Intelligent Energy: How AI is Powering Asia's Secure and Resilient Clean Energy Future

Welcome Remarks

Keiju Mitsuhashi, Director, ENE Southeast Asia and Pacific, ADB

Sandra Seah, Council Member, SEAS

Jens Jaeger, Director of Policy & Business Development, ARE

MOU Signing between SEAS and ARE

Sandra Seah, Council Member, SEAS

Jens Jaeger, Director of Policy & Business Development, ARE

Keynote 1: Enabling AI Implementation in the Energy Sector in Asia and the Pacific

Jamila Amodeo, Senior Energy Specialist – Smart Energy Systems, ADB

AI adoption in the energy sector will not scale on technology alone — it requires enabling policy frameworks, supportive regulatory environments and investment structures that recognise the value of intelligent infrastructure. This keynote examines what governments and development finance institutions are doing to accelerate AI deployment in energy systems across Asia, from data-sharing standards to cybersecurity regulations that de-risk first-mover AI investments. The speaker will highlight ADB initiatives supporting intelligent energy systems, share examples of policy best practices and outline the collaborative agenda needed to ensure AI-driven energy transformation is not only efficient but inclusive and equitable.

Keynote 2: AI in Electricity Utilities: Enabling Smarter, Cleaner and More Resilient Energy Systems

Arun Biswas, Strategic Engagements Leader, IBM

Asia-Pacific's rising energy demand presents a critical challenge for electricity utilities: how to maintain affordability and reliability while accelerating decarbonisation. Artificial intelligence is emerging as a powerful enabler of this transition, helping utilities optimise current operations while reimagining the electricity systems of the future. This keynote will explore how AI is becoming a foundational capability for smarter, more adaptive and more resilient energy systems. Through real-world examples, it will examine how AI can modernise grid operations, improve asset performance, enhance customer experience, and enable the integration of renewable energy at scale. The session will also consider how utilities can move from AI pilots to enterprise-wide adoption by strengthening governance, data readiness, workforce capability, operational discipline and ecosystem collaboration — ensuring AI delivers measurable value while supporting a cleaner, more reliable energy future.

Keynote 3: Intelligent Emissions Monitoring — Real-Time Carbon Accountability for Asia's Energy Transition

Azhar Othman, Executive Chairman, Enercon Asia

As carbon regulations tighten and corporate net-zero commitments face increasing scrutiny, accurate, auditable emissions data is becoming a strategic imperative — not just a compliance exercise. This keynote explores how AI and IoT-enabled emissions monitoring platforms are giving energy producers, industrial facilities and enterprises real-time visibility into their carbon footprint across Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. The speaker will demonstrate how intelligent monitoring moves organisations from annual estimates to continuous, sensor-verified data that supports carbon trading, sustainability reporting and decarbonisation planning. The session also addresses data integrity, interoperability with regulatory frameworks, and how Asian enterprises are using emissions intelligence to turn sustainability from cost centre into competitive advantage.

Keynote 4: AI-Powered Solar Diagnostics — Maximising Asset Performance, Protecting Inverters and Strengthening Cyber Resilience at Scale

Daisy Marquez, Representative, NoTa Renewable Energy

This keynote introduces how AI-driven diagnostics platforms are changing solar asset management — using machine learning to deliver real-time performance monitoring, predictive fault detection and automated maintenance prioritisation. Crucially, the speaker addresses the growing importance of inverter standards and cyber-hardening protocols, including compliance with emerging frameworks for industrial cybersecurity and for inverter interconnection. The session shares case studies demonstrating how AI reduces downtime and extends asset life, while simultaneously strengthening the cyber resilience of inverter fleets through continuous monitoring of firmware integrity, anomalous communication patterns and deviations from certified operating envelopes.

Keynote 5: Financing Sustainable Data Centres — Innovative Financial Solutions for Asia's AI Infrastructure Boom

Satya Ramamurthy, Chair Public Sector, SMBC

As Asia experiences an unprecedented surge in data centre demand driven by the rapid scaling of artificial intelligence, the role of financial institutions in shaping the sustainability trajectory of this growth has never been more critical. This presentation will explore how these financial tools are being applied in practice, drawing on real-world experience from landmark projects, to demonstrate how banks can move beyond conventional lending and actively catalyse the development of energy-efficient, renewably powered data centres across the Asia-Pacific region. The session will offer practical insights into structuring bankable deals that align investor returns with measurable sustainability outcomes — including PUE improvement targets, renewable energy procurement commitments and carbon intensity reduction pathways.

Panel Q&A: From Pilots to Scale — Overcoming Barriers to Accelerate AI Adoption in Asia's Energy Sector

The individual keynotes demonstrate that AI solutions for energy security, asset optimisation and emissions management are no longer experimental — they are deployed and delivering results. Yet adoption across Asia remains uneven, with many utilities, asset owners and enterprises still stuck in pilot purgatory. This panel aims to tackle the cross-cutting barriers: fragmented data ecosystems and lack of interoperability standards, workforce skills gaps, regulatory uncertainty, cybersecurity concerns that make boards hesitant to digitise critical infrastructure, and the risk that AI-driven efficiencies bypass smaller players and emerging markets. Panellists will debate what it will take to move from isolated success stories to sector-wide transformation — and what role governments, development institutions, technology providers and energy companies must each play to make that happen.