Consumers' customer service needs from the utilities sector are typically both sporadic and urgent. Someone needs service turned on, or off, or transferred – or they are reporting an outage and want to know when service will be restored. Conversational AI has transformed these interactions, meaning that gone are the days of frustrating call centre queues, confusing online menu options, and outdated FAQs. Being able to handle these inquiries swiftly and confidently is key to delivering a positive customer experience. Conversational AI can help manage customer care in contact centres by streamlining the service process, reducing the impact of high call volumes on contact centre morale during outages, and making routine tasks associated with utility accounts easier and faster to navigate.

For a long time, digitalization has been at the heart of the transformation of major utility companies, significantly contributing to the reshaping and reinventing of their business processes and business models. This is also because there is a growing urgency to adapt to the new'climate' ecosystem that is environmentally sustainable and economically efficient. As more utility companies continue to face unique challenges, digital transformation initiatives are now a must, considering the demands of changing customer expectations and market needs. Going by this Accenture report, 59% of utility company executives say that the pace of digital transformation for their organization is accelerating. This is likely to further gain momentum as more utilities companies begin to adopt renewable sources of energy.

Artificial intelligence is taking the stage as smart cities become not just an idea for the future, but a present reality. Advanced technologies are at the forefront of this change, driving valuable strategies and optimising the industry across all operations. These technologies are quickly becoming the solution for fulfilling smart city and clean city initiatives, as well as net-zero commitments. AI is becoming well integrated with the development of smart cities. Implementation of AI is rapidly being recognised as the not-so-secret ingredient helping major energy providers accomplish their lowest-carbon footprints yet, along with unparalleled sustainability and attractive profit margins. What makes a city'smart' is the collection and analysis of vast amounts of data across numerous sectors, from metropolitan development and utility allocation all the way down to manual functions like city services.

Thanks to the advent of the latest innovations in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), smart cities -- with a specific focus on the utilities sector -- are undergoing unprecedented changes. The Capgemini Research Institute estimated that, together with the energy sector, the utility vertical can save between $237 billion to $813 billion USD from intelligent automation at scale. Utility companies have been experimenting with AI use cases such as predictive maintenance, yield optimization, and demand/load forecasting. In 2019, more than half of energy and utilities organizations have deployed at least one practical implementation of AI technology, reaping its consistent benefits. Even the public seems eager to enjoy the positive innovations brought forward by the AI transformation.

To gauge the complexity of the juggling act utility firms must perform to stay in business, consider two statistics. In the four years to 2018, the number of Britons who switched their energy supplier almost doubled to 5.9 million; at the same time, the contribution of renewables to energy firms' output mix grew from about 13% to just shy of 20%. One represents a fundamental change in consumer expectations of the service they receive while the other highlights the political and environmental pressures being brought to bear on suppliers' operations. To the list of challenges that are adding to the pressures under which utilities operate, add the tightening – and disparate – the grip of regulators, the fracturing of transmission networks and the increasing influence of activist investors. Managing these changing times can be incredibly challenging for established utilities, especially at a time when technology is enabling venture-backed start-ups to move into niche segments of their operations.

AI and data analytics will allow the utility firms to optimize the management of customer data and connect with the customers at a deeper level. FREMONT, CA: Public utility companies have failed in maintaining customer experience levels. The inability to live up to the customers' expectations can be partly attributed to the lack of competition in the sector. However, there is another aspect to it too. Public utility companies had conventionally utilized the legacy systems that are slow and lack the efficiency required to meet the current service demands.