Resilient and Cybersecure Grids in an AI World
Artificial Intelligence is moving beyond the digital world and becoming a core technology for operating critical infrastructure. What started as predictive analytics and decision-support tools is now evolving into agentic and Physical AI systems that can perceive, reason, predict, and increasingly act in real-world environments. In parallel, power systems are becoming more complex, driven by renewable integration, electrification, distributed energy resources, and growing operational demands. Together, these trends are reshaping how grids are planned, and operated.
This keynote explores the journey of AI from mainstream adoption to its emerging role in the energy sector. It examines how AI is progressing from forecasting and anomaly detection to digital twins, autonomous workflows, and grid-aware intelligence. The presentation highlights how AI can support every stage of the electricity value chain, from long-term grid planning and asset management to real-time operations, predictive maintenance, system optimization, and autonomous decision-making. It also discusses the evolution from reactive operations to increasingly self-optimizing and self-healing systems, enabled by trusted data, industrial intelligence, and human oversight.
As AI becomes embedded within the operational fabric of modern power systems, resilience, reliability, and trust become as important as intelligence itself. The discussion therefore sets the stage for the second part of the session, which focuses on cybersecurity and the measures required to securely deploy, operate, and scale AI-enabled grid technologies in an increasingly complicated Grid. It addresses cybersecurity across the complete lifecycle, from secure-by-design engineering and asset visibility to network segmentation, defense in depth, role-based access, secure remote maintenance, continuous monitoring, vulnerability management, incident response, and recovery. Particular emphasis is placed on protecting substations, control systems, intelligent electronic devices, and their supply chains against evolving threats. By combining people, processes, standards, and technology, operators can strengthen cyber resilience while preserving safety, reliability, availability, and trust in AI-enabled infrastructure throughout daily operations.
Speaker(s)
Abhishek Kar is an esteemed expert in Energy and Sustainability, renowned for his strategic fusion of technology with practical application. His extensive experience, spanning over 17 years, includes leadership in the evolution of power systems and the adoption of emergent technologies such as Smart Grids, Microgrids, Renewable Energy integration, Green Hydrogen, and e-Mobility.
In his role as Head of Sustainability at Siemens EA, Mr. Kar has spearheaded initiatives across the Middle East, focusing on Decarbonization and Clean Energy. An ardent advocate for climate action and clean technology education, he aligns his professional endeavors with his deep-seated commitment to environmental stewardship.
Mr. Kar's academic background includes Electrical Engineering, MBA and GRI© certified Sustainability Practitioner.
Deepak Ramachandran is a Technical Promoter - IoT & Digitalization at Siemens with 20 years of experience in the energy sector. A specialist in Substation Automation, OT Cyber Security, and Energy IoT, Deepak partners with regional utilities to deliver secure, highly automated, and future-proof digital grid solutions.
