Mining Industry Leaders Forum: Strategies in an Era of Change and Readiness for AI Management Decision-Making
The plenary session of the Forum was opened by Mikhail Ivanov, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation. He noted that the mining industry is one of the key industries in the Russian economy and confirmed that the state is ready to set up support tools and contribute in every possible way to the implementation of projects.
"In recent years, we have significantly expanded our support tools to bring new products to market. Today, we already have well-established mechanisms for interaction with mining enterprises: together we form up-to-date roadmaps. Everything that appears on the mining equipment market today with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade meets modern requirements and can be competitive not only in Russia, but also abroad, including among our closest neighbors," said Mikhail Ivanov.
The plenary discussion was devoted to strategies for overcoming the era of change. Yuri Berezovsky, Executive Director of the Berezitovy Mine (Nordgold), said that management practices at the mine have changed. "We have regrouped in terms of logistics, equipment maintenance, optimized the repair process due to the lack of spare parts. For some time, they even worked in manual mode. It is necessary to rebuild processes in time, train people, adapt the internal processes of enterprises," the speaker said. Yuri Berezovsky stressed that the company owes its success to a human-centric approach.
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Stanislav Kuznetsov, Vice President for Economics and Finance at Raspadskaya Coal Company, said that his industry is going through a difficult time, and the difficulties of planning in the industry are systemic: "Logistics, marketing, economics, quality service. Each service has its own functional plan. When we put everything together, they are all ambitious. We have created a separate structural unit and developed a mathematical model. All the restrictions are set in it, and then the optimizer calculates the best plan. We have been working in this system for 2 months in parallel with manual planning," Stanislav Kuznetsov shared.
Further, the participants discussed digitalization and the degree of its penetration into the industry.
"Norilsk Nickel is a good example of how heavy industry does not use disparate data, but moves to large-scale databases, manages certain processes, including through AI. We have deployed a powerful diagnostic center. We generate all types of diagnostics at our own site," said Maxim Kotelnikov, Director for Industrial Asset Management at Nornickel's Polar Division. He added that this process is similar to an examination: it is important to determine not only the diagnosis, but also the methods of treatment.
"If we do not engage in end-to-end technologies, then every year we will boast of another cool sensor for an excavator, but we will not connect the ore at the face with the trader's decisions when selling products," summed up Mikhail Aronson, CEO of Zyfra Group.
This was followed by the battle "Digital VC production: who makes decisions and what to invest in?". Participants began by trying to determine whether management decisions could be delegated to AI.
"Our experience shows that production is ready to give management decisions to AI at the level of simple hardware. But at the level of strategy and management, no," said Ekaterina Belinskaya, Business Partner of the ALROSA Center for Informatization and Business Process Development.
"For depopulation and automatic control mode, yes. There is a case with Norilsk Nickel, where AI controls the furnace," said Ilya Izmailov, Managing Director of the Expanta holding.
At the end of the session, an interactive survey of the hall was conducted, in which representatives of manufacturing companies took part. Participants were asked to answer the question about the industry's readiness to transfer some management decisions to digital systems in the next three years. According to the results of the vote, the largest share of respondents (47%) noted that such a scenario is partially possible - if human control is maintained. Another 13% believe that the transfer of AI solutions is inevitable, while 23% believe that the final word should remain with humans, and 17% admitted that the industry is not yet ready for this. The results confirmed the general mood of the discussion: the market is open to the use of AI, but so far considers it as a tool to support, rather than replace, management decisions.
The polemics at the battle also unfolded around the model of interaction with vendors. Industry representatives stressed that the choice between in-house development and external solutions is not binary: companies are increasingly combining approaches. At the same time, the key factor is not so much the possession of the code, but the ability to ensure development, support and economic effect from implementation.
The discussion of digital investments confirmed the general trend towards pragmatism: business is increasingly focused on quick results and a short payback horizon. Pilot projects are seen as the main tool for testing hypotheses and mitigating risks, while large transformational initiatives require a high level of trust and partnership between the customer and the vendor.
See you at the 31st International Exhibition MiningWorld Russia: from April 27 to April 29, 2027 in Moscow, Crocus Expo IEC
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