DTECH 2026 was a great conference as usual; filled with meaningful conversations and informative sessions focused on the evolving intersection of utility operations, asset management, and technology strategy. As one of the premier events for the electric utility industry, DTECH brought together utilities, technology providers, and system integrators to address the real-world challenges of operating and modernizing today’s grid.
A consistent theme throughout the conference was grid resilience and operational efficiency, driven by increasing demand, aging infrastructure, and more frequent extreme weather events. Utilities showcased how advanced data capture technologies – such as LiDAR, drone use, and high‑resolution field inspections – are being used to better understand asset condition, prioritize work, and mitigate risk across the network.
From a systems and process perspective, there was a strong emphasis on enterprise asset management (EAM) and work management as foundational capabilities. Many discussions focused on optimizing end‑to‑end business processes, improving asset health visibility, and ensuring that field execution, planning, and analytics are tightly integrated rather than siloed.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) was a major focal point at DTECH, as AI was prominently displayed at nearly every booth and within the description of most conference presentations. Although the conversations have shifted away from the theoretical to more-operational AI, many utilities are struggling to leverage AI to meaningfully enhance predictive maintenance, improve monitoring, and support proactive decision‑making – particularly in support of grid hardening and resilience initiatives.
At AlphaOak, we see AI as a powerful force multiplier for utility operations, but not as a replacement for human judgment or operational context. When built on strong foundations, AI can help optimize business processes, produce meaningful KPIs with actionable insights and information from metrics, and deliver such insights in real-time to correct behaviors and support continual improvement. Our focus is on helping utilities establish those foundational layers, particularly within SAP EAM and SAP BTP, so operations teams are positioned to safely and effectively unlock the value of AI at scale.
We appreciated the opportunity to connect with peers and partners across the utility industry and look forward to continuing these conversations. Please reach out if you’d like to discuss what we saw at DTECH or how AlphaOak can support your asset and work management and operational goals. We’re already looking ahead to next year’s event!
Written by a collaboration between:
Crawford Owens, Lars Bergmann and Shayan Khodafar
