The following Utility Voice was authored by Marc Rosson, Community Connector at Utility.Community.

We are all on the AI journey in different ways and with different focuses. Some utilities are working to protect and secure their information. We want to assure our customers that the information they entrust us with is secure and private. As is typical for utilities, we are risk-averse and do not adopt technology that does not have a solid track record, ideally with another peer utility already having demonstrated their success.

Some utilities have started their adoption process by learning about the technology, doing pilots, and seeking to understand the business case for adoption. Every vendor on the market, including SAP, is investing in this technology (see Espresso session on 2/19) and coming up with different use cases where it makes sense. Interest groups have formed within our utility communities. 

Business leaders are all asking three questions: How can AI respond to regulatory issues, save money, or generate revenue? Questions are easy, answers are not, and it’s more than just a technology issue. It’s about how our staff and our customers see AI and where it fits into our existing risk-averse business models.

IT groups are being asked to adopt, approve, secure, and integrate this technology from multiple vendors into our solutions, while making sure that everything is still reliable, secure, and private as the business is working to operationalize the value proposition.

It is a lot, but utilities have accomplished many things in the past, and this will be one more accomplishment. We are up to this challenge if we do it together. I encourage all of you to continue the journey and, most importantly, share with each other. Get involved with your key vendors to provide guidance and input. Share what you learn with each other, and together we can implement this technology in our own way, within our own culture, and deliver value while keeping our values in place.

Those of us who have been in this industry for a long time have watched this evolve from humble beginnings. For example, in 1987, I took a semester class in Assembly language as part of my computer science major. The final project was to write a C compiler. It only understood simple math and had to support 2+2=4 in C.

This past week, on February 5th, Anthropic’s AI Claude Opus 4.6 was used by its team of AI agents working for over 336 hours continuously to build a C compiler using the programming language Rust. On January 1st, it could only run for 7 hours before stopping. This AI wrote a C compiler with over 100,000 lines of code that can compile all of the modern computer systems written in C, including Linux, in under two weeks.

It is an exciting and sometimes stressful time to be involved in this journey. The speed is unbelievable. A rollercoaster can be scary with sharp turns, speed, and ups and downs. You may even feel a little ill after the ride. But the adventure, excitement, and thrill shared with those we go on it with is a memory we never forget. The ride must be done together. Two people in every car. Do not go at it alone.

In addition to the SAP Espresso session on the new Self-Service Utility AI Agent, you have another opportunity to learn from industry leaders at the upcoming Next Generation Enterprise Architecture Forum. While the in-person event is sold out with over 400 participants, you can join the free live stream, gain insights from the sessions, and continue the discussion with us afterward. I look forward to hearing your ideas and contributions to our community.

To get involved and keep up with the latest, join ASUG’s Utilities Community.