AI-Powered RunPilot Software Accelerates Net-Zero Infrastructure Planning

New software developed by University of Sheffield spin-out AENi is poised to transform the planning process for essential net-zero infrastructure projects, aiming to de-risk investments and accelerate delivery. The digital platform is designed to help organizations involved in shaping critical networks – including hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and electricity – transition to clean energy more efficiently.

Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Delivery

Planning major net-zero infrastructure is often hampered by slow progress and high risk. Costly redesigns and frequent delays can impede the timely production of essential networks needed to achieve net-zero ambitions. AENi was founded by Grantham Scholars Joseph Hammond and Thomas Cowley, alongside Professor Solomon Brown, to address these challenges with advanced infrastructure planning and design technology.

“There’s a huge gap between net-zero ambition and the practical reality of delivering major networks—hydrogen, CO₂, electricity—quick, affordably, and with fewer surprises,” explains Hammond. “Our mission is to help the teams who shape critical infrastructure de-risk decisions and transition to clean energy faster, using software that combines geospatial modeling, scenario analysis, and engineering-grounded simulation.”

How RunPilot is Accelerating Infrastructure Planning

AENi recently launched RunPilot, a live, collaborative planning platform that leverages spatial data and constraints to generate and compare alternative infrastructure designs and network layouts. The software utilizes AI search and optimization techniques to enable planners to quickly explore design options and quantify the trade-offs between technical, economic, environmental, and social factors, potentially cutting months off the planning process.

“Currently, teams are forced to make billion-pound, long-lived decisions using fragmented tools—routing in one place, cost/performance elsewhere, risk and consenting in another—and it’s tough to understand the trade-offs or avoid stranded/underused assets,” says Hammond. “RunPilot brings those pieces together so teams can explore more options, earlier, with clearer evidence behind the decisions.”

The platform delivers a set of strong candidate designs, along with supporting evidence detailing performance across different future scenarios and potential delivery or consenting risks, allowing for more confident and less rework-intensive decision-making.

From Research Lab to Real-World Deployment

RunPilot originated from research and real-world planning problems tackled at the University of Sheffield. Seed funding was used to engage with industry stakeholders, develop initial branding, and advance product development to translate the research into a usable tool. The University of Sheffield provided commercialization support and guidance to facilitate the transition from academic innovation to practical deployment.

The Future Impact of RunPilot

The AENi team recently launched the official RunPilot website and is planning to incorporate in March 2026. Hammond envisions RunPilot becoming a key tool in the global transition to net-zero.

“Net-zero isn’t only a technology challenge—it’s a delivery challenge,” says Hammond. “Our near-term hope is to get RunPilot into the hands of the organizations shaping net-zero infrastructure—network operators, consultancies, government teams, and regional planning bodies—so it becomes a practical decision-support tool that compresses the decision loop that slows these projects down.

“In practice, that means fewer late-stage redesigns, faster progression from concept to buildable plans, and quicker deployment of the assets that unlock large emissions reductions in heavy industry.”

Source: University of Sheffield