Customer-Centric Innovation: The Key to Meeting Grid Challenges Head-On

Innovation can’t exist in a vacuum. 

And that’s certainly true when it comes to solving complex grid challenges. It’s something we cannot (and should not) be trying to do on our own. To bring effective new grid technologies to market, we need to collaborate closely with our customers.

But what does this look like in practice? And how do we focus on solving the kind of problems that have industry-wide value? 

By their nature, grid problems are messy. They rarely fit into neat little boxes or lend themselves to easy explanations. Which is why we need to tread carefully here, because if we don’t know exactly what we’re trying to solve, we can quickly find ourselves way off-track. An expensive, time-consuming detour.  

This is why it’s critical for us to work closely with our customers. How do they see the problem? What bottlenecks and frustrations is it causing their business? What might a better scenario look like to them?  

By gathering a diversity of opinions (from IT and OT, the board room, control room and out in the field) we can clearly define the problem and get specific about what we’re trying to achieve.  

Siloed thinking won’t help us address complex grid challenges. We can’t simply see things as a ‘distribution and transmission’ problem, or a ‘generator’ problem — because an issue in one part of the grid inevitably affects another. So, when we’re thinking about solutions, we need to take a more holistic, collaborative approach.

While looking at the big picture, we also need to understand customers have specific pain points. For instance, a flexibility problem may impact two customers differently based on regional variations in supply and demand, or DER’s integration.  

Identifying these differences can influence not just the type of solution we deliver, but also the timeframe it takes to deploy. 

Innovation is never a linear process. Sometimes we hit roadblocks and must find another way. But the only way we can learn fast and adapt is by constantly testing our hypothesis — from ideation to reality. And by reality, I mean working with our customers. 

A single problem usually has multiple ways it can be solved. By testing our solutions in the customer environment, we can quickly find alternatives rather than pursue an idea that isn’t answering their most pressing needs.  

Working closely with our customers is the key to overcoming today’s grid challenges. And through ongoing collaboration, we’re able to address problems that need urgent attention — such as reducing the sheer complexity of managing the modern grid. This is where GridOS® comes in. 

GridOS is the first software portfolio designed specifically for grid orchestration. Being able to orchestrate the grid (rather than manage it) is crucial for accelerating the energy transition — and this software suite and partner ecosystem provides a foundation to make that possible.