Michael O’ Connell, Chief Analytics Officer at Spotfire, explores how the company uses data science, geospatial analytics and AI to boost the energy sector
SPOTFIRE
Michael O’ Connell, Chief Analytics Officer at Spotfire, explores how the company uses data science, geospatial analytics and AI to boost the energy sector
A s industries continue to experience fast-paced technological change, data sits at the heart of transformation. Few understand this imperative as acutely as Michael O’ Connell, Chief Analytics Officer at Spotfire. With a background rooted in data science, AI and industrial analytics, Michael brings decades of experience spanning pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and the energy sector.
Spotfire, now an independent entity after its spin-out from enterprise software firm TIBCO, is doubling down on its mission to enable organisations – particularly those in energy, manufacturing and life sciences – to extract operational and strategic insight from complex data. Its platform is designed not just for analysts, but for engineers, scientists and business decision-makers who need both comprehensive analytics and accessible visualisation.
“ Spotfire’ s core mission is to help people interactively explore data to find insights and put those into operations to move the needle on their business,” says Michael, adding that the platform seeks to serve as“ the UI for AI on people’ s data.”
As the global energy sector embraces digitalisation and the pressure to optimise operations grows, tools like Spotfire are fast becoming indispensable.
All about Spotfire Originally born from research and development in chemistry and biology, Spotfire quickly gained traction in energy and manufacturing. Over the years, the product has expanded – particularly during its time within TIBCO – integrating capabilities from geo-analytics to data streaming and advanced data management.
“ We’ ve come back to the roots of Spotfire,” Michael explains.“ We were invented in R & D and soon after that, we got into energy and manufacturing.
52 November 2025