Continuing to expand its ‘industrial AI’ mission with real-world in-the-field application services, IFS has detailed the arrival of its IFS Nexus Black Resolve for Utilities.
This is a purpose-built technology service designed to address (IFS says revolutionise) the most inefficient element of field service operations.
IFS wants to show how utilities can apply AI to navigate complex challenges such as issues relating to ageing infrastructure and extreme weather, onwards to workforce constraints, changing customer expectations and increasing regulatory pressure.
Developed by IFS Nexus Black, the software is said to be “unlike generic AI solutions designed for white-collar workers” because Resolve for Utilities is designed for the field technicians, planners and crews who keep the lights on and water flowing.
Extreme workforce conditions
The solution addresses the stark realities facing utilities: skilled workforce shortages, extreme weather events increasing in frequency and severity, ageing infrastructure requiring urgent modernisation and communities expecting faster restoration times.
Resolve for Utilities introduces a suite of capabilities for field service operations in the face of these compounding challenges, ensuring that the “last mile” to the customer is state-of-the-art, setting the bar for workforce management today and tomorrow, regardless of work or worker type.
Features include:
- Intelligent Crew Callout – AI coordinates emergency response during floods, storms and wildfires in real-time.
- Mutual Aid Technology – Enables utilities to share resources when disasters strike.
- Intelligent Support for Field Crews – Improves productivity through real-time guidance based on equipment data and historical patterns.
Resolve uses AI to coordinate crews for essential work – from planned maintenance on ageing infrastructure to emergency response during floods, storms, or wildfires.
Coordination friction, benediction
The system provides real-time visibility into crew availability, communicates with field workers, and manages operations across regions and states – freeing up planners to focus on strategic decisions while AI handles coordination friction.
“Utilities are navigating an increasingly complex operating environment – from workforce constraints to extreme weather and grid modernisation, with increasingly high customer expectations. Our intense attention to this area reflects both our heritage in Utilities FSM and our commitment to evolving alongside our customers with modern, practical innovation,” said Carol Johnston, vice president, energy & utilities, IFS.
Kriti Sharma, CEO of IFS Nexus Black underlines Johnston’s statement and says that this technology is AI designed for the workers who restore power in treacherous conditions, who scale transmission poles after disasters and who keep critical infrastructure running 24/7.
Sharma: When lives are on the line, safe, reliable AI isn’t optional – it’s everything.