One of the best parts of bringing so many people from across the industry together at Itron Inspire every year is hearing where their experiences start to overlap. This year, one question kept rising to the surface: How can utilities take the information they  already have and turn it into actionable intelligence? 

It came through in conversations about grid edge intelligence, resilience, affordability and AI. Across each, utilities talked about getting more from investments already in place and putting information to work in ways that deliver real value. As Itron CEO Tom Deitrich shared during his opening keynote, one of the opportunities ahead is shortening the distance between what the system knows and what it does. That idea stuck with us throughout the week. 

Of all the ideas shared at Itron Inspire 2026, a few themes stood out. Here are some of our top takeaways.

Utilities are Closing the Gap Between Knowing and Doing 

Utilities have more visibility into their systems than ever. Now, the conversation is increasingly about what they can do with it. 

Throughout Inspire, we heard different versions of that same shift. Utilities are looking beyond billing to operational intelligence and moving from detection toward prevention. At the same time, emerging technologies like AI are creating new opportunities to act on data where it lives. The applications may be different, but the idea behind them is much the same: information becomes more valuable when it helps utilities understand what's happening and act sooner. 

That feels particularly important as the challenges facing utilities become more complex. Load is growing, customer expectations are rising and resilience and affordability remain front and center. Utilities can't predict or prevent every outage, but better information can help them adapt as conditions change and make more informed decisions along the way. 

Innovation Doesn't Always Mean Starting Over 

One of the other themes that came through strongly was getting more value from what's already in place. 

That's especially relevant when affordability is part of nearly every conversation. During Tuesday’s Big Pictures Session, one utility leader talked about looking at innovation through the lens of customer impact: Will this make service safer, more reliable, more resilient or more affordable? Other utility leaders echoed that idea, challenging the assumption that every new problem requires another new piece of technology. 

Instead, there's an opportunity to look at existing investments and ask what else they can do. Existing infrastructure can become a foundation for new applications and information collected for one purpose can take on new value somewhere else in the organization. Sometimes, an incremental change can open the door to a much bigger outcome. 

That doesn't make modernization any less ambitious. If anything, it makes it more practical. Through that lens, progress is less about replacing what came before and more about building on it with a clear idea of where you want to go next. 

Technology Is Only Part of the Story 

For all the conversations about AI, advanced analytics and increasingly intelligent infrastructure, some of the most memorable moments at Inspire centered on people. 

One line from the day one Big Picture Session discussions captured it well: At the end of the day, someone still has to turn a wrench. Technology can provide better information and help people see what's happening sooner, but people still make decisions and act on it. They have to trust the information in front of them and be willing to change long-standing ways of working. That's why transformation isn't simply a technology challenge. 

It's also why partnership came up again and again. The challenges utilities are working through don't fit neatly within one system, one team or one company. Making everything work together takes collaboration across the industry. As such, opportunities to learn from peers and work through shared challenges is especially valuable. 

That human side of resilience can sometimes get overshadowed by the technology conversation. At Inspire, it didn't. 

Keep Moving Forward 

Perhaps that's the bigger takeaway from Itron Inspire 2026. Progress across the energy and water industries doesn't hinge on a single technology or one giant leap forward. 

That progress is happening as utilities find new ways to use the infrastructure, information and expertise they already have while keeping an eye on what's next. Where they start will be different, but the goal is often similar: create meaningful value today without losing sight of what customers and communities will need tomorrow. 

And if this year's conversations were any indication, that's where much of the industry's focus is headed: closing the distance between knowing and doing. 

Thank you to all our customers, partners and employees who made Itron Inspire 2026 such a memorable week. We may be a little biased, but this might’ve been our best Inspire yet. See you next year in San Diego!