In an interview with Energía Estratégica , Hernando Parrott , Vice President of Business Development at Open Intelligence, stated that Argentine utilities are entering a new stage and that digital transformation will be crucial to supporting the evolution of the electricity business.
- Considering the recent changes in the local electricity sector, what is your view on the current state of the industry?
It is undergoing an unprecedented transformation. Many networks and systems have been in operation for decades, resulting in losses, limiting efficiency, and making modernization and digitization processes increasingly urgent.
Adopting smart meters, advanced business platforms, and AI-powered data analytics would reduce errors, optimize resources, and improve the customer experience.
And in regulatory and financial terms?
Recent tariff adjustments are beginning to provide some relief to distributors; however, cost recovery remains a challenge, and changes in tariff and subsidy structures will generate significant challenges.
At the same time, the incorporation of renewables, distributed generation and new prosumers requires technical innovation and operational flexibility to adapt not only to changes in the grid, but also to regulatory evolution and new models of interaction with customers.
Are companies prepared to face this process?
The sector is at a turning point. Companies that successfully balance modernization, efficiency, and sustainability will be better positioned to deliver reliable, customer-centric service while adapting to a dynamic regulatory environment and a recovering financial landscape.
—When you talk to distributors, what are the main difficulties that come up?
The diagnosis is usually surprisingly similar: many companies continue to operate with legacy systems, built 20 or 30 years ago, in a context completely different from today's.
Legacy systems—many of them custom-built on technologies that are no longer actively supported—have become a significant burden for organizations. They are expensive to maintain, require increasingly difficult-to-find technical skills, and, most critically, are ill-equipped to meet the demands of the new generation of customers.
—How does that impact the relationship with users?
Users want to check their consumption in real time, receive proactive alerts, pay from their cell phones, and manage their procedures without depending on a call center.
A commercial system designed in the 1990s simply doesn't have that capability. And trying to adapt it through patches or satellite applications can have an economic and operational cost that often exceeds that of replacing it.
—In addition to the change in customer expectations, there is also a significant regulatory evolution...
Traditional systems are rigid and were not designed to respond quickly to these types of changes. Therefore, each regulatory adjustment can become a months-long project, with risks of errors and unforeseen costs.
Furthermore, the electric companies that are leading transformation processes today have something in common: they stopped looking for answers in traditional technological solutions, designed 20 years ago for a simpler, more static and predictable world.
—Is distributed generation one of those challenges?
Undoubtedly. The emergence of new products and services related to distributed generation, network flexibility, storage, and demand management forces companies to customize rigid systems or incorporate new, difficult-to-integrate technologies. This ultimately complicates the application ecosystem and jeopardizes operations, innovation, and cybersecurity.
—How are they handling it at the company?
Our proposal is based on a platform that integrates the main commercial and operational processes of an electric utility into a single system. Complex tariff management, smart metering, distributed generation, omnichannel customer service, and field workforce management all coexist on one platform, without information silos, fragile integrations, or custom developments that break with every update.
—And how does artificial intelligence play a role in the sector's agenda?
We don't talk about artificial intelligence as an add-on module for Smartflex, our product, but as a capability integrated into every workflow. Thanks to our embedded AI, we can now detect consumption anomalies, predict demand, optimize routes for our field workforce, and provide more personalized customer service.
- Are distributors concerned about migrating from legacy systems without affecting operations?
It's a legitimate concern; it's a complex process, and there are cases in the industry where these types of migrations haven't gone well. That's why Open is here to help these companies break that paradigm and support them in their technological evolution.
Unlike other providers in the market, we not only manufacture the software solution, but we also assume full responsibility for its implementation, commissioning and support, to ensure the success of our clients from start to finish.
-What's the score?
A 360-degree view of the customer and the operation—something very few platforms on the market can offer natively. In Argentina, that's exactly what many utilities need today.
— What are your expectations for Argentina?
Argentina is part of our history. We grew alongside this market with Cablevision, now Telecom Argentina, for over 15 years and witnessed its transformative potential firsthand. We work with companies and trade associations, understanding their processes, challenges, and potential. We have also maintained a consistent presence at events and forums where the transformation of the Argentine and Mercosur electricity sectors has been discussed.
—And in that context they decided to open an office in Buenos Aires...
Exactly. Today we are ready to support the country's businesses with the backing, close collaboration, and commitment they deserve. This step is the natural expression of our commitment to electric utilities and, more broadly, to the country's utilities sector.
It's about bringing Open's global scale, its technology, its experience in 19 countries and its vision for the future, to the service of a local market that is ready to take the next big step.
For Open, Argentina is not a gamble; it is an important part of our growth and consolidation strategy.