“Take the future seriously, it always arrives.” That line, from futurist keynote Dex Hunter-Torricke, set the tone for DTECH 2026, followed by his challenge to “disrupt yourself.” The message was not just about industry change, but about personal responsibility. At an event with more than 18,000 attendees, the urgency was clear. Utilities are being forced to address affordability, reliability, modernization, and rising customer expectations simultaneously, as electrification, data centers, and large-load growth compress timelines and raise the cost of inaction. If the environment around us is accelerating, each of us must rethink how we lead, decide, and adapt. Organizational transformation only works when individual behavior changes first.
Listening across sessions and perspectives at DTECH, common themes emerged. Here were my four main takeaways.
Affordability and trust are inseparable. Affordability came up repeatedly, not as a talking point, but as something leaders are actively grappling with day to day. Examples included arrears that have grown into the hundreds of millions of dollars since Covid, alongside analytics now identifying customer risk months earlier than before. The emphasis was less on new programs and more on acting sooner and more precisely. When data is late or outreach reactive, costs rise and trust erodes. Timing and follow-through matter as much as the programs themselves.
AI matters, but human intelligence owns the outcome. AI dominated much of the dialogue at DTECH, at times to the point of distraction, even as some of the most important work discussed was not technical at all. Leaders shared practical examples, from predicting non-payment risk 60 to 90 days out to automating interactions at a fraction of traditional cost. What stood out was where AI stopped. As Frankie McDermott of SMUD noted, while AI is critical, so is HI, human intelligence. Algorithms scale decisions, but do not own accountability, explain outcomes, or repair trust. As automation expands, leadership and judgment become the differentiators.
Partnerships multiply value. Across sessions, there was a clear recognition that no single organization can navigate these challenges alone. Progress was described through collaboration across utilities, regulators, and partners who understand execution. Partnerships were not framed as a way to add tools, but to reduce friction between insight and action. Leaders should spend less time evaluating capabilities in isolation and more time examining how quickly insight turns into action across boundaries.
“Don’t be clever, be vulnerable and honest.” Matthew Luhn, an animator and writer behind many Pixar films, shared that advice while speaking about leadership and storytelling. In a room full of powerful technology, it felt grounding. Progress does not come from chasing the newest idea, but from being honest about what matters, where we need to change, and how we work together. In the end, the real work is deciding where technology helps, and where human judgment must still lead.
Rob Caiello | VP Utility Partnerships & Development | Allconnect | February 2026