For 33 years I evolved with the grid. Now I'm building what comes next: the intelligence layer above it.

The Evolution

From 100% manual to leading the AI evolution.

I started long before “smart grid” or “grid modernization” were terms. I know what's under the hood, because I ran the grid at every stage of the technology.

Thirty-three years, one through-line: I evolved with the technology and the operating practices, so I know exactly what each generation actually does under the hood, and what the next one has to get right.

I've sat in all five chairs of grid modernization.

Utility operator. Platform vendor & developer. Systems integrator. Consulting partner. AI solutions leader.

Most people in this industry see grid modernization from one angle. After 33+ years of deliberate moves, 22 years operating a utility control center, 6 years leading SME work at a major ADMS and DERMS platform vendor, 2+ years directing systems integration practices, Partner at a global consulting firm, and now NVIDIA Solutions Director at SoftServe building GridCORTEX, I see it from all five. That perspective is what I bring to every conversation.

The 360° View

Five chairs. One perspective.

Each transition was a deliberate step toward a capability the previous role couldn't teach. Here's what each one captured.

Utility control center operator monitoring grid systems
01
The Operator
Major U.S. Municipal Utility · 22 Years

Real-time T&D control center. NERC Certified Reliability Coordinator. Built and ran the Blackstart restoration program from the ground up. Lived through every major operational technology evolution from manual SCADA to ADMS.

Captured: operator-grade credibility, the ability to speak the truth about what grid modernization actually does, and doesn't do, in real-time operations.
Technology provider building grid platform software
02
The Vendor & Developer
Leading ADMS / DERMS Platform Vendor · 6 Years

Lead Smart Grid SME. Set new sales records every year for six consecutive years. Led the SME team across 14+ utility ADMS deployments in North America and Australia. Fed operator-driven product enhancements directly into the engineering roadmap, including the first-of-its-kind ADMS+DERMS hybrid architecture at APS and the wildfire mitigation capability built into ADMS for PG&E. Pioneered the cloud-based virtual server environment that became the global default for ADMS demonstrations.

Captured: the vendor lens, how operational technology gets developed, enhanced, packaged, sold, deployed, and consulted on.
Systems integrator coordinating multi-vendor grid programs
03
The Integrator & Advisor
Systems Integrators & Consulting Firms · 2+ Years

Director of a Smart Utilities Digital Grid practice, then Senior Principal of Grid Management Solutions consulting. Led major engagements across DER SCADA migration, OSI DERMS, GE OMS and DMS, ADMS upgrade strategy, AMI 2.0 integration, and operations change management.

Captured: enterprise integration and senior advisory, how grid modernization gets coordinated across multi-vendor programs at utility leadership tables.
Consulting partner advising utility executives
04
The Consulting Partner
Global Consulting Partnership · Wipro · 2025

Partner-level practice and platform leadership. Architected three signature offerings: GridVISION (flagship overlay platform), Suite 16 (16-domain modernization framework), and MC-LLI (mission-critical large-load infrastructure market category). Led executive advisory with National Grid and Avangrid.

Captured: practice and platform leadership, how a senior partner orchestrates growth strategy, productization, business development, and delivery across an entire practice.
AI solutions leader with GridCORTEX utility intelligence ecosystem
05
The AI Solutions Leader
SoftServe + NVIDIA · Current

NVIDIA Solutions Director for Power & Utilities at SoftServe. Architecting GridCORTEX, the AI-powered utility intelligence ecosystem for electric utilities, built on NVIDIA's accelerated computing infrastructure. six modules, ten agents, 23 operating domains and 187 utility-specific use cases, and the first utility AI ecosystem to extend into autonomous physical AI and robotics.

Capturing: AI solutions leadership, translating 33 years of operational and consulting perspective into the intelligence layer the utility industry has always needed but only now has the compute to build.
I've been the utility. I've built the product. I've integrated the systems. I've shaped the strategy. Now I'm building the intelligence layer above them all.
Why this perspective matters now

Five forces are converging in this industry.

Five forces driving utility AI adoption infographic, data center load wave, aging workforce and infrastructure, extreme weather mandates, grid edge and DER transformation, regulatory pressure and capital scrutiny
The five forces at a glance, click to open full size.
01

Hyperscaler & electrification load growth

Rewriting integrated resource plans across North America. Every major IOU is rebuilding its load forecast around it.

02

AI moving into operator workflows

Out of demos and into the control room, with all the operator-trust, audit, and human-in-the-loop questions that come with it.

03

DER and grid-edge complexity

Outpacing the operating models utilities currently have. The architecture problem is no longer optional.

04

Physical AI and robotics on live infrastructure

NVIDIA Isaac ROS 2 and Jetson Orin have crossed the maturity threshold for utility infrastructure. Autonomous inspection, first-responder robotics, and edge AI are no longer research projects.

05

Workforce retirement cliff

Half the utility workforce is retirement-eligible this decade. Forty years of operational knowledge walks out the door every Friday. The gap layer is the only place it can be captured.

I've spent 33+ years preparing for a moment exactly like this one. The full operator + vendor & developer + integrator + consultant + AI solutions perspective is what this moment needs.

Solutions Portfolio

Five solutions. Three companies. One pattern.

Take a real operational problem, translate it into architecture, then build how the solution gets sold and delivered. I have done that at SoftServe, at Wipro and at Schneider Electric, and each one is written up in full with my role and attribution on it.

5
Solutions architected and owned
3
Companies, SoftServe, Wipro, Schneider Electric
6
Modules in the current ecosystem
Engagement Footprint

19 utilities. 39 documented engagements. Four regions.

Across every major operational platform on the market, ADMS, DERMS, OMS, DMS, SCADA, EMS, GIS, AMI, and the major vendors that build them.

19
Utilities served
39
Documented engagements
4
Regions, US, Canada, Australia, Europe

This site is a standing dossier.

It's linked from my email signature so colleagues, partners, and clients can see the full picture beyond LinkedIn. The most reliable way to start a conversation is LinkedIn.

Ronnie Mauldin, grid modernization and AI executive, in a utility control center environment