According to StormGeo CEO Kim Sørensen, the next 12 months will mark a critical inflection point in how decisions are made at sea and ashore.
“Over the next year, I anticipate significant advancements in generative AI and a growing adoption of autonomous AI agents that can make decisions and solve problems with minimal human intervention,” Sørensen says. In shipping, he believes these technologies will “significantly enhance the accuracy of weather forecasting and reliability of voyage planning and compliance.”
The impact will be felt directly onboard. “For those at sea, generative AI has the potential to automate time-consuming, routine decisions and processes, enhancing safety and freeing up time to focus on higher-value work,” he says. The benefits also translate into hard numbers. While traditional weather routing may deliver fuel savings of 1–3%, Sørensen notes that AI-powered variable speed optimisation can increase those savings by up to 5%.
At StormGeo, AI is already embedded into core products and services. Recent rollouts include AI-driven port analytics and machine-learning-based vessel performance predictions, developed through partnerships with Awake.AI and Bearing AI. StormGeo is also launching an AI-powered routing solution that automatically develops vessel routes based on each vessel’s characteristics and cargo.
Powering this capability is a vast data backbone, processing between 15 and 20 terabytes of information daily, drawing from hundreds of observational feeds, model outputs, and approximately 10,000 vessel reports from around the globe. This scale allows AI to operate with context and precision rather than simple automation.
Despite the technological leap forward, Sørensen is clear that AI will not replace human expertise. “There is no doubt that AI and machine learning will eventually enable radical efficiency gains and significantly augment the work that humans do – and I see that the industry is increasingly recognising this potential,” he argues. “Still, human judgment will remain essential. Especially in high-stakes situations, humans will continue to have the final say.”
That growing recognition is also changing the industry’s relationship with investment in technology. “We are seeing a shift,” Sørensen explains. While shipping has traditionally relied on manual and conventional processes, there’s now an increasing interest in fleet digitalisation and technology-driven value creation. Technology is no longer only about compliance or incremental savings, Sørensen tells Maritime CEO, saying it is increasingly viewed more as a partner and enabler of competitiveness rather than a cost.
StormGeo’s own workforce is evolving to match this new reality. The company now has approximately 170 people working in R&D, including around 50 data scientists primarily focused on AI and machine learning to enhance the accuracy and reliability of our solutions and services.
Over the coming year, the company will continue expanding its Voyage Intelligence portfolio, introducing new tools to help operators optimise for safety, efficiency, and sustainability.
