Question 1

What is the impact of unified ecosystems for operational platforms?

Accepted Answer

More advanced utilities show what’s possible: unified ecosystems of operational platforms deliver 18% higher operational responsiveness and enable faster, more coordinated decision-making across utilities networks.

Question 2

Why is operational intelligence the next frontier?

Accepted Answer

By integrating digital operational technology (OT) to shift from reactive to predictive operations, utilities see measurable gains: 17% faster outage recovery, 14% greater forecasting accuracy, and 12% higher asset utilization.

Question 3

How do people serve as catalysts for sustainable progress?

Accepted Answer

More advanced utilities have made deliberate investments in talent. 96% have cross-functional OT/IT integration teams and most have formalized governance models. These foundations enable deployment of digital capabilities more broadly  across operational workforces in areas such as industrial IoT, OT, cybersecurity, and AI/ML applications.

Question 4

What’s the payoff for utilities investing in interoperable systems, mature data hubs, and predictive tools?

Accepted Answer

Digitally advanced utilities achieve far stronger situational awareness. They can monitor and manage network conditions in real time, integrate DERs faster, and respond to events with greater precision. Utilities that have made OT transformation investments over the past two years report 20% faster DER integration and 14% better customer engagement.

Question 5

What are some of the biggest barriers to OT/IT integration and transformation?

Accepted Answer

More than three-quarters of executives cite legacy infrastructure and the absence of unified data platforms as the biggest technical barriers. Many OT environments rely on assets over 15 years old with proprietary systems that impede interoperability. Nearly four in five report cybersecurity concerns are a major reason why legacy OT systems remain in place longer than technically necessary.

Question 6

Where do utilities stand on workforce readiness for digital transformation in operations?

Accepted Answer

Almost half of executives (46%) say their workforce is mostly ready, with employees engaged and generally skilled, with some gaps remaining.  A further 10% say their workforce is fully capable, highly skilled, adaptive, and actively driving initiatives. At these levels, utilities still need to build workforce depth to sustain transformation at scale.

Question 7

How does the move from modernization to predictive optimization unlock value from digital OT?

Accepted Answer

Transformation accelerates when utilities embed intelligence into operations. With AI, digital twins, advanced sensors, and real-time analytics, utilities are shifting from upgrading equipment to enabling a network that learns and adapts. These actions unlock the intelligence required to anticipate network conditions, automate responses, and drive continuous operational improvement.

Question 8

What are critical enablers of predictive operations for utilities?

Accepted Answer

Data quality and consistency are essential. More advanced utilities report reliable digital data across most operational sites and 86% use middleware or edge platforms to wrap legacy or proprietary systems, ensuring interoperability across diverse assets. Meanwhile, less advanced peers face gaps and inconsistencies that limit their ability to scale analytics and AI.

Question 9

What steps can utilities executives take now to sustain digital and operational transformation?

Accepted Answer

Start with building a connected network operations backbone and deploying digital OT to enable predictive, autonomous operations. By empowering the workforce to run a modern, data-driven network, utilities can continuously optimize network performance and scale what works.

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