Ahad Esmaeilian is helping drive us toward the electricity system of the future. The director of business development for Avangrid, Ahad has earned a Ph.D. from Texas A&M and holds master’s degrees from universities in both the U.S. and his home country of Iran. And while Ahad’s daily focus is to work across the industry to advance clean energy through the interconnection of wind, solar and other utility-scale renewable energy resources, his academic and professional careers have largely focused on digital grids. That means he and host Sal Gill have plenty to talk about in this technical chat around how utilities can build an even greater grid. Join them for a discussion about the business of clean energy, the importance of peeking behind the meter and how to harness the power of analytics, AI and machine learning to prepare the platform of the future. At the end of their conversation, Ahad gives us some insight into the songs he sings while driving around in his car through his suggestion for our Electrifying AI playlist on Spotify! Listen to his pick here, then make your recommendations for a song by tweeting @TheElectricSal. We just might include your selection and send you some Electrifying AI swag to say thanks. Learn more at sas.com/utilities and check out additional episodes of Electrifying AI at sas.transistor.fm or on your favorite podcast platform.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned during the episode:

• Connect with Ahad on: LinkedIn
• Connect with Sal on: Twitter | LinkedIn
• Learn about Sal’s expertise
• Electrifying AI Spotify playlist
• SAS Energy & Utilities on the web
• Our new Electrifying AI landing page 

Check out additional episodes of the Electrifying AI podcast series at sas.transistor.fm. 

• Subscribe to the Electrifying AI podcast so you never miss a future episode.
• Did you know that you can watch Electrifying AI too? Find our episodes on YouTube here.
• If you’d like to be a guest on a future episode, have an idea for a future topic or would like to share feedback about our Electrifying AI podcast, send us an email to [email protected]. 

About our guest:

• Ahad Esmaeilian is the director or business development for Avangrid, a diversified energy and utility company that boasts $30 billion in assets, and operations in 25 U.S. states and dozens of countries. Ahad earned a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tehran, a Master of Business Administration from Clarkson University and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University. His resume includes prior roles at the Smart Grid Center (TEES) and the New York Power Authority.

About our host:

• Sal Gill heads digital strategy and market innovation for SAS Energy & Utilities. He has worked for major energy companies and seen firsthand how electricity transforms lives, from bringing power to remote communities to pioneering innovations that will accelerate renewable technologies. As the global community continues to seek alternatives to satisfy its appetite for energy, Sal is constantly searching for new ideas that take advantage of both the electric grid, known as the largest machine humans have ever built, and the greatest enabler of our time, data analytics.

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.