Kuldeep Andhare — Energy & Utilities Product Leader

00 · About

A Product Solutions Leader at the intersection of Energy/Utilities domain depth and AI-led product strategy.

The energy industry is in the middle of a generational shift — unprecedented demand growth, AI-driven planning, distributed energy resources, and rising customer expectations are all reshaping how utilities operate. Delivering product into that reality demands a rare combination: deep utility domain fluency, the ability to translate operator and planner workflows into engineering specifications, and the discipline to own a product from customer discovery through launch.

My career has been spent at exactly that intersection. 21+ years inside the North American utility stack — CIS, AMI 2.0, MDMS, grid management, mobile workforce, asset management — paired with direct ownership of AI-enabled product discovery, enterprise SaaS delivery, and go-to-market for Tier 1 IOUs and cooperatives.

I’ve sat on both sides of the table: as a strategy consultant shaping cloud offerings for Oracle Utilities, as a managing consultant advising a $90M customer transformation at AEP, and as a Director of Solution Engineering owning a $20M IOU transformation portfolio at Smart Energy Water. The thread is the same — translating utility workflows into shippable product.

01 · Customer Exposure

The utilities I’ve shipped for.

Grid & AMI Integration

Duke Energy·AEP·ComEd·EDF UK·Scottish Southern Energy·Avista

Meter Data Management, AMI Integration, and Smart Grid Gateway deployments.

Wholesale Billing · ERCOT

LCRA·Brazos Electric

Complex Wholesale Billing Platform from Oracle Utilities — an inaugural implementation for the ERCOT wholesale market.

AI Customer Experience · Canada

Alectra·Elexicon·SaskEnergy

AI Customer Experience Platform rollouts across Canadian electric and gas utilities.

AI Products & Personas

NiSource·Alliant·MGE

AI Chat Bot, AI Customer Experience Platform, and persona-driven products including Landlord Persona and Agency Persona.

Customer & Billing Platform

AEP·Orlando Utilities·MGE·Seattle City Light

Customer Information & Billing Platform implementations spanning IOUs and municipal utilities.

AI Chat Bot & Outage Intelligence

Omaha Public Power·NIPSCO·MGE·Aqualectra

AI-Powered Chat Bot and AI-Powered Outage Maps — conversational customer support and real-time outage intelligence for electric and water utilities.

02 · Core Capabilities

What I bring, and how I’ve applied it.

Capability

End-to-end product ownership, from customer discovery through launch.

In Practice

Owned end-to-end product lifecycle (concept to launch) at SEW for the Customer Experience platform, Mobile Workforce platform, and eMobility platforms. Author Product Requirement Documents from customer advisory boards and field discovery; drive continuous CX improvement through ownership of the full product pipeline.

Capability

Translating utility workflows into prioritized engineering specifications.

In Practice

Serve as Voice of the Customer to Product and Engineering — owning Customer Discovery workshops for AI-enabled products. Translate planner and operator workflows for Southwest Gas, Alectra, SaskEnergy, Duke Energy, Cleveland Water, AEP, and Omaha Public Power into prioritized backlog inputs.

Capability

Engineering collaboration on scope, architecture, and delivery trade-offs.

In Practice

Lead cloud implementation programs across pre-sales, account, delivery, QA, and partner teams. At Oracle, contributed solution architecture oversight across cloud automation deployment, middleware, DR, and data cloning. Routinely negotiate scope vs. timeline with engineering leads on concurrent Tier 1/2 utility implementations.

Capability

Driving integration requirements with ISVs and systems integrator partners.

In Practice

Defined integration requirements with PwC, EY, Accenture, and RedClay on cloud deployments. Validated cloud deployment feasibility across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. Led Itron OpenWay AMI integration with analytics systems at Duquesne Light without disrupting billing schedules.

Capability

Go-to-market leadership: pricing, positioning, onboarding, sales enablement.

In Practice

Support net-new account wins and multi-year expansion programs through industry-led solution differentiation. Author executive narratives, RFP responses, and pricing/positioning materials. Partnered with sales on strategic game plans targeting LCRA, Arizona Public Service, TVA, Seminole Electric, First Energy, and Old Dominion Electric Cooperative.

Capability

Domain depth across the modern utility technology stack.

In Practice

21+ years across regulated and de-regulated utilities. Direct product/solution ownership across grid management, AMI 2.0, MDMS, smart grid gateway, Operational Device Management, and Service Order Management. Distinguished industry expert moderating Operational Device Management and Service Order Management user groups for ~50 utilities.

Capability

Enterprise SaaS delivery with direct executive engagement.

In Practice

Currently shipping enterprise SaaS across the SEW Customer Experience platform, Mobile Workforce platform, and eMobility platforms. Previously launched the first global utilities cloud customer (Bringmeister, Germany) at Oracle. Direct C-suite engagement across 100+ utility customers in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Capability

Executive education spanning business, energy, and digital transformation.

In Practice

MBA, Boston University Questrom School of Business. Energy Innovation & Emerging Technologies Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Executive Leadership (LEAD) at Stanford GSB. Digital Transformation at Harvard Business School.

03 · Domain Depth

The utility stack, shipped.

Grid Management & AMI 2.0

Smart Grid Gateway, Itron OpenWay AMI integration, meter data flowing into analytics and billing pipelines. ODM and SOM domain expert across ~50 utilities.

Transmission · Distribution · Metering

Meter-to-Cash & CIS

Inaugural billing implementation for Brazos Electric Co-Op — a wholesale utility landmark for Oracle. Tier I/II/III deployments with on-premise and third-party integrations.

CIS · CC&B · Billing

Field Service & Asset Mgmt

Mobile Workforce platform leadership at SEW. Mobile workforce management deployment for first global utilities cloud customer at Oracle.

Mobile FSM · W&AM · Operations

Cloud & SaaS Architecture

Validated deployments on AWS, Azure, and GCP with PwC, EY, Accenture, and RedClay. ITIL-standardized SLAs and DR design for cloud utility customers.

IaaS · PaaS · SaaS

AI-Enabled Product Discovery

Owns Customer Discovery workshops for AI-enabled products at SEW. Public interview with Authority Magazine on the role of AI/ML in the utilities industry.

Discovery · PRDs · Roadmaps

Customer Experience & Adoption

Lifted customer engagement and adoption by 35%+ at SMUD, Liberty Utilities, and Alectra. Cut manual workload 60% on Start/Stop/Transfer customer journeys.

CX · Self-Service · eMobility

04 · Selected Work

Programs that moved the utility.

Case · 01

Top U.S. Investor-Owned Utility

2022 — Present · Smart Energy Water

Owning a $20M customer experience transformation portfolio end to end.

Acting as the primary strategic advisor from the solutions side for a Top U.S. IOU’s multi-year CX transformation. Aligned business objectives, operating model, and SaaS/cloud capabilities into a single delivery roadmap. Owned the value journey from strategy definition through realized outcomes.

$20M+

Portfolio value owned

35%

Lift in customer adoption rate

60%

Manual workload reduction

Authored executive-level narratives aligning operating model, business case, and cloud capability roadmap.
Automated complex billing and customer operations around Start/Stop/Transfer (Move-In/Move-Out) journeys.
Embedded analytics and process intelligence into executive decision-making for platform adoption and expansion.

Case · 02

American Electric Power

2016 — 2022 · Triniti Consulting

Trusted advisor on a $90M customer transformation across one of the largest U.S. utilities.

Served as cloud advocate and trusted advisor on AEP’s $90M customer transformation program. Partnered with Oracle sales on the strategic game plan targeting LCRA, Arizona Public Service, TVA, Seminole Electric, First Energy, and Old Dominion Electric Cooperative.

$90M

CX program advised

~600

Industry execs reached via global conference programs

Tier-1 utilities engaged on strategic pursuits

Orchestrated end-to-end functional/technical architecture for the inaugural billing project for Brazos Electric Co-Op — a wholesale utilities landmark.
Strategized with Duquesne Light to integrate Itron OW AMI data into analytics without disrupting billing schedules.
Validated cloud deployment options across AWS, Azure, and GCP with PwC, EY, and Accenture.

Case · 03

Oracle Utilities · Bringmeister

2015 — 2016 · Oracle Corporation

Launching the first global utilities cloud customer.

As Cloud Team Lead, served as ambassador for launching Oracle’s initial global utilities cloud customer in Germany. Deployed Mobile Workforce Management and redesigned existing on-premise products, services, and processes to be cloud-ready.

1st

Global utilities cloud go-live

3×

Customer Pacesetter & Product Line MVP awards

ITIL

Standardized SLAs for cloud utility customers

Directed cross-functional teams: Customer Success, Cloud Infrastructure Engineers, and Development.
Led SLA development for cloud utility customers covering billing status, completed field work, and AMI smart reader data processing.
Owned solution architecture across cloud automation deployment, middleware configuration, DR, and data cloning using Chef Automation.

Case · 04

Oracle Utilities Global Customer Base

2008 — 2015 · Principal Technical Analyst

Single point of contact for 70+ utilities across three continents.

Liaised between customers, partners, and internal cross-functional teams — architecture, product management, pre-sales/sales, development, and QA — ensuring seamless execution of Meter-to-Cash using MDM, CC&B, Smart Grid Gateway, Mobile Workforce Management, Operational Device Management, and customer self-service.

70+

Tier-1 customers across NA, EU, Asia

Product lines across the Oracle utilities suite

~50

Utilities in the ODM/SOM user group I moderate

Contributed expertise across the entire Oracle utilities suite: information systems, meter data, asset, field work, service order management.
Serve today as distinguished industry expert to Operational Device Management and Service Order Management user groups — advising on roadmap, deployment best practices, and emerging tech trends.

05 · Voice in the Industry

Selected speaking, panels, and press.

2024

Interview on the role of AI/ML in the utilities industry

Authority Magazine

2023

Digital Transformation panel with energy & utilities industry experts

Industry Panel

2021

Virtual presentation with AEP business leader — tech/business ROI to Tier-1 utilities

Oracle User Group Conf.

2020

Hosted panel with industry & Oracle execs — ~800 global attendees

Oracle Edge Conference

2020

“How utilities can transform beyond meter-to-cash applications”

Utilities Industry User Conf.

2020

Hand-selected to present with Stanford cohort: Role of Power in Leadership

Stanford University

2019

“Digital transformation & NexGen technology adoption” with Madison Gas & Electric

Oracle User Group Conf.

Ongoing

Moderator · Operational Device & Service Order Management user groups, ~50 utilities

Industry Forum

06 · Toolkit

What I work with, day to day.

Product Leadership

Customer Discovery & advisory boards
PRDs & technical specifications
Roadmap & portfolio prioritization
Value engineering & business case
GTM, pricing, positioning
Sales / pre-sales enablement & RFP
Executive narrative & storytelling

Utility Domain

Customer Information Systems (CIS / CC&B)
Meter Data Management (MDMS)
AMI 2.0 & Smart Grid Gateway
Mobile Workforce / Field Service Mgmt
Work & Asset Management
Operational Device Management (ODM)
Renewable energy & eMobility

Cloud & Stack

AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud
IaaS, PaaS, enterprise SaaS
Oracle Utilities Customer Cloud Service
Java, Python, XML
SOAP UI, Postman, MS Project, Visio
ITIL service management
Chef · cloud automation

Bridging 21 years of energy & utilities domain depth & AI-led product strategy.

A Product Solutions Leader at the intersection of Energy/Utilities domain depth and AI-led product strategy.

The utilities I’ve shipped for.

What I bring, and how I’ve applied it.

The utility stack, shipped.

Grid Management & AMI 2.0

Meter-to-Cash & CIS

Field Service & Asset Mgmt

Cloud & SaaS Architecture

AI-Enabled Product Discovery

Customer Experience & Adoption

Programs that moved the utility.

Owning a $20M customer experience transformation portfolio end to end.

Trusted advisor on a $90M customer transformation across one of the largest U.S. utilities.

Launching the first global utilities cloud customer.

Single point of contact for 70+ utilities across three continents.

Selected speaking, panels, and press.

What I work with, day to day.

Product Leadership

Utility Domain

Cloud & Stack

Where my thinking was sharpened.

Master of Business Administration

Energy Innovation & Emerging Technologies

Executive Leadership (LEAD) Program

Digital Transformation — Leading in the Digital Era

Bachelor of Engineering

Oracle Utilities CCS · MDM · ITIL

Let’s talk about energy, AI products, and what comes next.