Four Key Takeaways from the Orchestrate 2026 GridOS Event

Another Orchestrate has come and gone, and this year just might have been our best one yet. Countless learnings, best practices, and ideas were shared when the GridOS® community gathered in Atlanta for Orchestrate 2026. The below are just four of the important takeaways:

Keeping with the Orchestrate tradition, each day of the event was kicked off with stirring keynotes by GE Vernova thought leaders. While they all lent differing perspectives and opinions, all touched upon the new innovations, mindsets, and technology utilities need to succeed in the modern energy future. The GE Vernova thought leaders who spoke this year were:

Scott Strazik, CEO of GE Vernova, set the tone by highlighting how electricity is becoming the central force behind economic growth, national security, industrial competitiveness, and AI. As AI, data centers, and electrification reshape the energy landscape, software and orchestration will play a critical role in helping utilities manage complexity and build a more intelligent grid.

Philippe Piron, CEO of Electrification, explored how the industry is rebuilding two interconnected infrastructures at once: the electrical systems that generate, transmit, and store power, and the digital systems that make those networks aware, responsive, and intelligent. As grids become more distributed and dynamic, he emphasized, intelligence must be integrated across every layer of the system; and hardware, software, and orchestration must work together to transform complexity into capability.

Roger Martella, Chief Corporate Officer & Chief Sustainability Officer, shared that energy security is becoming a defining priority for the power sector. He iterated that software presents the best and most immediate chance for utilities to meet ballooning electricity demand while simultaneously optimizing performance and driving reliability and resilience.

Del Misenheimer, VP and CEO of Grid Automation and Software highlighted why true grid intelligence depends on the edge and the control room operating as one coordinated system (a testament to the thinking behind our new product offering, GridOS® for Transmission – see below). He explained how resilience, capacity, and affordability increasingly depend on connecting intelligent assets, automation, and operational software.

Mahesh Sudhakaran, CEO of Grid Software explored how increasing complexity is revealing a gaping, grid-wide governance gap. His keynote included a crucial point about how utilities, system operators, DER aggregators, and large energy consumers operate across different systems and perspectives, which in turn drive a need for trusted data, physics-informed orchestration, and scalable governance to enable AI-driven operations.

Vince Padua, SVP and Chief Product Officer, focused on how utilities can move from fragmented data to intelligent operations. By combining trusted data foundations, shared operational context, AI, and automation through GridOS for Transmission (see below) and GridOS® for Distribution, utilities can make faster, more informed decisions across grid operations.

The GridOS team proudly launched its latest innovation for utilities, GridOS for Transmission. GridOS for Transmission is a comprehensive set of applications, tools, and capabilities that, over three stages of deployment, equips utilities with the ability to manage the transmission grid as a single, unified system.

With GridOS for Transmission, utilities can respond faster to near-real time grid conditions, expand capacity, reduce congestion, integrate and manage more renewables at scale, and ensure stable operations under dynamic, stressed, and uncertain grid conditions. And most importantly, the solution empowers utilities to see and manage the grid as one system across operations, stability monitoring, planning, markets, DERs, and generation.

For more information on GridOS for Transmission and its critical significance for transmission utilities, check out our recent blog by Product Marketing Manager Nitesh Kumar.

Since its official re-launch last year, the GridOS Partner Program has grown both in size (i.e., the number of participating members) and footprint (the impact those partners have had on the GridOS ecosystem). The partners have helped GridOS customers see many impressive outcomes through their innovation solutions and services, including grid modernization, technology innovations and deployments, expediting digital transformations, and more.

In recognition of the accomplishments, the GridOS Partner Program introduced its inaugural GridOS Partner of the Year Awards at the Orchestrate Partner Summit. These awards were bestowed upon partners who showed exceptional commitment to customer success, invested in technical and commercial capabilities, and collaborated closely with GE Vernova to drive meaningful business outcomes. Briefly, this year’s Partner of the Year Awards went to:

Organizations all over the world are moving swiftly to adopt AI, and utilities are no exception. That’s why a large portion of Orchestrate 2026’s agenda was devoted to understanding, deploying, and capitalizing on grid AI.

Naturally, many attendees brought to Orchestrate their challenges experienced with AI and sought best practices from thought leaders and industry peers. And amidst the many challenges, a common theme arose recurrently.

Data.

Ever heard the expression Garbage in, garbage out in the context of data? That’s all about AI. No utility can even begin to reap the benefits of AI without a solid data foundation in place. That data foundation must be purpose-built for utilities and easily accessible by operators and application, yet secure from any bad actors. Only when the above requirements are met can AI-enabled applications draw the high-quality, accurate, timely, and trustworthy data needed to identify correlations, extract insights, and analyze behaviors to understand how to best manage the grid.

GridOS® Data Fabric cropped up frequently in discussions about how to ensure a top-quality data foundation. The first grid-specific data fabric, GridOS Data Fabric serves as a bridge, of sorts, connecting applications and operators with the data they need. To mesh with the scattered, disparate nature of utility data, it is engineered to form a sort of directory of all available data, making it easy to access, govern, and utilize whatever information is available. And no silos.

We thank all who joined us for another exciting Orchestrate. We can’t wait to see you next year!