• CERAWEEK 2025 | March 10-14, 2025
  • CERAWEEK
  • March 10 - 14, 2025

Darryl Willis

Microsoft

Corporate Vice President, Energy & Resources Industry

As Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Energy & Resources Industry, Darryl Willis leads the core teams driving digital transformation for organizations across Mining, Oil & Gas and Power & Utilities. Willis blends his technical and strategic acumen with his deep knowledge of the global energy sector to lead the global Microsoft team enabling the energy transition, reducing carbon emissions and intelligently fulfilling growing demand with new renewable sources. Prior to joining Microsoft, Willis was Vice President of Oil, Gas and Energy at Google Cloud. His other past roles include president and CEO of bp Angola; head of Deepwater Horizon claims and spokesperson for bp; and senior vice president and deputy head of Subsurface for bp. Willis is passionate about empowering customers, partners, governments and investors to drive the transition to sustainable energy, while providing equal access to all. Willis is an advocate for energy startups, supporting and fostering innovation in the field to enable next generation leaders to deliver a clean energy future. Since joining Microsoft in 2019 Willis has grown the Microsoft Energy & Resources Industry organization to become a global leader in driving digital transformation across the energy sector. Willis holds an MS in business from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, MS in geology and geophysics from the University of New Orleans, and BS in chemistry and literature from Northwestern State University of Louisiana.

Sessions With Darryl Willis

Tuesday, 12 March

  • 05:00pm - 05:50pm (CST) / -

    Game-changing Technologies for Oil & Gas
    Panel Oil Gas Technology/Innovation

    The oil and gas industry is witnessing a new era of progress in digital and related technologies that are transforming operational performance and efficiency and creating renewed opportunity to secure sustainable growth. The industry has a history of developing technical and operational innovations that have forged game-changing growth into new segments such as deep water and shale. This panel will explore the prospects for the next game-changers and what they might look like. Which areas of technological progress offer the most promise to become game-changers for the industry? What form of impact might a game-changer have, for example, in unlocking resources, reducing costs, or changing the nature of work? Would we know a game-changer if we saw one? Could a series of incremental gains over time also constitute a game-changer? Is the industry structured to unlock innovations? Which types of players and partnerships would hold the key?