ENERGY · TECHNOLOGY · WHAT COMES NEXT

The energy transition is a systems problem. Let’s think in systems.

I’m Ash Panigrahi. For close to three decades I’ve worked with CIOs, CXOs and government leaders to turn ambitious technology agendas into outcomes they can measure — most recently across energy and utilities. Watts Next is where I share the thinking while it’s still forming: what’s working on the grid, what isn’t, and what it will take to get to a cleaner, more reliable, more affordable energy system.

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THEMES STRIP: What I write about

Seven threads that keep converging — which is rather the point.

  1. Energy transition — The move from insight-driven decisions to adaptive, autonomous energy systems, and what has to change along the way.
  2. Smart grids & smart cities — Smart metering, meter data, asset performance and distributed energy — the unglamorous plumbing the transition runs on.
  3. Technology & innovation — Digital twins, IoT, AI and agentic systems, judged by what they actually change in operations.
  4. Sustainable business development — Why sustainability only sticks when it is anchored to a business case someone is accountable for.
  5. Future-focused strategy — Capability assessments, target operating models and roadmaps that survive contact with a budget cycle.
  6. Systems thinking — Skills, governance and behaviour matter as much as technology. Most transformations fail on the first three.

Who’s writing this

I’m a technology and business leader with over 25 years of global experience, most recently as Client Partner and Executive Director at IBM in Singapore, and today as co-founder of Domainxeed, where I built an Energy & Utilities practice from the ground up. I trained as an engineer at IIT Kharagpur, studied management at IIM Bangalore, and have kept learning since — Oxford, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, and GRI sustainability certification. I speak and write regularly on where technology, sustainability and the energy transition meet.

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Let’s compare notes.

Most of what I write here is an argument I’d like tested. If you’re working on energy transition, grid modernization, or applying AI at scale for sustainability, I’d welcome the conversation — whether you agree with me or think I’ve got it wrong.

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