Fueling the AI Future from the Heart of Appalachia
A New Kind of Energy Leader for a New Era
Toby Z. Rice didn’t step into a boardroom with a silver spoon. He stepped onto drill pads with spreadsheets, algorithms and a mission.
A petroleum engineer by training and a visionary by instinct, Rice began his journey by co-founding Rice Energy with his brothers—leaving the traditional oil patch of Texas behind to build something new in the hills of Appalachia. They didn’t have a famous name or a century-old legacy. What they had was technology, determination and the belief that natural gas could—and should—lead America’s energy future.
They were right.
What started as a family-run venture quickly scaled into one of the top 10 natural gas producers in the U.S. In 2017, Rice Energy merged with EQT, creating the country’s largest independent natural gas producer. But Rice wasn’t done. Less than two years later, after a shareholder-backed proxy campaign, he returned—not as a disruptor from the outside, but as President and CEO of EQT.
Since then, he’s led EQT with a startup’s agility and a technologist’s mindset, turning a 130-year-old company into a digitally driven energy powerhouse.
An Energy Company That Thinks Like AI
Today’s artificial intelligence revolution doesn’t run on buzzwords. It runs on massive, continuous power. And while headlines focus on silicon chips and neural nets, Toby Rice sees the bigger picture: America’s ability to lead in AI depends on its ability to power AI.
EQT is answering that call.
Under Rice’s leadership, EQT has embraced a digital-first strategy that mirrors the very technologies it now supports, redefining what operational intelligence looks like in the energy sector.
"Energy doesn’t have to be legacy," Rice has said. "We’re proving it can be modern, measurable, and mission-critical to the future of innovation.”
At EQT, the underground is mapped with machine learning. Pipelines are monitored by sensors, not just site visits. And methane intensity—a key emissions metric—is not only tracked, but actively minimized through predictive algorithms and satellite data. Last year, the company also became the first traditional energy producer of scale in the world to achieve net zero Scope 1 & 2 greenhouse gas emissions —proof that scale and sustainability can co-exist.
National Security. Economic Competitiveness. Energy Independence.
Rice doesn’t just talk about BTUs and basins. He talks about geopolitics, global competition, and the moral imperative of American leadership in AI.
“This is the largest energy resource in the world,” he recently noted of the Marcellus Shale. “And Pittsburgh has powered every major industrial revolution in American history. This AI revolution is no different.”
To him, AI isn’t just about chatbots and automation. It’s about national security, healthcare innovation, and the economic backbone of the next century. And energy policy is at the center of it all.
Still, obstacles remain. Pipelines are vetoed. Infrastructure is stalled. But EQT continues to expand and invest in ready-to-build, ready-to-scale energy solutions—working with government, industry, and communities to ensure that Western Pennsylvania becomes the launchpad of America’s AI future.
The Workforce That Builds the Future
Behind EQT’s tech-forward vision is a workforce that blends hardhats and headsets, fiber cable and frack data.
From field engineers running analytics on handhelds to systems designers building real-time infrastructure models, EQT’s people reflect the best of the region: gritty, innovative, and built for scale. Many come from Western PA, Ohio, and West Virginia. They know what it means to build things that last—and they’re now applying that mindset to one of the most complex energy challenges of our time.
Their tools aren’t just wrenches and rigs—they’re dashboards, AI models, and remote diagnostics. It’s energy, evolved.
The Right Leader. The Right Partner. The Right Time.
EQT isn’t just positioned to support the AI economy—it’s designed for it. With a digitally enabled platform, unmatched scale, and a CEO who understands the stakes, EQT is ready to deliver the power that will define the next industrial era.
Toby Z. Rice is not just building an energy company—he’s building the infrastructure of American competitiveness.
