The Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP) is undergoing a period of international expansion and strategic transformation. In this interview with its CEO, Alan Thomas, he details the main fronts that are defining the organization’s global agenda: strengthening regional chapters, growth in key markets such as India and China, and consolidation of a truly transnational model.
He also discusses how AMPP is integrating digitalization, artificial intelligence, digital twins, and predictive maintenance into its standards, certifications, and training programs, as well as its focus on sustainability, integrity management, and institutional resilience to respond to new industry demands.
- AMPP operates as a truly global community in materials protection and performance. What are the three strategic fronts it currently leads on a global scale, and how will these be reflected in the organization’s agenda for the coming years?
Strengthening the health of our Chapters AMPP’s regional, volunteer-driven member networks for knowledge sharing and professional development, remains a core strategic front, ensuring each one is positioned for long-term success and community impact. In the past two years alone, we have converted local enthusiasm into a global operating network, launching 80 new Chapters in 24 months, a growth rate just north of 70%.
This surge isn’t a vanity metric; it’s a clear market signal that the world is asking for what we do. We’re also ensuring that our Chapters don’t just multiply but mature into self-sustaining ecosystems that support their local communities, accelerate technical knowledge exchange, encourage collaboration and elevate the next generation of corrosion and materials professionals.
The other two key fronts shaping our global agenda are India and China, regions where the potential for growth and influence is immense.
India has become one of AMPP’s most dynamic geographies, home to our largest student membership base of 1,130 aspiring corrosion professionals and a rapidly expanding network of engineers and emerging industry leaders. With a regional director now in place, we’re focused on deepening AMPP’s education and training footprint to build a robust talent pipeline for India’s future workforce.
China, where AMPP recently achieved official NGO status, a distinction granted to only five international organizations, also represents a major milestone in our global strategy. This recognition enables new delivery models for our products and services to meet surging demand in one of the world’s most critical industrial markets.
Taken together, these priorities advance a single direction: AMPP will lead as a truly global, transnational organization, expanding our impact through a network of regional centers of excellence that drive growth while deepening local relevance. In parallel, we’re reinforcing our future by building durable financial and institutional capacity through mission-aligned ventures that extend reach, increase resilience and ensure AMPP is ready to fuel the next wave of breakthroughs in materials protection and performance.
- As the industry embraces digitalization, digital twins, and AI, how is AMPP integrating these trends into its courses, standards, and certifications to maintain global relevance?
Digitalization is reshaping how work gets done, and AMPP is committed to ensuring our members are equipped to lead, not just adapt, in that evolution. Across the industries we serve, augmentation and automation are redefining asset management and performance. Through our research programs and standards committees, we’re helping organizations design intelligent, sustainable asset management protocols that optimize the life, value and safety of critical infrastructure.
We’re also rethinking what capability looks like in the era of the “connected worker.” That means re-aligning existing courses, modernizing certifications and developing entirely new ones to ensure professionals can operate in ever-evolving and data-rich AI-enabled environments. From predictive maintenance using drones and robotics to remote inspection supported by real-time data, our programs emulate the actual conditions today’s engineers and technicians face on the job.
Behind it all is a focus on accessibility and acceleration. We’re incorporating adaptive learning, immersive digital simulations and even agentic AI to create personalized learning paths that reduce time to competence. This approach goes beyond instruction to transform how the global workforce learns, performs and innovates in an increasingly automated world.
- From an international perspective, what best practices in corrosion mitigation and integrity management do you consider transferable across regions (North America, Europe, MENA, APAC), and how does AMPP facilitate that interoperability of knowledge?
Trust is universal, and that’s what AMPP certifications deliver. Whether it’s a coatings inspector in Kuwait or a cathodic protection contractor in New Jersey, our accreditations represent the same global standard of quality, safety and professionalism. Beyond just technical competence, these programs communicate reliability.
Our certifications, standards and contractor accreditation programs are purpose-built to transcend geography, providing a common framework that connects industries, governments and professionals worldwide. This interoperability ensures that wherever critical assets exist, from energy infrastructure in the MENA region to offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, AMPP-certified professionals are aligned in how they preserve, protect and perform.
- Sustainability has become a core axis of corporate investment. How is AMPP aligning its standards and training programs with ESG objectives while maintaining technical rigor and operational safety?
AMPP has been advancing sustainability since before the term became a global imperative. For decades, our members have been safeguarding material assets, preventing corrosion and extending asset life, long before environmental stewardship became part of the mainstream business lexicon. In many ways, we were the original sustainability organization.
Every time our members prevent a pipeline from corroding or extend the life of a bridge, they conserve resources, minimize waste and reduce emissions from manufacturing and transport. Protecting what we have is one of the most direct and measurable contributions to sustainability there is.
As sustainability and national security converge, AMPP is elevating its voice so that decades of member- driven research, field practice and knowledge-sharing are recognized as essential to global resilience. Our standards and training programs continue to align with environmental objectives while maintaining the technical rigor, safety and reliability that define our field. Sustainability isn’t a trend for us; it’s embedded in AMPP’s mission and rooted in nearly 150 years of combined legacy expertise.
- AMPP has undergone significant organizational growth and international expansion in recent years. From a leadership standpoint, what are your priorities to strengthen the association’s global presence, enhance member engagement, and ensure financial and strategic sustainability for the next decade?
AMPP’s north star is to lead as a global, transnational organization. That means advancing one mission through a network of regional centers of excellence that reflect the diversity, innovation and expertise of our growing membership network of nearly 40,000 professionals worldwide. By deepening grassroots engagement and amplifying our regional impact, we strengthen AMPP’s global presence while ensuring every member sees value close to home.
Financial and institutional strength are also central to our vision. We’re growing our resources and balance sheet through mission-aligned ventures that expand AMPP’s reach and resilience. The goal is long-term viability, which we’ll achieve by ensuring we have the resources and agility to deliver constant member value while catalyzing innovation across materials protection and performance.
- When it comes to conferences in the United States with international audiences, what topics or formats do you find most effective in attracting decision-makers and accelerating knowledge transfer?
The success of our annual conference speaks for itself as the most well-attended and globally supported event in our space. Why? Because it reflects the full spectrum of expertise within the AMPP community. The technical content comes directly from thought leaders, scholars and practitioners worldwide. That breadth and depth of input is what makes it so powerful and resonant.
Attendees can engage with the material however they choose, whether in person, online or through the conference proceedings, making knowledge transfer seamless across time zones and formats. That’s the strength of a truly global, transnational community.
We’ve also extended that conference format year- round with the recently launched AMPP Knowledge Hub, a reimagined, searchable digital platform that unifies decades of the industry’s most trusted technical expertise into one dynamic, easy-to-navigate resource that’s available anytime, anywhere. Together, these efforts ensure members worldwide have continuous access to the most trusted resources, research and solutions in materials protection and performance.
- What message would you share with industry leaders seeking to reduce risk, life-cycle costs and downtime:
Adopting AMPP standards and training programs is an investment in certainty. Certainty of quality, performance and safety. Our globally recognized standards are engineered to reduce risk, extend asset life and minimize costly downtime. When organizations embed these frameworks into their operations, they meet critical compliance requirements while future-proofing infrastructure by strengthening asset integrity.
Equally important is engagement. It’s how we unlock volunteer energy at scale, turning expertise into motion. When professional and student members get involved with AMPP Chapters, technical committees and standards development, they connect to live innovation across our global network. Paired with the AMPP Knowledge Hub and our training programs, that energy helps people share, learn and lead, lifting individual capability and the industry together.
Alan Thomas is the Chief Executive Officer of the Association for Materials Protection and Performance, where he is leading a global digital transformation to strengthen the organization’s position at the forefront of materials science and protection. With more than two decades of experience driving growth, efficiency, and organizational resilience across multiple industries, he brings deep expertise in strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, and operational transformation. Recognized for his data-driven leadership and ability to build high-performance teams, Thomas focuses on sustainable growth, measurable impact, and agility in an ever-evolving global marketplace.
This article was developed by specialist Alan Thomas and published as part of the seventh edition of Inspenet Brief February 2026, dedicated to technical content in the energy and industrial sector.