Abel Martinez
Technical Director,
Worley Consulting – Digital Solutions, Americas

Assumptions are silent risks. Years after successfully implementing digital transformation initiatives, my first major setback taught me a critical lesson: validate before committing to execution.

Abel Martinez has more than 30 years of experience helping organizations use data to make better decisions. His career spans the Middle East, Asia and the Americas, where he’s been at the forefront of engineering’s digital evolution.

Early on, Abel led a record-setting transition from manual drafting to computer-aided design (CAD) technology, migrating 170 engineers in just six months. Today in his role consulting directly with customers, his focus is on architecting data-centric solutions that accelerate decision-making by 40 percent; his journey reflects a deep commitment to innovation and practical transformation.

As Technical Director for Data Foundations and Information Management within the Worley Consulting group, Abel leads initiatives that bring together cross-functional teams to integrate cutting-edge digital technologies – including digital twins, AI and cloud platforms – into customer operations. His work centers on building scalable, data-driven strategies that transform business outcomes.

Turning data into decisions

Through his experience executing projects and his recent experience, many organizations still rely on document-centric models that slow decision-making and rely heavily on individual experience and judgment. Abel’s work transforms this dynamic – empowering leaders with access to data in real-time by establishing data architectures and governance frameworks that put trusted information at the center of operations.

His team has developed interactive Power BI dashboards for real-time KPI monitoring, accelerating stakeholder decision cycles by 50 percent, and improving project transparency. By optimizing enterprise data structures and governance in an end-to-end solution model, they've reduced retrieval times by 30 percent and improved data quality for critical decision-making.

Abel in a digital lab environment with monitors and workstations supporting digital consulting activities.

Navigating the human side of change

For Abel, digital transformation faces three persistent hurdles: cultural resistance from teams on established ways of working, uncertainty about the role of AI – being a powerful tool rather than a job replacement, and a project-centric mindset that limits long-term value. Abel addresses these challenges head-on, fostering open mindsets and guiding customers through cultural change while providing end-to-end visibility from project inception to operations.

“Worley is a hub of talented, highly regarded people who share ideas, ingenuity and knowledge in a truly collaborative environment,” Abel reflects. “It makes working here easy, enjoyable and inspiring.”

Abel presenting digital and data‑driven approaches to engineering project delivery.

Looking ahead

Abel sees digital transformation shifting from a strategic choice to a business imperative, driven by AI integration, hyperconnected ecosystems and the need for more resilient, transparent operations.

Success, he believes, will depend on cultural openness, ethical governance and a human-centric approach that prioritizes reskilling and collaboration.

What continues to motivate him remains unchanged: envisioning and architecting solutions, overcoming roadblocks and seeing them successfully adopted, scaled and used to make better decisions every day.