Driven by the need for greater efficiency, lower operational costs, reduced losses and improved customer experience, utilities must now turn to AI-powered, intelligent solutions. Unlike current smart meters that are preconfigured to act in limited cases or wait for human input, next generation intelligent systems use Agentic AI; an autonomous form of artificial intelligence capable of making decisions and executing them in real time.
Through Agentic AI, utilities can achieve autonomy across multiple domains. For example, in customer service, it listens to customer needs, resolves issues autonomously, and communicates solutions instantly. In communication networks, it dynamically switches between wired and wireless paths to ensure reliability. In loss management, it detects and corrects inefficiencies before they escalate. Together, these capabilities are transforming metering from a reactive process into an adaptive, self-optimising system that continuously improves reliability, efficiency and customer satisfaction.
As utilities move toward more autonomous intelligence, we at El Sewedy Electrometer Group (EMG) have been pioneering this transformation for years. Our collaboration with the PRIME Alliance on powerline and hybrid PLC+RF communication technologies has already laid the groundwork for adaptive systems with one of the world’s first real hybrid metering solutions using dynamic routing, with 500,000 smart meters being deployed in utilities in Alexandria and the North Nile Delta regions of Egypt as part of a JICA project.
By enabling devices to intelligently select the optimal communication channel, whether wired or wireless, based on real-time network conditions, hybrid communication represents the first step towards autonomy. Now, that same principle is being extended through AI, to drive the grid’s evolution towards adaptive intelligence.
Autonomous systems
Autonomous systems are already transforming customer service and after-sales care, delivering responsive and human-like support. Powered by Agentic AI, they integrate with CRM and meter data management systems to resolve billing disputes, explain consumption spikes, offer personalised energy saving recommendations, and even predict potential complaints by sending alerts when usage deviates from the normal.
Agentic AI can also enable customers to interact in real time with automated service agents at all hours of the day, whether by text or voice, to resolve issues, address questions and trigger maintenance actions. The result is a service that feels immediate, empathetic and proactive, offering seamless customer experience without human intervention.
In communication networks, Agentic AI enables a new level of autonomy and adaptability. It allows meters to dynamically select the most efficient wired or wireless communication paths in addition to allowing data concentrator units to switch between modulations in real time to find the most robust modulation and achieve the most effective signal-to-noise ratio and avoid interference.
Additionally, El Sewedy Electrometer, using AI, is working on giving meters the capability to send data through multiple channels. This self-adjusting capability ensures more reliable data transmission, minimises downtime and enhances the overall performance of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) systems, without requiring manual reconfiguration or operator input.
Agentic AI is also revolutionising loss management by detecting anomalies and inefficiencies in real time. It continuously analyses consumption data to identify irregularities such as energy theft, faulty meters, or technical losses long before they escalate.
Beyond detection, Agentic AI can autonomously prioritise and trigger corrective action, ensuring rapid resolution. Instead of flooding the network with constant data, it intelligently selects the information it needs and acts on it immediately. Through smart sampling and advanced pattern recognition, high accuracy can be achieved with minimal bandwidth.
For example, load profiles can be collected once or twice per day and data relating to losses can be collected once per month without overloading the network. The key lies in using machine learning and predictive analysis to proactively analyse data, pin-point anomalies, and take corrective action in record time.
Building on years of innovation in advanced metering and communication systems, El Sewedy EMG is translating these principles into practical grid intelligence. In collaboration with leading chip manufactures, this work extends intelligence to the microcontroller layer or the brain of any product, providing the secure processing power and responsiveness needed for edge-level decision-making. By laying this foundation, the same kind of adaptive reasoning can begin to scale across the wider utility ecosystem, from meters and substations to AMI management platforms.
The grid’s evolution has entered a new phase, in which we move beyond smart metering to truly autonomous intelligence. Enabled by Agentic AI, systems can now understand, decide and act in real time to improve efficiency, reduce losses and enhance customer experience. This marks the realisation of what digital transformation set in motion: an energy system that operates intelligently, adapts continuously, and advance’s reliability for generations to come.
About El Sewedy ElectrometerFounded in 1998, El Sewedy Electrometer is a global leader in electricity, water and gas utility solutions. With 12 factories, four R&D centres and over 35 million meters sold in 50+ countries, it delivers smart, reliable, and innovative metering technology worldwide.