The following is a summarised transcript from an interview with Suhayl Zulfiquar, CEO of Datatecnics.
Preface by Laura Ohela, Head of Product Marketing at Datatecnics
The water sector in England and Wales is heading into AMP8 with more investment, more scrutiny, and more pressure than ever before. It’s both a defining period and an opportunity we can’t afford to waste.
Below is the summarised transcript from my interview with our CEO, Suhayl. As the leader of a team building AI tools to tackle some of the sector’s biggest challenges, he reflects on where the industry is heading and the push-pull factors that will shape how utilities adopt technology.
AMP8, which began this month, will guide English and Welsh water companies through the next five years of investment and performance. With that in mind, here are Suhayl’s predictions on what to expect (and on occasion, hope for) over this period.
What Suhayl had to say
Prediction: By 2030, every utility will have at least some level of AI embedded as business-as-usual.
Why: For a few years now, AI for water has been something we talk about but rarely scale. That’s changing. From burst prediction to pump optimisation to language models for operational support, AI is already proving its worth. The pace of AI development is unlike the growth of any other technology in my entire lifetime, other than the internet.
Now it’s about adoption at scale, not in pilots, but in actual processes. The tools exist. The need is clear. The pressure is mounting. And AMP8 overlaps this remarkably significant period in human history (of AI emergence into common usage).
Prediction: Utilities will gather better quality data from humans (field operators) and technology (sensors).
Why: Water companies in England and Wales are faced with a bold leakage reduction target of 16% by 2030. In the meantime, leakage has been touted as a particularly difficult challenge to tackle.
However, I don’t think the problem is as technically difficult as it’s made out to be. Let’s take Netherlands as an example, where they have achieved a leakage rate of around 5%. How? They invest in and encourage the use of technology effectively. Their operational culture, nearly universal smart metering, and investment in high-quality data is paying dividends. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the KWR Institute is based in the Netherlands!
Leakage is a pretty simple equation of water input and output. If you invest in your data quality, you’ll find the answers follow without much difficulty. AI thrives on data, so let’s give it what it needs.
Prediction: The sector will become more comfortable taking calculated risks to unlock innovation.
Why: Water is critical, but so are energy, defence, and healthcare. And all those sectors manage to innovate under pressure.
We’ve used the essential nature of water as a reason to avoid risk, but that mindset is holding us back. AMP8 must be the moment where we move past that fear and start actually adopting the reliable and purpose-designed water technology that already exists.
Prediction: Predictive asset management will be seen as central to climate resilience planning.
Why: Just last month, Heathrow Airport was forced to shut down for a day because of a fire at a power substation. Unsurprisingly, it sparked criticism over how a single substation failure could lead to a complete power outage at our busiest airport.
Resilience is not about achieving a perfect world where things never fail, but rather being prepared with plans A, B, and C when they do. This is what AI is well-positioned to do. So, when water resources dip low because of droughts, or pipes burst because of cold snaps, AI models will have already run simulations that guide utilities to make the best decisions to ensure safe and steady supply of water to our communities.
Prediction: AI and automation will be deployed a lot more to help meet 2030 carbon targets.
Why: The UK water sector has committed to net zero operational emissions by 2030. AI can help, right now.
Three low-hanging fruits come to mind. Firstly, pump optimisation. In fact, some pump manufacturers are already thinking about edge control and leveraging AI to run pumps more efficiently out-of-the-box. Secondly, we can unlock efficiencies in pipe replacement and rehabilitation programmes with AI optimisation. Thirdly, there are fantastic AI-based technologies available for making sludge treatment less carbon intensive.
And that’s just a few of the clear, measurable, ‘easy’ wins available today.
Prediction: Large language models and AI agents will begin advising operational teams.
Why: It will be quicker and more intuitive than dissecting information from dashboards.
We’re entering the era of conversational AI where tools can understand physical infrastructure performance, query datasets currently only experts analyse, and advise management on complex operational issues in real time. By 2030, I expect to see utility leadership asking AI agents questions like, “Where is my next high-risk burst most likely?” and getting meaningful, multi-layered answers back.
Prediction: The sector will shift focus from endless pilots to full-scale implementation.
Why: As I alluded to in my very first prediction, we love a pilot in this industry. But our real problem isn’t small-scale experimentation, it’s embedding the new and better technology into day-to-day operations. It sounds remarkably blunt but it is important we stop patting ourselves on the back for merely testing new tech and celebrate our ability to operationalise it.
AMP8 must be the era where good ideas don’t die in the post-pilot void.
Prediction: The utilities that lead will be the ones who build trust internally and externally.
Why: Whether it’s with AI, innovation adoption, or risk-taking, the biggest conduit of success is not just how smart the tech is, it’s culture. Trust between departments. Trust between leadership and suppliers. Above all else: trust between water companies and customers.
While it could be easy to put AMP8 down as a test of technology, underneath that, it’s a test of our relationships. Neither suppliers, nor contractors, nor utilities can deliver the ambitious targets alone, and we’ll need stronger and deeper collaboration than ever to reach them.
AMP8 is a moment of reckoning. For years we’ve said the right things, now we need to do them.
