Sushma Bhan

Sushma Bhan, SPE, is the board and technical director of the SPE Data Science and Engineering Analytics Technical Section, championing SPE’s global AI4Energy initiative and advancing technical innovation with real industry impact. Previously, she spent more than 30 years at Shell, where she served as chief data officer for subsurface and wells, developed enterprisewide data strategies, and led global digital value accelerators. Throughout her career at Shell, Bhan held senior leadership roles and led wells, reservoir, and facility management data excellence programs that delivered multimillion dollar savings and increased production across assets in more than 20 countries. She has published both internal Shell technical papers and SPE papers on data excellence, data security, and related topics. Bhan currently serves on Rice University’s Professional Science Master’s Board of Affiliates and previously served on the Board of Ikon Science (2021–2024), guiding AI driven innovation in data solutions. Her leadership has earned industrywide recognition, including the 2024 Hart Energy Influential Women in Energy award. Bhan holds an MS degree from the University of Delhi and an executive MBA degree from the University of Houston.