Intelligent Apps Archives

Facebook
LinkedIn

April 21, 2025

Accelerating the Energy Transition: Stedin and Sogeti are revolutionizing the energy sector by enhancing the electricity grid through intelligent automation.

Stedin, in partnership with Sogeti, is accelerating the energy transition by integrating intelligent automation into their operations. Stedin is a leading Dutch energy grid operator, responsible for the reliable distribution of electricity and gas to millions of households and businesses across the Netherlands.

This collaboration optimizes the electricity grid, enhances work processes, and reduces the workload on technical staff, allowing them to focus more on sustainable energy initiatives.

Through advanced technologies like AI and RPA, our client is not only improving efficiency but also continuously evolving their processes.

The partnership exemplifies how innovative automation can drive significant progress in the energy sector, making the grid more robust and ready for the future of renewable energy.

Client: Stedin

Region: Netherlands

Industry: Utility

Offer: Intelligent Automation

In the dynamic world of energy, where the need for sustainable solutions grows stronger each day, companies like Stedin are stepping up to the challenge. Our client is the key grid operator in the Netherlands, is responsible for ensuring that over 2.3 million households and businesses in regions like Utrecht, Zeeland, and South Holland have access to reliable electricity. But in an era where the demand for green energy is skyrocketing, they aren’t just content with maintaining the status quo—they’re innovating for a sustainable future.

This partnership is transforming the energy landscape by optimizing the electricity grid with intelligent automation. This collaboration isn’t just about technology; it’s about reshaping how we manage our energy needs, making processes more efficient, reducing strain on technical staff, and ultimately accelerating the energy transition.

Together with Sogeti, Stedin discovers the potential of Intelligent Automation. By combining smart technologies such as AI and RPA, we transform business processes to a higher level of efficiency and innovation.

Raoul Bejdad, Senior Portfolio Sales at Sogeti

The Challenge: Meeting Growing Energy Demands with Limited Resources

As the world shifts toward renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, grid operators face the monumental challenge of upgrading their infrastructure, and Stedin is no exception. The surge in sustainable electricity demands a robust grid capable of handling fluctuating energy levels—peaks and troughs that are typical with renewable energy sources. However, there’s a catch: the technical workforce needed to drive these changes is stretched thin.
The energy transition places immense pressure on skilled workers—technicians, engineers, and planners—who are already in short supply. With these challenges in mind, our client has recognized the need to not only enhance the grid but also to optimize the way its workforce operates. This is where intelligent automation becomes a game-changer.

The Solution: Harnessing Intelligent Automation with Sogeti

This collaboration represents a strategic move towards integrating intelligent automation into their operations. But what exactly does intelligent automation entail? It’s a blend of advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) that work together to streamline and elevate business processes.

For Stedin, this means reducing the administrative and routine tasks that bog down their technical staff, freeing them to focus on more hands-on, mission-critical activities. By automating repetitive tasks, these employees can dedicate more time to what truly matters—driving the energy transition forward.

The first question we often ask new developers is: what do you need to do your job well? We really want to facilitate Intelligent Automation engineers to develop further in practice. This benefits both the developers and ourselves.

Niels Doms, Team Manager Intelligent Automation at Stedin

Spreading the Word: Making Intelligent Automation a Company-Wide Phenomenon

One of the challenges our client faced was the need to foster a culture of innovation and automation across the entire organization. They wanted everyone to see the value of these digital tools and understand how they could contribute to the energy transition. To achieve this, Stedin, with the help of Sogeti, set out to make the benefits of intelligent automation known throughout the company.

This wasn’t just about rolling out new technologies; it was about changing mindsets. By creating a central Intelligent Automation Team, our client ensured that knowledge was shared across departments, enabling different teams to come together and collaborate on solutions that would benefit the entire organization.

Tailored Expertise: Sogeti’s Flexible Development Team

A key aspect of this partnership is the tailored support provided by Sogeti’s software developers. These experts bring a wealth of experience from various industries, ensuring that our client always has the right expertise on hand. Whether it’s a specialist in UiPath for a specific automation task or a developer with deep knowledge of AI, Sogeti’s flexible model allows Stedin to scale their development needs up or down as required.

This approach not only ensures that projects are completed efficiently but also fosters continuous learning and growth within the development team. It’s a win-win situation where developers refine their skills on the job, and Stedin reaps the benefits of cutting-edge solutions.

Real-World Applications: Automating the Everyday

The real beauty of intelligent automation lies in its practical applications. For instance, through this partnership, we have developed an email classification tool that automates the sorting and responding to incoming messages. This tool, powered by AI, can analyze the content of emails, prioritize tasks, and even draft responses, which the human operator can then review and send. This blend of automation and human oversight not only boosts efficiency but also ensures that the quality of communication is maintained.

Another innovative solution is a photo classification tool that can identify images of warehouse parts or meter boxes, saving employees the time and effort of manual searches. These tools might seem small, but their cumulative impact is significant—they reduce the workload on technical staff, giving them more time to focus on the critical tasks that drive the energy transition.

The Future: From RPA to Intelligent Automation

As Stedin and Sogeti continue to develop more advanced tools, the line between traditional RPA and intelligent automation is blurring. By integrating AI components, these tools are becoming smarter, more efficient, and increasingly self-learning. This evolution means that Stedin is not just automating tasks; they’re continuously improving processes, making their workforce more effective, and accelerating the energy transition.

This partnership is a powerful example of how intelligent automation can drive significant change in the energy sector. By reducing the workload on technical staff and allowing them to focus on the big picture, Stedin is paving the way for a future where sustainable energy is not just a goal, but a reality.