AI in utilities is rapidly shifting from analytics to execution: automated dispatch, asset controls, and real-time operational decisions. As that shift happens, a new business question appears:
When something goes wrong, can we prove what happened — quickly, credibly, and without debate?
Most organizations have logs, but they’re built for troubleshooting, not for accountability. After a major incident, the cost is rarely “just the outage.” It’s the second-order fallout:
prolonged root-cause investigations
conflicting narratives across vendors and internal teams
regulatory and legal exposure
loss of public trust
delays in restoring automation because no one can verify what actually occurred
That’s why I view verifiable, tamper-evident logging (an AI “flight recorder”) as business infrastructure — not a technical nice-to-have. And it doesn’t require “store everything forever.” A cost-aware approach is to anchor cryptographic digests (proof) externally while keeping normal operational retention for raw data.
For utilities adopting AI, auditability can become a competitive advantage: faster incident closure, lower dispute cost, clearer accountability boundaries, and smoother regulatory conversations.
Where do you see the strongest near-term ROI for audit-grade logging: incident response, compliance, vendor management, or internal governance?