The power and utilities sector is at the epicenter of the global energy transition. As the world accelerates toward decarbonization, utilities face a landscape shaped by regulatory pressures, rapid integration of renewables, evolving consumer expectations, and unprecedented market volatility. The shift from traditional, dispatchable generation to a diverse mix of renewables, storage, and distributed energy resources is fundamentally transforming how utilities manage supply, trading, and risk.
This transformation brings both challenges and opportunities. Utilities must balance the need for reliable, affordable power with the imperative to decarbonize and innovate. They are tasked with integrating intermittent renewables, managing new forms of risk, and complying with evolving regulations—all while maintaining operational excellence and financial performance.
Historically, utilities have relied on a patchwork of legacy Energy Trading and Risk Management (ETRM) systems, manual processes, and siloed data architectures. While these systems were effective for single-commodity, single-market operations, they are ill-suited for today’s interconnected, multi-asset, and multi-jurisdictional environment. The result is a proliferation of data silos, process inconsistencies, and limited automation, which hinder innovation and increase operational risk.
Key challenges include:
To thrive, utilities must move beyond incremental improvements and embrace holistic digital transformation—building unified, data-centric ecosystems that enable real-time analytics, automation, and AI-driven decision support across both traditional and green power portfolios.
Publicis Sapient, in partnership with Microsoft, is helping leading utilities reimagine their supply, trading, and risk management landscape. Our approach centers on creating a connected, cloud-based digital ecosystem that breaks down silos, streamlines business processes, and unlocks the value of data across the front, middle, and back office.
Modern ETRM platforms, built on Microsoft Azure and enhanced by Publicis Sapient’s industry expertise, unlock a new era of automation and AI-driven analytics. Utilities can:
These capabilities are essential for managing the complexity of renewables integration, balancing supply and demand in real time, and responding to regulatory and market shifts with agility.
A multinational energy company, one of the world’s largest offshore wind power generators, set an ambitious goal to be climate-neutral by 2040. With a rapidly expanding renewables portfolio, the company needed to integrate commercial capabilities from multiple acquisitions, standardize systems and processes, and enable asset optimization across geographies.
Solution: Publicis Sapient and Microsoft delivered an integrated, end-to-end Trade to Cash business solution, leveraging a standardized ETRM platform and a phased integration roadmap. The approach prioritized long-term trading, rapid enablement of critical risk management controls, and automation of settlement and invoicing.
Business Impact:
A fully integrated North American Power & Gas business, active in both trading and marketing to retail and commercial/industrial customers, faced the challenge of integrating acquisitions, improving operational efficiency, and enabling consistent reporting of complex positions.
Solution: Publicis Sapient designed and implemented a consolidated ETRM platform, integrating exchanges, pricing systems, ISOs, and ERP systems. Automation replaced manual spreadsheet reporting, and data migration tools ensured data quality and consistency.
Business Impact:
Modernizing supply, trading, and risk management is a journey, not a one-time project. Publicis Sapient and Microsoft guide utilities through a proven transformation framework:
With decades of experience in digital business transformation and deep sector expertise, Publicis Sapient and Microsoft are uniquely positioned to help utilities navigate volatility, regulatory change, and the energy transition. Our joint approach combines:
The future belongs to utilities that can harness digital innovation to drive agility, efficiency, and growth. Whether you are looking to modernize legacy systems, break down data silos, or unlock the power of AI and cloud, Publicis Sapient and Microsoft can help you define and realize your digital vision.
Contact our Energy & Commodities team at energyandcommodities@publicissapient.com to start your transformation journey.
Publicis Sapient is a digital business transformation partner helping established organizations get to their future, digitally-enabled state. We fuse strategy, consulting, and customer experience with agile engineering and problem-solving creativity. Learn more at publicissapient.com.