Alabama Power, Eversource, NV Energy, PSEG Long Island, Xcel Energy and others to share real-world insights on turning intelligence into operational excellence
Bidgely’s premier energy intelligence conference, EmPOWER AI, will be held May 12-14 in New York City to unite utility leaders, energy researchers and technology experts around artificial intelligence (AI) in the energy sector. Hosted by OG&E with sessions led by Alabama Power, Eversource, NV Energy, PSEG Long Island, Xcel Energy and more, EmPOWER AI 2026 will highlight how utilities are moving beyond AI experimentation toward enterprise-wide scalability.
Each year, Bidgely unveils the latest advancements in its AI and machine learning platform technology. EmPOWER AI 2026 will showcase new agentic AI capabilities purpose-built to turn every smart meter signal into a personalized customer conversation at scale.
“Hosting EmPOWER AI allows us to foster the high-level collaboration necessary to navigate a complex energy transition,” said Kirby Brinlee, Director of Customer Experience at OG&E. “As we shift from the ‘what-if’ of technology to the ‘how-to’ of implementation, sharing operational success stories helps the entire industry move faster and with greater confidence.”
Real World Results, At Scale
EmPOWER AI 2026 will feature a distinguished lineup of voices and sessions anchored in real-world deployment, examining what utilities have built, the trade-offs they navigated and the genuine requirements for scaling AI within a regulated environment.
“The utility sector is reaching a critical inflection point where data silos are no longer sustainable. Breaking down these barriers requires a deep commitment to cross-industry research and radical collaboration,” added Gaia Gallotti, Research Director, IDC. “When tech innovators and utility leaders build on a shared foundation of data, we move past incremental fixes and begin to engineer the truly resilient infrastructure the future demands.”
Speakers include:
- Johnny Whitfield, Vice President of Customer Engagement, OG&E
- Kirby Brinlee, Director of Customer Experience, OG&E
- Maddie Emerson, Manager of Product Dev & Programs, OG&E
- Ryan Jones, Manager of Innovation, OG&E
- Bria Shea, President, MN, ND and SD, Xcel Energy
- David Gladey, Vice President, Distribution Engineering, Eversource
- Lou DeBrino, Vice President, Customer Operations, PSEG Long Island
- Adam Grant, Director, Integrated Energy Services, Operations, NV Energy
- Laverne Price, Director, Customer Experience, OUC
- Mike Presti, Director, Customer Experience & Marketing, PSEG Long Island
- Nayan Parikh, Sr Manager Customer Technology and Projects, PSEG Long Island
- Dylan Wilcox, Senior Strategy Analyst, Alabama Power
- Brenda Carter, Manager, CX Care Center, APS
- Tessa Jilot, Energy Efficiency Program Manager, Avista
- Eric Falcone, AMI Operations Manager, Eversource
- Denine Rothman, Time of Day Program Manager, PNM
- Gaia Gallotti, Research Director, IDC
- Darren Roback, Solutions Architect, AWS
- Seth Little, Director of Market Development, CLEAResult
- Nick Woolley, CEO, ev.energy
- Srikanth Srinivasan, VP Energy Transition, Infosys
- Joe Mellusi, Director of Sales, Itron
- Latisha Younger-Canon, Director of Business Development, Resource Innovations
- Martin Shalhoub, Partner, Energy & Utilities, West Monroe
- Abhay Gupta, Founder & CEO, Bidgely
- Gautam Aggarwal, Chief Revenue Officer, Bidgely
- Karthik Moorthy, Chief Growth Officer, Bidgely
- Ted Nielsen, Chief Product Officer, Bidgely
Session topics include:
- Roadmap and Reveal: The Case for Vertical AI
- Affordability Affects Everyone: Protecting Affordability at the System Level
- Every Customer, Known. Every Interaction, Smarter
- Turning High-Bill Calls Into Trust-Building Moments
- Under the Hood: The Science of Knowing Every Home
- From Rate Design to Load Shape: Analytics, AI, and Coaching as the Missing Middle
- Smarter Electrification Planning: Reduce Costs, Defer Capital
- Intelligence as a Core Competency: Scaling UtilityAI Pro for the Enterprise
- Turn AMI 2.0 Into Real-Time Grid Intelligence
Implementing purpose-built, energy vertical AI into the daily operations of utilities is driving the outcomes necessary to advance a more resilient, affordable energy future while simultaneously addressing the needs of today—escalating costs, rising regulatory complexity, electrification planning and capital pressure.
“As grid pressures intensify and evolve, so has the technology designed to manage them,” said Abhay Gupta, CEO of Bidgely. “The systems and solutions we showcase have been built alongside utilities, with results from active deployments proving enterprise-wide AI is both secure and scalable. EmPOWER AI is where AI vision meets implementation reality.”
