Deep­ak Garg, founder and CEO of Smart Ener­gy Water (SEW), is at the fore­front of the dig­i­tal rev­o­lu­tion trans­form­ing the ener­gy and util­i­ties sec­tor. With over two decades of expe­ri­ence in prod­uct devel­op­ment and a pas­sion for lever­ag­ing tech­nol­o­gy to dri­ve sus­tain­abil­i­ty, Garg has posi­tioned SEW as a glob­al leader in AI-pow­ered plat­forms that con­nect util­i­ties with their cus­tomers and workforce. 

Under Garg’s direc­tion, SEW has served over 400 ener­gy providers across over 45 geo­gra­phies and 1.5 bil­lion peo­ple. SEW’s plat­forms, which har­ness next-gen tech­nolo­gies like AI, machine learn­ing, and IoT, have not only stream­lined oper­a­tions and enhanced effi­cien­cy for util­i­ties but also empow­ered cus­tomers to make informed deci­sions about their ener­gy and water con­sump­tion. From North Amer­i­ca to South­east Asia, SEW’s solu­tions enable util­i­ties to adapt to new ener­gy par­a­digms, build mean­ing­ful cus­tomer rela­tion­ships, and dri­ve sustainability.

For instance, in India, SEW plat­forms are pow­er­ing the devel­op­ment of elec­tric vehi­cles and rooftop solar ecosys­tems. Mean­while, three of the top four util­i­ties in the Unit­ed States use SEW plat­forms to edu­cate and con­nect with mil­lions of customers. 

Garg’s vision is deeply root­ed in a com­mit­ment to sus­tain­abil­i­ty and a belief in the trans­for­ma­tive poten­tial of tech­nol­o­gy to cre­ate a more resilient, con­nect­ed world. As a thought leader in the indus­try, Garg active­ly con­tributes to the Forbes Tech­nol­o­gy Coun­cil and has spear­head­ed the WE3 plat­form, a space that brings togeth­er util­i­ty and tech lead­ers to facil­i­tate con­ver­sa­tions around the future of ener­gy and water. 

His efforts have not gone unno­ticed, with SEW being rec­og­nized as one of the fastest-grow­ing com­pa­nies in Amer­i­ca by Inc. 5000 and Garg him­self receiv­ing numer­ous acco­lades, includ­ing the EY Entre­pre­neur­ship of the Year and Inno­va­tor of the Year awards. 

In a recent dis­cus­sion with ASUG, Garg shared insights on crit­i­cal inno­va­tion imper­a­tives for util­i­ties, evolv­ing cus­tomer expec­ta­tions, and the trans­for­ma­tive poten­tial of AI. 

This inter­view, which you can also down­load, has been edit­ed and condensed.

Q: You found­ed SEW a decade ago to ​“save every drop of water and every elec­tron.” What char­ac­ter­is­tics dis­tin­guish a dig­i­tal tech­nol­o­gy plat­form built with this mis­sion in mind?

Ener­gy and water are the most pre­cious com­modi­ties on our plan­et, yet they are often over­looked. This indus­try is wit­ness­ing the biggest trans­for­ma­tion any­where across any sec­tor, akin to the start of the inter­net era or even the indus­tri­al rev­o­lu­tion. But the sec­tor des­per­ate­ly needs tech to dri­ve this change on a mas­sive scale. Take, for instance, grid mod­ern­iza­tion: the grid is under immense pres­sure today with esca­lat­ing demand and the shift to clean ener­gy, but infra­struc­ture mod­ern­iza­tion will take mas­sive invest­ments and sev­er­al years to imple­ment. This is where exter­nal cat­a­lysts come in, and this is the oppor­tu­ni­ty that tech­nol­o­gy pro­vides, espe­cial­ly with AI.

“As the util­i­ty indus­try faces the most sig­nif­i­cant trans­for­ma­tion in its his­to­ry, the next 5 – 10 years will be cru­cial in deter­min­ing how util­i­ties evolve to meet grow­ing challenges.”

The char­ac­ter­is­tics that dis­tin­guish our plat­forms start with our unwa­ver­ing com­mit­ment to sus­tain­abil­i­ty. Every fea­ture, every line of code, is designed to engage, empow­er, and edu­cate bil­lions of peo­ple to save ener­gy and water and build a sus­tain­able future.

Over the years, we have mas­tered Ver­ti­cal AI, which pow­ers all our plat­forms. By build­ing spe­cial­ized use cas­es and lever­ag­ing AI tech­nol­o­gy, we have cre­at­ed a con­nect­ed oper­at­ing plat­form, lay­ing the foun­da­tion for the entire util­i­ty ecosys­tem — from cus­tomers, field work­ers, grid and cus­tomer assets, to grid man­age­ment. This enables us to cre­ate a seam­less, end-to-end envi­ron­ment that opti­mizes the ener­gy and water experience.

Scal­a­bil­i­ty is anoth­er cor­ner­stone of our approach. We’ve already con­nect­ed over a bil­lion peo­ple with their util­i­ties. Our adapt­able and far-reach­ing plat­forms ensure that our mis­sion of con­ser­va­tion can be scaled across the globe.

And, final­ly, inno­va­tion is at the heart of every­thing we do. By using tech­nol­o­gy to cre­ate ground­break­ing plat­forms, we’re not just mod­ern­iz­ing util­i­ties; we’re rev­o­lu­tion­iz­ing how they oper­ate, dri­ving dig­i­tal trans­for­ma­tion and busi­ness evo­lu­tion across the industry.

Q: What crit­i­cal inno­va­tion imper­a­tives should ener­gy and util­i­ties focus on over the next 5 – 10 years, and how is SEW sup­port­ing invest­ment in these areas?

As the util­i­ty indus­try faces the most sig­nif­i­cant trans­for­ma­tion in its his­to­ry, the next 5 – 10 years will be cru­cial in deter­min­ing how util­i­ties evolve to meet grow­ing chal­lenges. The focus must be on trans­for­ma­tive inno­va­tions that address ener­gy trans­for­ma­tion, ener­gy effi­cien­cy, water con­ser­va­tion, net zero, ESG goals, and the rise of eMo­bil­i­ty. These imper­a­tives are about adapt­ing to cur­rent demands and future-proof­ing the indus­try for the demands of tomorrow. 

SEW’s AI plat­form breaks bar­ri­ers by offer­ing the industry’s only ful­ly inte­grat­ed plat­form that con­nects cus­tomer expe­ri­ence, field work­force expe­ri­ence, and busi­ness expe­ri­ence. This enables seam­less data inte­gra­tion, sim­pli­fies oper­a­tions, and ensures util­i­ties can deliv­er con­sis­tent and effi­cient experiences. 

Our plat­form is designed to be scal­able, mod­u­lar, and future-ready, meet­ing the evolv­ing needs of the indus­try and dri­ving con­tin­u­ous inno­va­tion. Our ver­ti­cal-spe­cif­ic AI tech­nol­o­gy tack­les the unique chal­lenges util­i­ties face, offer­ing a range of use cas­es across cus­tomer engage­ment, work­force man­age­ment, and busi­ness oper­a­tions. This adapt­abil­i­ty ensures faster time to mar­ket, enabling util­i­ties to quick­ly respond to chang­ing mar­ket dynam­ics, reg­u­la­to­ry require­ments, and tech­no­log­i­cal advance­ments, all while main­tain­ing oper­a­tional excellence. 

Anoth­er crit­i­cal advan­tage of our plat­form is that it is designed to unlock new rev­enue oppor­tu­ni­ties for util­i­ties. For exam­ple, our smart pay­ment plat­form empow­ers cus­tomers with mul­ti­chan­nel pay­ment meth­ods, real-time noti­fi­ca­tions on upcom­ing bills, and AI-led rec­om­men­da­tion engines that pro­vide per­son­al­ized sug­ges­tions to help cus­tomers save on their bills and reduce usage.

Q: How have cus­tomer expec­ta­tions evolved in response to these imper­a­tives, and how can dig­i­tal plat­forms help util­i­ties keep up? 

As cus­tomers become more envi­ron­men­tal­ly con­scious and tech­no­log­i­cal­ly savvy, they demand per­son­al­ized, proac­tive, and seam­less inter­ac­tions with their util­i­ty providers. These chang­ing expec­ta­tions are reshap­ing how util­i­ties oper­ate, push­ing them to adopt dig­i­tal plat­forms that meet these new demands. 

We have often been called the ​“Ama­zon of the Ener­gy & Util­i­ty Indus­try,” as SEW Plat­form deliv­ers over 1,500 deep ver­ti­cal inte­grat­ed indus­try-spe­cif­ic use cas­es to cus­tomers, work­force, and assets — all from a sin­gle, pre-inte­grat­ed AI plat­form. Our plat­form caters to mul­ti­ple cus­tomer per­sonas, not just res­i­den­tial users but also enter­pris­es, land­lords, prop­er­ty man­agers, agen­cies, and builders. Addi­tion­al­ly, our AI-led fea­tures pro­vide con­nect­ed cus­tomer expe­ri­ences across mul­ti­ple chan­nels and touch­points, ensur­ing that every cus­tomer across diverse seg­ments receives a per­son­al­ized expe­ri­ence that meets their needs. 

In addi­tion to meet­ing indi­vid­ual cus­tomer needs, our plat­forms help util­i­ties address broad­er envi­ron­men­tal imper­a­tives, such as con­tribut­ing to cli­mate action and achiev­ing net zero tar­gets. By build­ing effec­tive cus­tomer part­ner­ships, our plat­form pro­vides util­i­ties to dri­ve par­tic­i­pa­tion in demand response pro­grams and even empow­er cus­tomers to gen­er­ate their own renew­able energy. 

Q: How can dig­i­tal plat­forms help util­i­ties inte­grate data to ensure a seam­less expe­ri­ence for util­i­ty cus­tomers? What data gov­er­nance capa­bil­i­ties can they unlock? 

Effec­tive data inte­gra­tion and man­age­ment are cru­cial for deliv­er­ing per­son­al­ized expe­ri­ences and dri­ving oper­a­tional effi­cien­cy. How­ev­er, mere­ly adopt­ing dig­i­tal plat­forms is insuf­fi­cient. Util­i­ties that rely on frag­ment­ed dig­i­tal solu­tions often face issues such as data incon­sis­ten­cies, increased secu­ri­ty threats, dis­joint­ed user expe­ri­ences, and inef­fi­cient resource uti­liza­tion. To tru­ly har­ness the pow­er of dig­i­tal trans­for­ma­tion, util­i­ties need more than just any plat­form. They need an inte­grat­ed, con­nect­ed dig­i­tal plat­form that ensures com­pre­hen­sive data inte­gra­tion and seam­less experiences. 

Our plat­form offers a com­pre­hen­sive solu­tion for seam­less data inte­gra­tion. It inte­grates effort­less­ly with util­i­ty back­end sys­tems and third-par­ty appli­ca­tions, ensur­ing a uni­fied flow of data across all touch­points, from cus­tomers, field work­ers, and cus­tomer ser­vice agents to back-office teams. 

Util­i­ties have a mas­sive pool of data at their dis­pos­al. From cus­tomer usage pat­terns to grid sup­ply, a con­nect­ed dig­i­tal plat­form can pro­vide com­pre­hen­sive, action­able insights and seam­less data inte­gra­tion through pre-built inte­gra­tions and cohe­sive data trans­fer pro­to­cols by deploy­ing advanced AI algo­rithms and data analytics. 

In today’s dig­i­tal age, secu­ri­ty is a sig­nif­i­cant con­cern for util­i­ty lead­ers. Using mul­ti­ple appli­ca­tions can increase the risk of secu­ri­ty breach­es. Our plat­form address­es this by cen­tral­iz­ing data man­age­ment, which reduces the attack sur­face and enhances over­all secu­ri­ty protocols. 

Com­pli­ance is anoth­er chal­lenge with gener­ic plat­forms. Many strug­gle to meet the spe­cif­ic reg­u­la­to­ry require­ments of the util­i­ty indus­try. Our ver­ti­cal­ly inte­grat­ed plat­form is designed exclu­sive­ly for the util­i­ty sec­tor, ensur­ing rig­or­ous adher­ence to indus­try stan­dards and reg­u­la­to­ry requirements. 

Our plat­form has spe­cial­ized, built-in fea­tures that main­tain data qual­i­ty, reduc­ing the need for exten­sive man­u­al over­sight. This not only cuts down oper­a­tional and main­te­nance costs but also elim­i­nates cum­ber­some, lengthy processes.

Con­nect with Deep­ak Garg on LinkedIn.

Q: How are dig­i­tal plat­forms trans­form­ing the util­i­ties sec­tor, and what role do you see SEW play­ing in this industry’s over­all transformation? 

It is impor­tant to under­stand that trans­for­ma­tion is not just about tech­nol­o­gy but about what it enables — empow­er­ing peo­ple and build­ing a con­nect­ed and sus­tain­able future. 

The util­i­ty sec­tor is at a crit­i­cal junc­ture where the exter­nal stim­u­lus of dig­i­tal plat­forms is a strate­gic neces­si­ty. These plat­forms are reshap­ing the very fab­ric of how util­i­ties oper­ate, mak­ing it pos­si­ble to con­nect vast amounts of data across pre­vi­ous­ly siloed sys­tems, there­by unlock­ing new lev­els of innovation. 

Over a decade ago, we set out to build an end-to-end inte­grat­ed ecosys­tem for the indus­try through a tech­nol­o­gy plat­form that caters to all indus­try needs, cur­rent or future. And today, this con­nect­ed plat­form approach, built on AI tech­nol­o­gy, is dri­ving trans­for­ma­tive impact for util­i­ties across the globe. 

For util­i­ties, this con­nect­ed dig­i­tal plat­form approach is more than just a tech­no­log­i­cal solu­tion — it’s a cat­a­lyst for trans­for­ma­tion. By con­nect­ing util­i­ties to their cus­tomers in mean­ing­ful ways, we are help­ing to build a future where AI, sus­tain­abil­i­ty, and peo­ple are interconnected.

Q: How is SEW lever­ag­ing AI to enhance util­i­ties’ oper­a­tional effi­cien­cy? Can you pro­vide spe­cif­ic exam­ples of AI appli­ca­tions with­in your platform? 

For util­i­ties, oper­a­tional effi­cien­cy entails many things: opti­miz­ing the grid, mov­ing beyond sta­t­ic trans­ac­tions, advanc­ing reli­a­bil­i­ty and resilience, antic­i­pat­ing future demand, mak­ing informed deci­sions, and deliv­er­ing cost and ener­gy sav­ings. We under­stand that achiev­ing this effi­cien­cy requires the use of advanced AI tech­nol­o­gy. How­ev­er, the indus­try faces com­plex and diverse oper­a­tional demands that gener­ic AI solu­tions can­not ful­ly address. It requires a cohe­sive, ver­ti­cal­ly inte­grat­ed AI mod­el designed for the industry. 

The AI appli­ca­tions with­in our plat­forms can be described in three key dimen­sions. First is Peo­ple AI, where cus­tomer and work­force expe­ri­ence is cen­tral to oper­a­tional effi­cien­cy. Our Peo­ple AI frame­work lever­ages advanced data ana­lyt­ics to deliv­er per­son­al­ized expe­ri­ences to cus­tomers. For field work­ers, AI appli­ca­tions include intel­li­gent work order man­age­ment, AR-VR inte­gra­tion with smart wear­ables, auto­mat­ic sched­ul­ing, route opti­miza­tion, asset man­age­ment, and real-time data access on any device, whether online or offline. 

Next is Sus­tain­abil­i­ty AI. Sus­tain­abil­i­ty is a crit­i­cal aspect of mod­ern util­i­ty oper­a­tions. Our Sus­tain­abil­i­ty AI use cas­es focus on achiev­ing car­bon neu­tral­i­ty and net-zero tar­gets, enhanc­ing grid resilien­cy, and opti­miz­ing oper­a­tional effec­tive­ness. This includes track­ing ener­gy-water usage, pro­vid­ing cus­tomers with green scores, man­ag­ing sus­tain­able gen­er­a­tion and DER inte­gra­tion, and sup­port­ing con­ser­va­tion efforts. 

Then we have Expe­ri­ence AI. To deliv­er excep­tion­al cus­tomer ser­vice and oper­a­tional effi­cien­cy, our Expe­ri­ence AI algo­rithms pro­vide deep insights into pow­er and water usage behav­iors. It enables util­i­ties to deliv­er tar­get­ed mes­sages and edu­ca­tion­al con­tent through any chan­nel, at any time, per­son­al­ized to their needs. This approach ensures that cus­tomers receive rel­e­vant, time­ly infor­ma­tion that empow­ers them to make informed deci­sions about their ener­gy and water use and fos­ter resource-con­scious behaviors.

Q: In what ways are pre­dic­tive ana­lyt­ics dri­ven by AI trans­form­ing the man­age­ment of util­i­ty resources and infrastructure?

Infra­struc­ture man­age­ment lies at the core of util­i­ty oper­a­tions, serv­ing as the foun­da­tion for ser­vice reli­a­bil­i­ty. This is where pre­dic­tive ana­lyt­ics enabled by AI tech­nol­o­gy becomes vital. It enables util­i­ties to move from reac­tive to proac­tive man­age­ment, allow­ing them to antic­i­pate issues before they arise, opti­mize asset per­for­mance, and make data-dri­ven deci­sions that enhance over­all efficiency. 

In my expe­ri­ence, AI has a sig­nif­i­cant role in four broad cat­e­gories. As the elec­tric grid under­goes a mas­sive trans­for­ma­tion, pre­dic­tive ana­lyt­ics becomes a cor­ner­stone in opti­miz­ing oper­a­tions. AI mod­els can fore­cast demand with unprece­dent­ed accu­ra­cy, enabling util­i­ties to bal­ance sup­ply and demand bet­ter, inte­grate renew­able ener­gy sources, and man­age grid loads in real-time. 

Pre­dic­tive ana­lyt­ics also allows util­i­ties to craft per­son­al­ized sav­ing plans for con­sumers. This capa­bil­i­ty is par­tic­u­lar­ly cru­cial as util­i­ties strive to offer tai­lored ener­gy effi­cien­cy solu­tions while bal­anc­ing the inte­gra­tion of vari­able renew­able ener­gy sources like solar and wind into the grid. 

Beyond oper­a­tional effi­cien­cy, pre­dic­tive ana­lyt­ics enables util­i­ties to bet­ter align with envi­ron­men­tal goals. AI can assess the envi­ron­men­tal impact of dif­fer­ent oper­a­tional deci­sions, help­ing util­i­ties make more sus­tain­able choic­es that reduce car­bon emis­sions and sup­port the tran­si­tion to a low-car­bon economy.

“With 8 bil­lion peo­ple comes 8 bil­lion oppor­tu­ni­ties that can be unlocked with the appli­ca­tion of AI.”

Q: How does AI improve cus­tomer ser­vice in the util­i­ties sec­tor? Are there any par­tic­u­lar AI-dri­ven solu­tions that have sig­nif­i­cant­ly improved cus­tomer satisfaction? 

In an indus­try where the con­cept of the mod­ern con­sumer is con­tin­u­ous­ly evolv­ing, AI becomes inevitable in deliv­er­ing per­son­al­ized cus­tomer ser­vice. This is the vision behind our ver­ti­cal-spe­cif­ic AI mod­el and con­nect­ed plat­form approach: to deeply under­stand the com­plex indus­try ecosys­tem and advance cus­tomer sat­is­fac­tion through AI inno­va­tion. With 8 bil­lion peo­ple comes 8 bil­lion oppor­tu­ni­ties that can be unlocked with the appli­ca­tion of AI. 

This is the path­way to achiev­ing high­er CSAT scores, reduc­ing call cen­ter vol­umes, increas­ing plat­form adop­tion, and deliv­er­ing sav­ings in ener­gy and water usage. With the improv­ing met­rics, it’s also about trans­form­ing the way util­i­ties engage with their cus­tomers, mak­ing inter­ac­tions more mean­ing­ful, respon­sive, and personalized. 

Our team has had the priv­i­lege to lead some of the most impact­ful cus­tomer expe­ri­ence trans­for­ma­tions across the globe. One such suc­cess sto­ry is our part­ner­ship with NiSource, one of the biggest util­i­ties in the Unit­ed States. 

We’re redefin­ing how NiSource inter­acts with its cus­tomers by imple­ment­ing the industry’s only AI-dri­ven chat­bot. This chat­bot, capa­ble of han­dling rou­tine inquiries and pro­vid­ing instant, per­son­al­ized respons­es, has sig­nif­i­cant­ly reduced call cen­ter vol­umes — allow­ing their teams to focus on more com­plex and val­ue-dri­ven cus­tomer interactions. 

AI is not just enhanc­ing cus­tomer ser­vice; it’s redefin­ing the entire util­i­ty-cus­tomer rela­tion­ship. By focus­ing on ver­ti­cal-spe­cif­ic AI and a con­nect­ed plat­form approach, util­i­ty lead­ers can dri­ve unprece­dent­ed lev­els of cus­tomer expe­ri­ence. As we con­tin­ue to inno­vate and imple­ment these AI-dri­ven strate­gies, we have the pow­er to build a future where util­i­ty ser­vices are not only reli­able but also deeply attuned to the needs and expec­ta­tions of every cus­tomer, empow­er­ing all peo­ple to con­serve ener­gy and water.

Vis­it the SEW website.

About SEW

SEW, with its inno­v­a­tive and indus­try-lead­ing cloud plat­forms, deliv­ers the best AI Pow­ered Dig­i­tal Cus­tomer Expe­ri­ences (CX) and Work­force Expe­ri­ences (WX), and IoT Ana­lyt­ics to the glob­al ener­gy, water, and gas providers. At SEW, the vision is to Engage, Empow­er, and Edu­cate bil­lions of peo­ple to save ener­gy and water. We part­ner with busi­ness­es to deliv­er plat­forms that are easy-to-use, inte­grate seam­less­ly, and help build a strong tech­no­log­i­cal foun­da­tion that allows them to become future ready.

About ASUG

ASUG is the world’s largest SAP user group. Orig­i­nal­ly found­ed by a group of vision­ary SAP cus­tomers in 1991, its mis­sion is to help peo­ple and orga­ni­za­tions get the most val­ue from their invest­ment in SAP tech­nol­o­gy. ASUG cur­rent­ly serves thou­sands of busi­ness­es via com­pa­ny­wide mem­ber­ships, con­nect­ing more than 130,000 pro­fes­sion­als with net­work­ing and edu­ca­tion­al resources to help them mas­ter new chal­lenges. Through in-per­son and vir­tu­al events, on-demand dig­i­tal resources, and ongo­ing advo­ca­cy for its mem­ber­ship, ASUG helps SAP cus­tomers make more possible.