The pendulum in the energy sector has swung fast.  

For the past decade, I’ve watched utilities pursue decarbonization with singular focus—and rightfully so. Sustainability remains critical to our collective future. But what I’m hearing from utility leaders in the field has shifted dramatically. The energy transition isn’t less important. It’s just no longer enough. 
 
We recently completed a global survey of 850 utility leaders across six markets. The results confirm what I’ve been observing: utilities are no longer choosing between reliability and sustainability, between affordability and resilience. They’re being asked—by regulators, customers, and operational reality—to address all of these simultaneously. 

THE CONVERGENCE IS REAL

Decades of underinvestment in aging infrastructure have come due. Planning for one or two extreme weather events every year is also no longer enough, with some utilities getting hit with several events a year. Geopolitical pressures around energy independence are reshaping capital allocation decisions at the highest levels. Data centers and electrification are driving explosive load growth. And through it all, customers and regulators expect affordability to remain sacrosanct. 
 
For the utility leaders I speak with, these aren’t separate problems. They’re converging pressures that force a reckoning with how transformation actually happens. 
 
The survey data validates this shift. Grid reliability and resilience is now the #1 operational priority for utilities. But it’s not replacing other priorities – it’s joining them. Affordability remains non-negotiable. Energy independence is driving new investment categories. Sustainability objectives persist. The difference is that utilities can no longer manage these in separate lanes. They must solve all of them together. 

WHERE THE GAP IS OPENING 

The gap between utilities that recognize this shift and utilities that can execute on it is widening faster than I’ve ever seen. 71% of utilities report struggling with operational silos across their critical systems. They’re generating essential data in SCADA, EAM, ERP, CIS, ADMS, and GIS systems—but these systems don’t talk to each other. In practical terms, this means a capital planner can’t see what an operator sees. A maintenance crew doesn’t know how their work connects to strategic priorities. Coordination breaks down. 
 
But here’s the telling part: among utilities with fully integrated operational systems, 58% use AI-driven predictive analytics for real-time decision-making. Among fragmented utilities, that number drops to 4%. That’s not a marginal difference. That’s a competitive chasm. 
 
Asset lifecycle management tells a similar story. 51% of utilities remain in a developing state – systems exist, but silos limit what they can predict and optimize. The 33% utilities with advanced ALM capabilities are reporting 20-30% reductions in maintenance costs and measurable improvements in asset uptime. They’re making better capital decisions because they can see the full lifecycle picture. 

THE AI PARADOX 

Perhaps most striking: 91% of utilities say Industrial AI is critical to their transformation. Yet 97% face significant barriers to scaling from pilot to production.  

This isn’t a technology problem. The barrier is structural. Utilities running isolated AI pilots—disconnected from operational workflows, without integrated data—are spending capital without generating measurable value. They’re solving machine learning problems when the real problem is operational integration. 
 
The utilities that are scaling do something fundamentally different. They embed AI into the workflows where decisions become actions. They pick high-impact use cases and measure outcomes against business metrics: cost reduction, uptime improvement, faster restoration. They prove value quickly and build momentum, rather than trying to transform everything at once. 

THE IMPERATIVE: CONNECTED EXECUTION 

What separates transformation winners from everyone else isn’t vision. Utilities across the sector share similar priorities. The difference is execution—and execution requires three things: 
 
First, a platform strategy that connects critical systems without forcing rip-and-replace disruption. Most utilities can’t afford that. They need technology that works with what exists and evolves as needs change. 
 
Second, an AI strategy grounded in operational outcomes. Not innovation for innovation’s sake. AI that prevents failures, extends asset life, accelerates response time, and justifies capital investment to regulators. 
 
Third, an operating model that creates clear ownership from capital decision to asset outcome. When a utility executive makes an investment decision, someone owns the result. That accountability drives execution discipline. 

THE PATH FORWARD 

The utilities winning this transformation moment aren’t doing anything revolutionary. They’re executing with discipline. They’re integrating systems thoughtfully. They’re applying AI to specific high-impact decisions. They’re measuring outcomes rigorously. They’re bringing it all back to customer value and affordability. 
 
The research shows this path is working. Leading utilities are establishing competitive advantage in reliability, cost efficiency, and stakeholder confidence. The question for every utility executive is simple: How quickly will your organization move? 
 
The competitive window won’t stay open forever. The utilities that act now will operate at measurable advantage over those that delay. The gap between leaders and followers isn’t widening because transformation is complex—it’s widening because some utilities have chosen to act. 
 
If your utility is ready to have that conversation, the data is clear. The path forward is clear. The time to move is now. 

The full 2026 Global Utility Survey research is available for download. It includes detailed findings, and strategic recommendations for comparing your utility against global peers.