Siemens Smart Infrastructure Q&A: Electrification, AI & Tech

Siemens Smart Infrastructure works on building the real and digital worlds together, focusing on developing energy systems, buildings and industries.

Its portfolio of solutions addresses issues across the value chain, with smart building and electrification products, systems and services which aim to help improve energy and resource efficiency and enable the transition towards renewable energy.

As Head of Sustainability at Siemens Smart Infrastructure, Martin Baier leads the company's efforts towards building a net zero future, while protecting resources and improving people's lives.

His work explores the role of digital technology and AI in grid infrastructure, supporting the energy transition.

Martin shares his insights with Sustainability Magazine.

Where does the infrastructure transition stand today when it comes to decarbonisation and electrification?

We are seeing genuine momentum, particularly around electrification, but the pace still needs to accelerate. Electrification is now widely recognised as a key enabler to decarbonisation across energy, buildings, industry, and mobility.

According to Siemens’ 2025 Infrastructure Transition Monitor, 65 percent of global leaders see electrification as the most feasible route to achieving net-zero energy systems.

This is also due to renewable power and energy efficiency often being already addressed or worked on.

However, ambition is running ahead of infrastructure readiness. The same research shows that 73% of organisations believe existing grid infrastructure is already struggling to cope with rising demand driven by electrification.

This gap between climate ambition and grid capacity is becoming one of the defining challenges of the transition.

In this context, digitalisation is no longer optional. Digital technologies are essential to manage growing complexity, accelerate electrification and unlock decarbonisation at scale.

What is holding the energy transition back most today?

Grid bottlenecks are emerging as the primary constraint.

Aging infrastructure, rising peak loads, and the rapid growth of distributed energy resources are placing unprecedented pressure on networks that were not designed for this level of complexity or bidirectional energy flow.

At the same time, expectations are rising.

Energy consumers are becoming active participants, producing, storing, and managing their own energy, which further increases operational complexity for utilities.

Without new approaches, simply expanding physical infrastructure fast enough is neither practical nor affordable.

This is why many energy leaders now see digital capacity as just as important as physical capacity when it comes to sustaining the transition.

How are digitalisation, AI and autonomous technologies helping address these challenges?

Digital technologies give grid operators far greater visibility, control and responsiveness across increasingly complex systems.

AI can analyse vast amounts of operational data in real time, predict issues before they escalate, and optimise asset performance dynamically.

The Infrastructure Transition Monitor found that 72% of organisations expect AI to fundamentally transform how their business operates over the next three years, while 74% say AI is already helping to make critical infrastructure more resilient.

In addition, nearly seven in 10 energy executives believe autonomous systems will play a crucial role in cutting emissions.

These technologies enable grids to self-balance, respond faster to fluctuations, and operate more efficiently.

Crucially, they allow capacity and resilience to be increased using existing assets, reducing reliance on long lead-time physical upgrades.

What role does policy and regulation play in enabling faster decarbonisation?

While many leaders recognise the value of autonomous and digital technologies, regulatory uncertainty can slow deployment and investment.

Our research found that over half of companies in the energy sector (58%) say uncertainty about future energy system design is delaying investment in clean energy technologies.

Clear frameworks that support grid-enhancing technologies, enable autonomous operations, and provide long-term certainty for investment are essential.

Innovation in the energy system is moving quickly, and regulation must keep pace if the transition is to maintain momentum.

What does the future of grid modernisation look like, and what practical steps can leaders take now?

The future grid will be far more automated, data-driven, and adaptive than today’s systems.

AI-supported operations will help manage complexity at scale, while digital twins and advanced analytics will enable better planning, forecasting and decision-making.

Energy leaders can act now by improving digital visibility across their networks, investing in interoperable grid software, and preparing their organisations for more autonomous modes of operation.

Over half (59%) of energy industry leaders are already planning major investments in autonomous systems for grids, and 68% view them as crucial for cutting emissions.

These steps deliver immediate efficiency and resilience benefits while laying the foundation for faster electrification and decarbonisation.

If technology, investment, and regulation move in the same direction, we can build energy systems that are not only cleaner, but also more resilient, flexible, and fit for the future.