Sand Technologies

Half of U.S. pipelines are approaching or past their 50-year design life. In Europe, it's 72%. As someone who's spent my career in oil and gas, I've seen this play out with clients time and again: maintenance is either reactive (fix it after it fails) or calendar-based (fix it whether it needs it or not). Both are costly. Unplanned downtime alone can run operators millions of dollars. What I'm excited about is the shift to a third option: AI models reading real-time sensor data and telling us what a pipeline needs before it needs it, grounded in ontologies that give that data real engineering context, and consequence modeling that shows what's actually at stake if we wait. Done right, this can lift equipment uptime 10-20%, cut maintenance planning time in half, and remove ambiguity in turnaround scope. Proud to have contributed to a deep dive on how this actually gets built — the real five-phase path from raw sensor data to a deployed model. Aging infrastructure doesn't need more guesswork. It needs context, consequence, and intelligent action. That's the work. Link to the article: https://lnkd.in/gRiGH3sX #OilAndGas #PredictiveMaintenance #EnergyInfrastructure #SandTechnologies #PhysicalAI

A Sinclair Spectrum and a programming manual, that's what set George Ionita on his path, at 10 years old, growing up in rural Romania. George is Sand's Chief Technology Officer. Self-taught from the start, he built his early skills making computers do what he wanted, then realized he could turn that same drive toward solving problems for other people. Today he leads the technology behind Symmetri, Sand's platform for helping critical infrastructure operators make better decisions with limited resources, moving organizations from basic to intelligent operations. Watch as George talks through why this moment matters: after a decade of the best technical talent optimizing ad clicks, that same talent and the advances in AI are now being pointed at problems that count, resilient power grids, accessible drinking water, and the systems society depends on. Learn more about Sand's work at https://lnkd.in/dQN7cye6

We are now at a period where you're going to need to be a continuous learner. 🧠 We have reached a massive inflection point in AI. We are moving beyond simple chatbots into the era of Physical AI—where intelligence meets our most critical physical infrastructure. The stakes couldn't be higher—especially when it comes to protecting our water systems. 💧 The recent sessions at Evolve 2026, particularly the "AI & the Future of Water" panel, brought this into sharp focus. By deploying sensors and "digital twins" of our water networks, we are finally gaining the visibility we’ve lacked for decades. 🛰️ This technology allows us to: ⚠️ Identify risk hotspots in real-time before they escalate. 🤖Detect leaks or structural issues deep inside pipes using robotics before they become community-wide crises. 🛠️Empower crews with the data they need to react faster and more precisely than ever before. As the conference highlighted, AI may be the "last invention humanity will ever need to make," but its true power isn't in replacing us—it’s in keeping the human in the loop. The AI provides the "nervous system" and the analytics, but it is the human expert who provides the judgment, the ethics, and the action. We aren't just building tech; we’re building a more resilient world by augmenting human capability to solve our greatest challenges: healthcare, connectivity, and the very water we drink. 🌏 #AI #Sustainability #WaterxAI #Evolve2026 #Innovation #HumanInTheLoop #DigitalTwin #PhysicalAI Sand Technologies

We’re hiring a new US-based cohort of FDEs! At Sand, we’re growing fast, with 50+ deployments across 18 countries over the past few years. Come join us and help build Physical AI solutions inside critical civilian infrastructure across the US. For shortlisted candidates, we’ll host an expenses-paid hackathon weekend in NYC to meet the team, build with us, and get a feel for the kinds of products we’re creating across water, energy, telecom and cities. Apply here: https://lnkd.in/e2sePQZw

The next generation of AI won’t only answer questions. It will help cities manage water, utilities operate more reliably, healthcare systems serve people better and infrastructure respond intelligently to what is happening in the physical world. That’s the kind of work we’re building at Sand. We’re expanding our US Forward Deployed Engineering team with people who want to work close to customers and close to the problem: discovering opportunities, building rapidly, deploying into production and owning the outcome. We’re looking for exceptional Data Scientists, Data Engineers, ML Engineers and Software Engineers with 3–5+ years of experience who are comfortable with ambiguity, significant travel and hands-on client environments. If you want to apply advanced technology to problems that genuinely matter, we’d love to meet you. Explore the FDE role: https://lnkd.in/dGYzx8nJ

Stefan Brink's interest in software started young, sparked by coding and computer games. That curiosity led him into electronics engineering, where he learned the physical side of systems, then into fintech, where he learned what it takes to earn user trust. Today he's Sand's Lead Software Engineer for the water domain. He works where complex software meets real physical systems: sensor networks, pressure pipes, treatment plants. Passion is what he thinks it takes to succeed in this space. He still remembers the moment a map he built went live and his own family could recognize it, real proof the work he does matters. Learn more about Sand's work at https://lnkd.in/dGvH68dP