As electric grids become more dynamic, distributed, and digitally connected, and as the pace of change accelerates—utility control centers must evolve to manage vast volumes of data, adapt to rapidly changing grid conditions, and maintain high reliability under growing stress. Can AI meet these challenges, or is it still more hype than breakthroughs? This session explores how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can move from concept to reality in grid operations. With mounting pressure to maintain situational awareness, operational effectiveness, and grid reliability, the industry is wondering:

• How can AI be embedded into control room environments to augment operator capabilities?
• Can AI be integrated into Energy Management Systems (EMS), forecasting, event detection, and decision-making processes?
• What are the examples of AI delivering tangible results in outage response, dispatch strategies, and load/generation forecasting, especially under conditions of high renewable and DER penetration, volatile market dynamics, and extreme weather events?

The speakers will challenge traditional assumptions about control center roles and responsibilities, and share insights on how AI can reshape the workflows, enable a smarter, more adaptive grid. Whether you’re operating the control room, modernizing infrastructure, or developing advanced analytics, this session will provide a practical view of what AI can deliver today and what innovations are just ahead.

Join us to explore: What is possible with AI in grid operations?

This session explores how flexibility is emerging as a powerful solution to unlock existing grid capacity and enable faster, more reliable data center growth. 

Sponsored by 

During this session, watch a drone will take off at an energy facility thousands of miles from Scottsdale. It will fly a live inspection mission. The presenters will control it from the stage.

No pre-recorded footage. No simulation.

The drone is a permanently stationed, autonomous aerial system that launches on demand and transmits thermal and visual data in real time. Utilities and infrastructure operators are deploying these systems to inspect substations, transmission corridors, distribution equipment, and large-load facilities without rolling a truck or putting a crew in the field. The same system secures facility perimeters and responds to alarms autonomously. More than 450 energy companies trust Skydio to help them inspect and protect critical infrastructure today.

As AI-driven load growth pushes infrastructure buildout faster than traditional inspection programs can follow, this session covers what automated aerial operations look like in practice: how missions are triggered, what the data looks like, and where operators are finding real reductions in truck rolls and time-to-find on equipment anomalies.

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