AI and digital transformation: DEWA’s two pillars underpinning the future of smart and sustainable cities

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer an optional technology that organisations add to their operations. It has become a fundamental pillar of smart and sustainable cities, enabling the development of more efficient, resilient and proactive service ecosystems. In an era of rapid change, leadership today belongs to those organisations that can turn data into insight, technology into added value and services into meaningful experiences that enrich people’s lives and support resource sustainability.

Years ago in the UAE, the wise leadership laid the foundations for a forward-thinking approach that established innovation, digital transformation and AI as key drivers of the nation’s comprehensive development journey. Today, the Dubai Economic Agenda ‘D33’, the UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031, the UAE Net Zero 2050 Strategy, the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050, converge around a single clear message: the economy of the future will be built on smart infrastructure, advanced digital services and organisations capable of keeping pace with changes while creating new opportunities for sustainable growth.

Driven by this vision, DEWA is pioneering a new model for AI-powered utilities. We have launched an ambitious, strategic road map aimed at making DEWA the world’s first AI-powered utility by integrating this technology across the full utility value chain – from power and water production, transmission and distribution to customer service, corporate operations, asset management and decision-making.

This journey reflects a comprehensive approach to redefining how a modern utility operates. AI enables us to shift from being reactive to proactive while helping us to anticipate customer needs more effectively and develop intelligent solutions that continuously learn, adapt and improve. It also elevates productivity and operational efficiency, improves reliability, reduces costs, accelerates service delivery and supports sustainable resource management in a vital sector directly linked to quality of life and sustainable growth.

The deployment of Agentic AI across our digital platforms marks the next phase of this transformation. We are integrating the technology into our website, smart app, Smart Office app for employees, internal dashboards and platforms, with a focus on service design, customer experience, quality monitoring and digital systems testing. This approach enables us to develop services that support both customers and employees simultaneously, continuously improving corporate performance.

The customer experience remains at the heart of this vision. Since the launch of Rammas , DEWA’s virtual smart employee, in 2017, we have continuously enhanced its capabilities as a smart and seamless channel for customer engagement. By integrating generative AI technologies, including GPT-4o, Rammas has become more capable of providing accurate, rapid responses and accessing relevant information from our digital resources. To date, Rammas has independently responded to more than 13 million customer inquiries since its launch, clearly demonstrating the impact of AI in delivering a more seamless, resilient and efficient customer experience.

Our AI applications extend far beyond the front-end interface as they re-engineer services from their very roots. A prime example of this is the reduction of the time for security deposit refund from four days to just eight minutes for amounts up to AED 4,000. This improvement alone embodies what digital integration and data analysis can achieve in terms of shortening processing times, simplifying procedures and boosting customer happiness.

On an operational level, AI supports our smart infrastructure preparedness, power and water network reliability, generation and distribution efficiency, predictive maintenance, request management, as well as integration of power and water dispatch, optimum renewable energy integration, energy storage, and flexible water production and storage, to maximise the value of every MWh generated and every imperial gallon of water produced. In the electricity and water sectors specifically, digital transformation stands as a primary tool to ensure service continuity, raising efficiency and enhancing energy and water security, while keeping pace with Dubai’s rapid growth.

However, this entire ecosystem cannot function without clear governance, reliable data, secure digital infrastructure and human skills capable of directing technology to serve people and society. Therefore, we place special emphasis on developing our employees’ capabilities, nurturing a culture of innovation and enabling our teams to leverage AI in ways that enhance performance, improve services and create lasting value.

In conclusion, the future of smart and sustainable cities is not shaped by technology alone but by the vision directing it, the organisations excelling at deploying it and the people who remain at the centre of every transformation. From this standpoint, DEWA will continue to support the vision of Dubai and the UAE to build a sustainable knowledge-based economy, thereby reinforcing the emirate’s position as a global hub for innovation and demonstrating how AI can be harnessed to serve mankind, preserve resources and shape a better future for us and generations to come.