Event Summary
As artificial intelligence is introduced into operational environments, many organizations lack a clear understanding of how to safely and effectively apply AI in systems where reliability and safety are critical. The complexity of AI, combined with limited guidance on its use in high-risk environments, creates uncertainty for leaders and operators.
Without proper consideration, the use of AI in safety-critical environments can introduce new risks—such as unreliable outputs, lack of transparency, and over-reliance on automated decisions. This can lead to operational errors, safety incidents, compliance challenges, and reduced trust in both systems and decision-making processes.
This course provides a practical, risk-aware approach to integrating AI into operational environments. It focuses on understanding where AI adds value, where caution is required, and how to implement safeguards that ensure safety, reliability, and compliance. Key considerations include explainability, human oversight, system validation, and risk management.
Participants will be able to evaluate AI use cases within their operations, identify potential risks, and apply best practices for safe implementation. They will leave with a clearer framework for balancing innovation with safety, ensuring AI supports—not compromises—critical operational performance.
Who Should Attend
- Operations leaders and supervisors in safety-critical environments
- Engineers and technical professionals evaluating AI applications
- Safety, risk, and compliance professionals
- IT/OT and digital transformation leaders
- Executives responsible for innovation, operations, and risk management
What You Will Gain
- A clear understanding of how AI applies to operational and safety-critical environments
- Insight into risks associated with AI in high-reliability systems
- Practical guidance on implementing safeguards such as validation, oversight, and explainability
- Awareness of how to align AI use with safety, compliance, and operational standards
- Confidence in evaluating and managing AI-driven initiatives responsibly
- Strategies to balance innovation with risk management
- 3 Professional Development Hours (PDH) upon completion
Meet Your Instructor
Annie McIntyre
Director of Security, EverLine
Annie McIntyre is the Director of Security at EverLine. Prior to EverLine, Ms. McIntyre was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Ardua Strategies, Inc., a Texas Corporation, providing solutions for the cyber and operational security issues of energy and infrastructure. Prior to founding Ardua Strategies, Ms. McIntyre was a Principal Member of Technical Staff and Program Manager at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her research areas at Sandia included threats, vulnerabilities, and protection of critical infrastructure systems, and cybersecurity for fossil and renewable energy systems. She managed the Sandia-Forest City Strategic Partnership program for sustainability, and participated in programs such as the Institute for Infrastructure Information Protection (I3P), and National SCADA Test Bed. Ms. McIntyre conducted the first cyber analysis of a renewable system in 2007 for the Department of Energy.
Prior to work in critical infrastructure, Ms. McIntyre worked extensively in the defense sector on information warfare and survivability, serving as IO Laboratory Chief and Information Warfare Lead for Future Combat Systems Assessments at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. She previously served as New Mexico Regional Manager for Concurrent Technologies Corporation, a defense and energy contractor, and performed systems analysis and engineering in the bioinformatics field for Molecular Informatics, Inc. Throughout her career, she has worked closely with the U.S. Departments of Energy, Homeland Security, and Defense.
Ms. McIntyre conducts extensive work on security policies as they relate to energy and infrastructure. She served as an author for the American Petroleum Institute’s SCADA Security Standard (1164v2), serves on the Advisory Council at the North American Energy Standards Board, and has served as a Senior Fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Technology Leadership Institute. She is a Licensed Private Investigator in the State of Texas.
