The Path to Autonomous Frac

Building software inside a frac and wireline giant is a different beast than doing it at a startup. Ben Dickinson and Raleigh Bumpers from NexTier Completion Solutions get into life under the Patterson UTI umbrella, the EOS platform, the Vertex automated pump control system, the shift from diesel to natural gas powered fleets, agentic AI in the field, and why the world genuinely stops if oil and gas stops. Plus Pittsburgh shale stories and a Colorado School of Mines reality check.

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0:00 The NexTier 60-second pitch
2:00 Why integrating every service on location wins
4:30 Ben's path from Pittsburgh to wireline to digital
11:15 Raleigh's jump from computer science to the Eagle Ford
17:00 If oil and gas stops, the world stops
19:30 Pittsburgh, the shale boom, and incoming data centers
21:30 Completions 101
23:30 The EOS platform and Vertex automated pump control
27:00 Earning trust from veteran hands on new software
32:00 Generative AI versus agentic AI in the field
34:00 Diesel, natural gas, and electric frac fleets
41:30 Colorado School of Mines and the next generation
44:00 The road to a fully autonomous well site
46:30 The 80 percent AI failure rule debate

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