TechnipFMC: 30 Sites, 15 Countries, and What Almost Killed Adoption
About the episode In this episode of the XR Industry Leaders Podcast, Will Stackable sits down with Adam Berg, Manager of Learning Solutions and Senior Technology Expert at TechnipFMC, to talk about how a handful of HoloLens headsets gathering dust became a global VR training program built for high-stakes, hands-on work. About 40% of TechnipFMC's 22,000+ employees work hands-on in manufacturing, assembly, testing, field service and maintenance, and they often get trained long before they actually need the skill. VR gives them a place to practice on demand. Adam's team made a big leap to get there: 80 headsets spread across about 30 sites in 15 countries, starting with engineering. Today they have over 100 headsets in use, running simulations like pressure tests that reach over 30,000 psi, and their latest round of user surveys scored the training 4.3 out of 5. Adam gets candid about the parts of scaling nobody warns you about: why every site needs a local advocate, how an IT liaison replaced an endless stream of tickets, the device setup decision that sent headsets back to the shelf, and why sharing content has to be easy enough to explain across countries, time zones and languages. If you're taking XR past the pilot stage, this one is a practical playbook. Timestamps: How a dozen HoloLens headsets that "collected dust" turned into a multi-year company mandate (01:06) Why practice on demand fills the gap for a workforce that's 40% hands-on (03:24) Inside a VR pressure test, where hours of real-world buildup happen instantly (06:51) Why every site needs a local advocate, or the program stalls (11:34) The big leap: 80 headsets allocated across 30 sites in 15 countries (14:45) When tickets stopped working, and how an IT liaison became the program's translator (17:14) The device mode lesson that hurt adoption, and the switch to Meta Horizon Managed Services with ArborXR (19:33) Taking XR from 10 to 15% of the company to a core technology (26:00) Adam's advice: get IT leadership involved early and don't try to boil the ocean (28:35) About the Guest: Adam Berg is Manager of Learning Solutions and Senior Technology Expert at TechnipFMC, where he leads the company's XR program across about 30 sites in 15 countries. He has spent 32 years in oil and gas, 27 of them at TechnipFMC, and was brought in to build the company's multi-year VR plan in 2021. Adam holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Texas. About ArborXR: ArborXR helps organizations confidently manage VR & AR devices at scale, remotely install content, and control what users can see and do in the headset. Our mission is to help people live more meaningful lives through the power of XR. Learn more at arborxr.com. Links & Resources: Connect with Adam on LinkedIn Connect with Will on LinkedIn



