As ener­gy, gas, and water util­i­ties nav­i­gate an era defined by grid mod­ern­iza­tion, aging infra­struc­ture, work­force pres­sures, and the rapid rise of arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI), hav­ing an action­able, peer-test­ed roadmap is essen­tial. In this envi­ron­ment, suc­cess hinges on bridg­ing peo­ple, data, assets, and process­es. That is the core mis­sion of this year’s SAP for Util­i­ties con­fer­ence, Pre­sent­ed by ASUG, tak­ing place in San Anto­nio Oct. 6 – 9. Bring­ing togeth­er util­i­ties lead­ers and SAP experts, the event fea­tures 65-plus expert-led ses­sions, direct access to SAP lead­er­ship, and inter­ac­tive peer discussions. 

Whether atten­dees are focused on improv­ing their orga­ni­za­tions’ cus­tomer expe­ri­ence process­es, seek­ing ways to empow­er enter­prise archi­tects devel­op­ing mis­sion-crit­i­cal appli­ca­tions, or are fig­ur­ing out asset mod­ern­iza­tion, SAP for Util­i­ties will empow­er atten­dees with the know-how and insights to dri­ve IT and oper­a­tional improve­ments at their util­i­ty organizations. 

Four Themes Crit­i­cal to Util­i­ty Innovation 

This year’s event cur­ricu­lum leads util­i­ties teams through four pri­ma­ry tracks struc­tured around util­i­ty-spe­cif­ic demands and challenges:

1. Run the Busi­ness: Mod­ern­ize with­out los­ing momen­tum, focus­ing on cloud migra­tion, busi­ness con­ti­nu­ity, and S/4HANA readi­ness paths.
2. Con­nect the Data: Resolve sys­tem frag­men­ta­tion using SAP Busi­ness Data Cloud. As Marc Rosson, Com­mu­ni­ty Con­nec­tor for the ASUG Util­i­ties Com­mu­ni­ty, high­light­ed in a recent arti­cle, ASUG Util­i­ty Voice: Why SAP’s Autonomous Enter­prise Vision Is the Right Move for Util­i­ties, AI pilots for the util­i­ties indus­try fre­quent­ly stall over secu­ri­ty and gov­er­nance gaps despite func­tion­al code. Build­ing the right data foun­da­tion first is critical.
3. Empow­er the Peo­ple: Boost pro­duc­tiv­i­ty via SAP Joule, SAP Ana­lyt­ics Cloud pre­dic­tive ana­lyt­ics, Microsoft Teams field inte­gra­tion, and ded­i­cat­ed tracks for finance, trea­sury, and HR/SAP SuccessFactors.
4. Opti­mize the Assets: Enhance grid reli­a­bil­i­ty and cap­i­tal allo­ca­tion through EAM, Asset Per­for­mance Man­age­ment (APM), pre­dic­tive main­te­nance, and Field Ser­vice Man­age­ment (FSM).

New Learn­ing Opportunities 

A new addi­tion to this year’s SAP for Util­i­ties event is the Pre-Con­fer­ence Work­shops ASUG is host­ing on Oct. 6. Atten­dees can choose between two dis­tinct tracks address­ing IT inno­va­tion and modernization. 

The first track, Autonomous Enter­prise for Util­i­ty Pro­fes­sion­als: Dri­ving Busi­ness Val­ue with SAP Busi­ness Data Cloud, AI, and Joule, focus­es on SAP Busi­ness Data Cloud and how that solu­tion helps enter­pris­es pre­pare their data land­scapes for AI usage — regard­less of whether they are on SAP ECC or S/4HANA. Specif­i­cal­ly, this track exam­ines how SAP BDC inte­grates with oth­er SAP solu­tions — includ­ing SAP BTP, Data­s­phere, and Joule — to cre­ate data foun­da­tions crit­i­cal for AI enablement. 

The sec­ond track, From Reac­tive to Pre­dic­tive: Mod­ern­iz­ing Asset Man­age­ment with SAP APM, AI, and Con­nect­ed Data, dives into how SAP BDC can dri­ve asset man­age­ment mod­ern­iza­tion and inno­va­tion. Specif­i­cal­ly, the work­shop will explore how enter­pris­es can lever­age SAP BDC in con­junc­tion with SAP Asset Per­for­mance Man­age­ment (APM) and AI to oper­a­tions, includ­ing pre­dic­tive main­te­nance, main­te­nance order rec­om­men­da­tions, and asset data unification. 

On Oct. 9, ASUG is also host­ing half-day roadmap ses­sions ded­i­cat­ed entire­ly to SAP prod­uct roadmaps based on direct com­mu­ni­ty feed­back and span three focus areas: 

• Trans­for­ma­tion  
• Emerg­ing tech 
• Func­tion­al expansion

Atten­dees will not only be able to direct­ly influ­ence and shape SAP prod­uct roadmaps, but they will also gain peer-to-peer insights from col­leagues who over­came dig­i­tal trans­for­ma­tion and leave with action­able blueprints. 

Build the Bridge to the Future: Three Days. One Industry.

Don’t take a leap of faith into the future; build the bridge. Join util­i­ties pro­fes­sion­als, SAP exec­u­tives, and solu­tion part­ners in San Anto­nio Oct. 6 – 9, for SAP for Util­i­ties 2026, Pre­sent­ed by ASUG.