By Alice Chambers |
Utilities are under growing pressure to modernise grid operations as load growth becomes larger, more concentrated and increasingly volatile. At Distributech 2026, Microsoft and its partner ecosystem focused on helping utilities unify IT and OT data, applying AI where it improves reliability and productivity, and embedding security and governance.
“Utility leaders consistently pointed to the increasing speed of change across the grid,” said Bilal Khursheed, worldwide power and utilities leader for energy and resources at Microsoft, in a blog post titled ‘DTECH 2026: How Microsoft and our partners are accelerating AI innovation for utilities’. “Planning and operations are being pushed to respond faster as load growth becomes larger, more concentrated and more volatile. Electrification is reshaping peak demand profiles, while capital programs are under pressure to deliver measurable value earlier – even as timelines continue to compress.”
At the heart of this shift is the need for trusted, governed data foundations that span planning, operations, field work and customer engagement.
“Microsoft is focused on helping utilities establish governed data foundations that support analytics and AI across planning, operations, field work and customer engagement,” said Khursheed. “By enabling scale across use cases – rather than building one off pipelines – utilities can align around shared definitions, apply consistent security controls and collaborate without duplicative effort. A unified data foundation allows AI to support these decisions with clarity, traceability and operational relevance.”
Organisations looking to secure the cyber-physical grid are turning to partnerships like Dragos and Microsoft, which helps modernise operations while reinforcing visibility and governance across hybrid environments.
“Identity, access management, monitoring and governance must be consistently applied across cloud, edge and on premises systems,” said Khursheed. “Resilience improves when operators have timely visibility, clear decision paths and automation that supports established operating practices.”
Microsoft is also working with Schneider Electric to integrate its AI, cloud and data capabilities into Schneider’s One Digital Grid Platform, designed to help utilities improve their predictions on operational performance and security posture.
Utilities are also exploring agent-enabled workflows to support multi-step processes across planning, operations and field execution. Several partners showcased how AI and agents can be embedded directly into operational systems at Distributech.
Hitachi Energy is combining its Ellipse EAM solution with Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft Fabric, Copilot and Foundry to create a unified platform that manages data, analytics and business operations, providing greater visibility of assets across entire networks.
Meanwhile, Itron introduced its Intelligent Edge Operating System Connector for Microsoft 365 Copilot, using grid-edge data to deliver predictive insights and enhanced customer experiences.