Transformative power of technology

Tidewater has been providing services to offshore petroleum businesses for nearly 65 years. Today, the company has a fleet of over 200 vessels and employs 5,000 people from all over the world.

Regina Mayor, KPMG’s Global Head of Energy, opens her conversation with Quintin Kneen, President, CEO, and Director of Tidewater, asking about initial responses to the early days of the COVID-19 disruption when 90% of his fleet was stranded in 60 different countries—and governments around the world were banning international travel.

In Mr. Kneen’s long career, COVID-19 is but one of many challenges that have involved managing operations in a wide range of unexpected circumstances—both boom and bust. He shares his perspective as to why this period, in particular, calls for resiliency, decisiveness…and grace.

Topics discussed include:

• Why restructurings are a natural consequence of industry cycles, and why the stage is now set for more mergers and acquisitions
• How Tidewater’s early adoption of emerging technologies has positioned them to be competitive long-term
• Why getting company culture right, especially in response to a merger or acquisition, is key to value creation
• The worldwide renewed focus on leveraging technology to develop a sustainable energy platform
• Why the best companies are built during a downturn.