Is Automation the Key to a Frictionless Future for Energy?

A storm is brewing in the global energy sector. In 2026, the industry finds itself reckoning with a range of existential threats.

The sector’s main problems are fourfold: ageing infrastructure, volatile markets, surging demand and the pressure to decarbonise.

There is, of course, hope. Though it becomes clearer with each passing day that these are challenges that traditional approaches can no longer address adequately.

Automation is one of the shining lights in the darkness, and the companies that embrace it earliest will feel the benefits fast.

Introducing automation to the energy sector has the potential to make grids more reliable, more efficient and more responsive.

For utilities, oil and gas operators and renewable energy producers alike, the ability to monitor assets in real time and predict failures before they occur – all without the need for human intervention – gives us a glimpse of what is possible.

Which companies are leading the charge?

A great many giants of the tech world are already making huge progress when it comes to applying automation. 

Schneider Electric, for instance, has built its EcoStruxure platform into a comprehensive IoT-enabled architecture that can optimise large-scale energy systems in real time. 

“The world is changing faster than ever," says Olivier Blum, the firm’s CEO.

"Energy, digital technology and geopolitics are reshaping the systems that power our lives. The challenges are complex, but the opportunities are extraordinary.

“Energy technology means leading the convergence of electrification, automation, and digital intelligence. 

“We invent the technology that makes the new energy landscape possible – enabling buildings, data centres, factories, plants, infrastructure and grids to operate as open, software-defined systems."

Elsewhere, ABB, the Zurich-based industrial technology group, is pursuing a similarly ambitious agenda. Its ABB Ability platform is capable of harnessing AI and analytics to deliver measurable gains across energy assets in every industry from mining to construction. 

Rockwell Automation, meanwhile, is helping to make the extraction of oil and gas as efficient as possible. Its technology is an integral part of the lifecycle of these fuels, from reservoir to refinery.

Its smart systems can also be found all across the global renewables sector, helping to manage feedstocks for biofuels, improve the reliability of solar farms and scale up the production of green hydrogen.

Schneider Electric's automation credentials

Few companies are as tightly woven into the fabric of global energy infrastructure as Schneider Electric. The French firm serves all sectors, from data centres and factories to utilities and hospitals.

Central to Schneider’s work is EcoStruxure, an IoT platform capable of embedding intelligence into infrastructure. With EcoStruxure, users are able to control and optimise their technology and machinery in real time. The upshot? Cost savings and emissions reductions.

For grid operators, the company's pitch is simple. A stressed grid needs digitalisation more than ever. Schneider is able to provide them with this, thanks to its vast portfolio of products spanning microgrids,machinery and intelligent software.

The firm’s environmental credentials are equally striking. Since 2018, Schneider’s energy-saving products, software and services have helped customers save or avoid 679 million tonnes of CO₂.

With a presence in more than 100 countries and full-year 2024 revenues reaching an all-time high of US$44bn, Schneider's scale is formidable. In an era when the energy sector must simultaneously decarbonise, digitise, and expand capacity, the French industrial titan looks exceptionally well placed.

How is ABB's automation used in the energy sector?

ABB employs around 110,000 people across more than 100 countries. Today, the firm is deploying its full force in pursuit of an ambitious objective: making the global energy system leaner, cleaner and considerably smarter.

The ABB Ability platform is central to this mission. Its Genix Industrial Analytics and AI Suite is able to integrate data across operational, engineering, and IT systems, which the company says can improve workplace productivity by up to 8%.

ABB also says that these smart tools can reduce maintenance costs by 15%, subsequently extending asset life by 25%. For energy operators wrestling with ageing infrastructure and tightening emissions targets, those are figures that demand and command attention.

ABB's approach is notably pragmatic. Rather than demanding disruptive overhauls, the company champions gradual modernisation and retrofitting, allowing clients with legacy assets to integrate AI and digital solutions at their own pace.

Perhaps the best example of this philosophy in action is ABB’s approach to large-scale power grids, which require piecemeal renovations. 

With the IEA projecting that electricity will account for 50% of global energy use by 2050, ABB has been bolstering its grid automation portfolio through targeted acquisitions, recognising that an increasingly electrified world will require infrastructure of extraordinary sophistication.

Rockwell Automation's rise and rise

In recent years, Rockwell Automation has become one of the most consequential players in the global energy sector's digital overhaul. It is one of the world's largest companies that is wholly dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, making it particularly well-suited to preside over the energy transition.

AI sits right at the heart of the company’s latest offerings. Its FactoryTalk Analytics product, for instance, is designed to take the guesswork out of operations by using AI to prevent quality issues. Meanwhile, Rockwell’s GuardianAI tool is able to give users early warnings of equipment failures, allowing maintenance before costly breakdowns ever occur.

A commissioned GlobalData report recently found that AI spending across the energy sector is projected to reach US$18.5bn by 2028, and Rockwell is setting itself to benefit from that surge. Through its joint venture with SLB (known as Sensia), it is helping energy operators reduce their carbon footprint, improve safety and enhance operational efficiency across markets from the Middle East to North America.

With 26,000 employees serving clients in over 100 countries, Rockwell's scale gives it rare reach and makes it a compelling proposition.

A frictionless future?

Perspective is important. Automation will not resolve every challenge facing the energy sector today.

The transition to clean energy also necessitates an enormous amount of capital, favourable policy environments and a wholesale re-engineering of national grids. 

That said, the tools now available to operators have genuine potential to level up energy systems by reducing risk, cutting costs and boosting efficiency.

The companies investing most heavily in automation in 2026 are building the foundations on which the future of energy will rest.