Scenario: In 2019, Siemens Energy and the Ponemon Institute collaborated on a survey11 of industry executives and managers at global oil and gas companies to assess the companies’ cybersecurity readiness. The results of the survey showed that, across the sector, most organizations have difficulty hiring cybersecurity personnel with in-depth knowledge of OTconnected energy assets necessary to identify and address cyberattacks before they occur. Additionally, only the largest organizations were able to fully fund research and development in new technologies and procedures that would improve cyber readiness against an expanding attack environment. Siemens Energy recognized that one way to improve cybersecurity for all oil and gas companies is to ensure small and medium-sized organizations can access advanced AI-based monitoring and detection solutions, which would help strengthen the weaker links against cyberattacks in the digital ecosystem. In 2020, Siemens Energy developed an AI-based, OT-native cybersecurity solution aimed at solving the technical and economic challenges associated with expanding monitoring and security that all organizations could access. Key takeaway: By combining interoperable and manufacturer-agnostic AI technologies, and efficiently leveraging OT-native human expertise, small and medium-sized energy companies can gain access to monitoring, detection and cyberattack prevention capabilities – a level of protection only previously achieved in-house at companies with ample budgets.