The lecture by the NIS CEO, organized in cooperation with the PEXIM Foundation, attracted the attention of the professors and students of one of the most renowned business schools in the world. Kirill Tyurdenev told the audience about the 4th Industrial Revolution, its relevance, the challenges that it brings and the opportunities it provides, putting emphasis on the oil and gas industry, focusing on the operations of NIS, which successfully keeps abreast of novel technologies and digital transformation. Those attending the lecture heard about the types of innovations and new technologies brought to us by the 4th Industrial Revolution affecting both our everyday lives and the decision making in large corporations, with new, renewable, energy sources and ways of storing them, as well as digital transformation and the processes and mechanisms it involves. Comparing the challenges and opportunities of the 4th Industrial Revolution, Kirill Tyurdenev stressed that its challenges could be unclear economic profitability, over-investment, insufficient staff qualifications, lack of standards and regulations, a low degree of maturity of the required technologies, unresolved issues related to data security, and others. However, they are successfully redressed by new opportunities, including better planning and control, greater flexibility in production as well as its individualisation, increased quality and greater customer satisfaction. By the same token, new technologies decrease logistics costs, and the opening of new markets triggers economic growth. After a brief presentation of the company and its operations in the oil and gas sector, Kirill Tyurdenev stressed that NIS constantly adapts its business to the current global conditions, and that three aspects of digital transformation in NIS are new technologies, digital access and digital culture. Digital transformation in NIS implies changing roles and responsibilities, as well as optimizing the business process and changing technologies, materials and equipment. Digital culture is what is most important and it involves attracting the best and most competent people, and at the same time it refers to the change of consciousness of both employees and management into the “digital way of thinking”. Kirill Tyurdenev concluded by reminding students at Judge Business School to devote themselves to personal perfection, travel as much as they can, constantly learn, try to study as much as possible, and not forget to wind down every now and then. The presentation attracted the interest of a large number of students, whose questions turned into a constructive discussion in which the CEO of NIS gave inspirational answers.
