Let’s Talk Energy and try to understand how AI might be used to future proof the grid and what bumps we could encounter along the way. Regulators and utilities worldwide are sounding the alarm about the impact of data centers on the stability of the electricity grid. But the same compute that is straining our power system can also improve efficiency and access diverse sources of power more easily. That efficiency, however, could result in more complex and critical decisions relying on AI, rather than on human judgment, potentially inviting questions about safety and cybersecurity. Can AI alleviate the need for more physical grid infrastructure and defray some of the expense needed to make the system fit for the future? How can a growing role for AI in grid management improve reliability, and how should we think about the threats from digital hiccups or malicious cyberattacks on our critical infrastructure? And how is Microsoft looking at the potential for its own data centers to at least support – if not enhance – the way grids function today? Related Analysis: Rystad Energy launches Spektra: the next-generation market intelligence platform, shaped by the clients who use it (available to non-clients) Fuel cell investment by data centers set to grow tenfold, reaching $30 billion by 2030 (available to non-clients) Powering the AI era: A special report from Reuters Insights and Rystad Energy (available to non-clients) Grid Equipment Report - First Edition (clients only) As gas turbine orders surge 75%, new market entrants eye growing AI demand (clients only) Fuel cell investment by data centers set to grow tenfold, reaching $30 billion by 2030 (available to non-clients) Data centers offer chance to boost green power consumption in China (clients only) China&#x27;s data center capacity set to top 60 GW by 2030, driving a doubling of power demand (available to non-clients) Related Episodes: The AI arms race has a critical minerals problem, with Michael Walshe and Jeff Dickerson Will power-hungry data centers overwhelm the grid? Shell’s Peter Wood on AI, future energy scenarios and trade turning points. Let’s Talk Energy is a Rystad Energy Production. Produced by Elliot Busby &amp; Både Og. Executive producers: Noah Brenner, Elliot Busby, Evodie Fleury-Greaker &amp; Erik Means. Follow us on: LinkedIn YouTube Instagram X

How AI is reshaping the way we build, run and secure the grid, with Microsoft's Per Christian Honningsvaag

Let's Talk Energy

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** Let's Talk Energy

## Transcript

This is Lets Talk Energy, your go-to podcast for smart energy insights. I'm Noah Brenner. Regulators around the globe are sounding the alarm about the impact of rapidly proliferating AI-driven data centers on the stability of the electricity grid. But the same compute that's straining our power system could also be used to help it function more efficiently and access diverse sources of power more easily.

That efficiency, however, could require utilities to turn over increasingly complex and critical decisions to AI, rather than relying solely on human judgment, potentially opening up questions about safety and cybersecurity. To help us understand how AI might be used to future-proof the grid and what bumps we could encounter along the way, I'm joined today from Oslo by Per Christian Honningsvaag, who leads the energy industry practice across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa for Microsoft.

We'll touch on whether AI could alleviate the need for more physical grid infrastructure and defray some of the expenses needed to make that happen. He'll unpack how a growing role for AI in grid management could improve reliability and how we should think about threats from digital hiccups or malicious cyber attacks on our critical infrastructure. And finally, he'll fill us in on how Microsoft is looking at the potential for its own data centers to at least support, if not enhance, the way the grid functions today.

Per Christian, welcome to the program. Thanks so much. It's great to be here. Thanks for having me. Well, let's talk energy. Before we dig into the details of AI and grids, could you just give us a quick idea of your role at Microsoft and how you got there?

There are very few places more exciting and more consequential, I would say, than the intersection of technology and energy, where this rapid technology innovation meets an increasingly complex and demanding energy system. But for me, it started in a very different place. As a teenager working at the gas station, I didn't think of it as an energy industry experience at that time, but it was.

I saw firsthand how geopolitics shows up as a price change overnight, how customers react to every cent at the pump, and how essential energy is to everyday life. So to me, it's a reminder that behind all the complexity, this industry is fundamentally about serving people.

And then later in my career, when I moved into technology, I spent years working with the power and utility sector in the Nordics. I still remember the day a 26-wheeler truck showed up to swap a substation because the utility had changed its view on where capacity was needed across the grid. And they were basically delaying investments by moving equipment around.

And that decision wasn't made on intuition. It was basically data-driven. So insights from a big data project we had Microsoft running then with a forward-thinking partner, basically translating data pattern...

How AI is reshaping the way we build, run and secure the grid, with Microsoft's Per Christian Honningsvaag

Transcript

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Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.

How AI is reshaping the way we build, run and secure the grid, with Microsoft's Per Christian Honningsvaag

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.