to explore how different markets and regions define their digital ambitions, prioritise investments and turn technology initiatives into measurable business outcomes.

She believes the industry’s next challenge is learning how to realise the new technology’s full potential. “I’m looking forward to understanding different perspectives, different digital ambitions, and how companies are following through,” she said. Delegates attending the summit will have the opportunity to hear more about Odfjell’s experience with AI, data, digitalisation and the practical lessons learned from deploying technology that people genuinely want to use.

source : thedigitalship