The software and tech industry delivered the infrastructure for our competitive energy market over the last three decades. This digital evolution helped lower the cost-to-serve and helped provide better customer experience, using automation and digital connectivity between industry stakeholders. No system is perfect, but today’s energy retail industry is robust and works well.

So where to next? Further refinement of digital techniques for faster processing and exception reduction will of course deliver additional incremental benefits. The utility/tech industry is focusing today on delivering MHHS for example, and the step-change that will ensue in terms of data quantity, quality, and velocity. Here at Flui, we are also looking beyond today’s challenges to see what the ‘art of the possible’ is as AI enters a level of maturity.

AI is firmly established in the public imagination as the next transformative step in the world of technology. We know there are use cases where we can start to harness this new digital paradigm to solve some of the more difficult challenges we face in delivering the next generation of utility infrastructure – our move to net zero, the changing nature of energy production and use, and the global shift to new business models for the energy market. In short, we are moving from digitalisation of processes to “intelligent” systems that can self-manage, self-heal, and learn. This means Flui will no longer be in the (behind the scenes) business of detecting and managing exceptions in technical workflows. Rather, we will be involved in facilitating an evolving market that learns and delivers an optimal, balanced marketplace. There are multiple stakeholders involved in this reimagining of the market, and this will continue to evolve over the coming years.

We’ve already started here at Flui where we’ve been working in this space for a few years now with digital twins and flexibility forecasting, bringing in AI components to our trusted and proven market interaction infrastructure. Data is the lifeblood of AI, with AI outputs completely dependent on the quality, security, and availability of the underlying datasets. We deliver this data securely and consistently at scale across the market. We’re now selecting the first areas of AI deployment, working with clients to deliver the benefits, and we’re always open to new ideas. Get in touch to discuss your ideas and vision and let’s work together to deliver the next big step.