COMET has launched a new AI-powered capability aimed specifically at enhancing incident investigation and root cause analysis, marking a first for the industry. The newly introduced COMET AI Assistant has been developed exclusively for this purpose, setting it apart from more generalised AI tools.
Rather than adapting existing AI frameworks, the solution has been created from the ground up, drawing on COMET’s long-standing expertise in investigative processes, its proven methodologies and its in-depth understanding of HSEQ-related failure data. This foundation has helped establish COMET as a recognised leader in investigation and root cause analysis.
The introduction of COMET AI Assistant represents an important milestone for the company, which works with organisations across multiple high-risk industries, including oil and gas, aviation, construction, rail, marine and ports, and waste management. Collectively, these organisations represent a workforce of more than 350,000 people across over 190 sites worldwide. The project has involved a significant six-figure investment, demonstrating COMET’s ongoing focus on delivering specialised, high-impact AI solutions.
Designed with real-world investigation challenges in mind, the AI Assistant focuses on three core issues: reducing the heavy documentation workload that can slow down investigations, improving consistency in investigation quality, and enabling organisations to unlock valuable insights from large-scale investigation data that would otherwise remain difficult to analyse.
Two dedicated capabilities
COMET AI Assistant is structured around two distinct but complementary capabilities, each addressing a different stage of the investigation lifecycle.
The first is embedded directly into the COMET Investigate workflow, reducing the documentation burden that delays investigations before they begin, elevating the quality of analysis, and ensuring nothing gets missed regardless of investigator experience or time pressure. The design principle throughout is that the AI supports, and the investigator decides.
The second is delivered through COMET Companion Plus, an evolution of COMET’s AI-powered investigation assistant. Now, a full portfolio intelligence engine, the tool builds on COMET’s long-standing capability to surface trends and patterns through its investigation dashboards and analytics, taking it further by operating across the entire investigation portfolio through natural language conversation. With no technical expertise required, it surfaces the systemic patterns, recurring factors, and emerging risks that manual review cannot reach.
Together, they represent end-to-end AI capability that no other RCA platform can offer.
Independent Validation
The launch follows an independent briefing with Verdantix, the leading analyst network for HSE technology, whose research is used by safety leaders and procurement teams across the industry.
Aleks Milligan, Analyst, AI Applied at Verdantix said: “This is a thoughtfully designed AI application. Its strength lies in combining deep investigative expertise with a practical, human-centred approach, grounded in high-quality data and the RCA methodology. The result is a product capable of delivering meaningful operational value to customers.”
Safe and responsible AI
COMET AI Assistant is built with enterprise-grade data security and responsible AI governance. The platform does not use OpenAI or any public large language model. Client data is fully segregated and does not leave the client environment or contribute to any shared model. The platform is GDPR-compliant throughout, with per-feature administrative controls that allow organisations to adopt at their own pace.
Mark Rushton, CEO of COMET said: “There is a difference between AI that has been applied to investigations and AI that was built for them. COMET AI Assistant is built on the process, the methodology, and the safety data expertise that drives meaningful prevention. This is not a feature update, it is a category shift in what investigation software can do. We built this because our customers deserved better than a generic AI bolted on to their workflow, and we had the expertise and the methodology to do it properly.”
COMET AI Assistant is available now. Organisations can request a personalised demo here.
