resilient, compared with 49% in Germany, underlining that the direction of travel is shared more widely than the level of conviction. The broader conviction, however, has held steady. Three-quarters of leaders believe AI will improve energy production by increasing safety, reducing emissions and improving efficiency, almost exactly the same proportion as last year.That view has not shifted despite a much louder debate about the cost of AI and the resources required to run it. Those costs are becoming more complicated to understand. The price of an individual token may fall, but production systems can consume tokens at scale through repeated model calls, longer exchanges and increasingly autonomous workflows. Total spending can therefore rise even as the unit price falls. This makes the question of value more, not less, important: which uses deliver a measurable improvement in reliability, safety or resilience, and which simply add another layer of consumption? That also brings accountability into sharper focus. If reliability is becoming the test of AI’s contribution, someone must be answerable for the decisions that shape it. As more decisions are automated, coordinated across assets and taken across borders, the question is no longer only whether a system can act. It is who is responsible for the outcome. • UNCHANGED: Seventy-six percent of leaders said that AI would optimize energy production through safety, emissions and efficiency, virtually the same as last year. • NARROWED: A fifth of leaders named cost savings as the most important metric for judging AI in the energy transition last year; one in eight does now. • NEW: AI value is becoming a unit-economics question. As token prices fall and usage grows, AI must prove the value of each workflow and decision. The 2026 perspective “As AI accelerates across  the global energy sector, it risks widening Africa's energy poverty and investment gap. While advanced economies use AI to make energy systems more efficient, competitive and profitable, African projects could face higher costs, greater competition for capital, skills and infrastructure, and increased barriers to financing. Yet this outcome is not inevitable. By strengthening investment frameworks, developing bankable projects, investing in human capital and using regional institutions to drive collaboration and common standards, Africa can secure its place in the emerging AI-driven energy economy. The opportunity is significant, but so is the urgency.” Proscovia Nabbanja CEO, Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) Powering Possible 2026 29