Preserving the Brain Trust
by Matt Pumphrey and Darrell Brown
Bridging Generations, Empowering Innovation
Exploration and production are on the edge of a generational turning point. A wave of experienced professionals is heading into retirement, while companies struggle to attract the next generation of digitally fluent talent. Critical knowledge will be lost without a thoughtful approach, and new capabilities will fail to take root.
The solution will take advantage of the latest advancements in AI and technology, but primarily it will be about talent & people. It’s how we motivate seasoned experts to share what they know, how we support new talent in learning and contributing, and how we position E&P as a place where innovation, not just extraction, happens. This transformation must be guided by strategic workforce planning. This discipline uses analytics and scenario modeling to forecast needs, map critical roles, and align the organization’s human capital strategy with its digital future.
The Challenge: Talent Cliff Meets Tech Gap
Digital Tools Are There, but Lack Adoption. AI, automation, and analytics platforms have been introduced in many firms, but the real bottleneck is human: trust, integration into workflows, and the ability to pair digital tools with human judgment.
Legacy Knowledge Is Disappearing. The most experienced E&P staff possess deep domain expertise, yet much of it is undocumented, intuition-based, and at risk of vanishing with retirement. Many of these professionals feel underappreciated or uncertain about their role in a digital-first future.
New Talent Feels Isolated. Younger hires often bring new skills, but face cultural barriers, such as a lack of mentorship, outdated tools, or peer skepticism. Without support, they disengage or leave.
The Critical Element: Motivation
Solving this challenge requires a shift in how E&P leaders think about transformation. The real work should impact behaviors, not organizational structures. Success depends on aligning the incentives and environments that shape people's actions.
For the Old Guard: Many senior experts are proud of their legacy, but wary of change. Asking them to mentor or codify knowledge is a big lift unless:
They're given recognition, influence, and flexible time.
Incentives must be tied to measurable contributions (e.g., mentorship hours, documentation outcomes, impact on upskilling)
Their role in shaping the future is explicitly affirmed
For the New Guard: Young professionals want to contribute quickly, but need psychological safety, structured support, and the sense that their ideas matter. Motivation grows when:
They're paired with respected mentors in applied project settings
They’re given ownership of digital initiatives that solve real problems
They see a clear path to impact, growth, and learning
Strategic Workforce Planning can leverage Experience, Energy, and Enablement
To turn these dynamics into strategy, E&P teams should be built around three core groups: the Old Guard, the New Guard, and the Tech-Savvy Enablers.
The Old Guard: Keep them close, not sidelined. Use them as anchors of decision logic, pattern recognition, and judgment under uncertainty. Support them with:
New mentorship roles with structured expectations & incentives
Project-based consulting options that let them work flexibly
Recognition as culture carriers, teachers, and legacy builders
The New Guard: Identify early-career professionals with domain interest and digital potential. Set them up for success with:
Real field exposure, not just classroom theory
Access to digital tools and people
Development plans that reward learning, not just execution
Tech-Savvy Enablers: These digital translators should be the bridge between legacy expertise and emerging technology. They combine domain awareness with fluency in AI, automation, and data modeling tools to help teams operationalize innovation without losing context or continuity. Their role is to:
Codify expert knowledge into usable systems
Support pilots of AI, analytics, and automation tools
Act as internal coaches and system architects
The Digital E&P Hub: A Center for Learning, Testing, and Knowledge Transfer
To get these three groups working together, the next step is creating an environment where the desired behaviors can occur. Rather than isolating innovation in IT or R&D, create a Digital E&P Hub inside operations. This unit becomes a meeting point for cross-generational teams to:
Run seismic AI pilots or implement plant digital twins with validation from veteran geophysicists & plant managers
Build digital models that incorporate expert intuition and edge analytics
Host mentorship and reverse-mentorship cycles to build mutual fluency
Create virtual training tools to speed the transition from knowledge to hands-on skill
Capture and structure knowledge into reusable, machine-readable assets
This is not an R&D lab, it’s a strategic capability. The hub should also work closely with workforce planners and HR analysts to ensure data-driven talent forecasting and role design are embedded in transformation efforts. This hub isn’t about disruption—it’s about deliberate renewal.
Attracting the Next Generation: More Than a Job
Modernizing E&P also means modernizing how the industry shows up to talent.
Younger professionals are motivated by more than just compensation—they want purpose, skill development, and a sense of community. To compete with tech, E&P companies must reposition themselves as:
Builders of frontier technology, not just extractors of raw material
Critical players in the global energy transition, not relics of the past
Places to grow fast under mentorship, not bureaucracies to get stuck in
Tactically, that means:
Partnering with universities to create applied digital subsurface programs
Offering internships inside the Digital Hub with cross-functional exposure
Showcasing innovation stories in recruiting, branding, and industry events
Promoting lifestyle and career diversity—fieldwork, travel, tech, impact
Conclusion: A Human Strategy for a Digital Future
Those who invest in behavioral incentives, cross-generational teaming, and modern branding will preserve their core expertise, attract high-potential talent, and lead the next era of E&P. Strategic workforce planning provides the foundation for doing this precisely, ensuring that today's decisions support tomorrow's capability needs.
Those who invest in the psychology to incentivize knowledge transfer, the structure of cross-generational collaboration, and the branding needed to attract new talent will weather the generational transition and define what E&P looks like in the digital age.