Whether cloud, automation, or AI: energy supplier E.ON is increasing stability, efficiency, and speed in grid operations and placing data and employee skills at the center of this transformation. CIO Sebastian Weber explains why digital solutions are indispensable for a modern energy system, how E.ON intends to set the pace for a decentralized energy landscape, and why digital sovereignty and European technologies are more strategically important than ever.
E.ON describes itself as “playmaker of the energy transition.” What specific digitalization goals are you pursuing to further strengthen this role? :
WEBER The energy transition is fundamentally changing the way energy companies operate. Now, instead of a small number of easily manageable power plants, thousands of new connection requests for photovoltaic, wind, and storage systems must be processed. These decentralized systems feed into the grid depending on the weather - a sunny or windy day can significantly change grid utilization within a short period of time. A powerful digital foundation is essential for managing this complexity reliably. It ensures efficiency, security, and scalability. That is why we have moved our IT to the cloud and improved system monitoring. Since 2021, we have been able to increase our system stability by 77 percent and respond more quickly to peak loads. In addition, automation has enabled us to save around one million working hours.
In 2026, our focus will be on stability and security, but above all on people. It is important that our employees are able to work with reliable, user-friendly IT systems and that business and IT work even more closely. This is the only way we can bring together the requirements of the energy industry and digital expertise. In addition, we are expanding our data and AI capabilities and making targeted use of the cloud for greater automation – as a basis for efficient work and a functioning energy transition in everyday life. Furthermore, our digital strategy is clearly defined, measurable, and anchored throughout the Group. The crucial point, however, is that digitalization is not the task of individual people and organizational units. Rather, the strategy and its implementation aim to create sustainable added value for our customers by using technology. This can only succeed if the core of the company is digitalized and not just individual areas.
How do you ensure that the digitalization measures generating the greatest added value are prioritized and successfully implemented? What criteria are used to determine this? :
WEBER Digitalization always follows the business strategy, and it must deliver added value to the customer. This can be either directly, through immediate improvements in service, or indirectly, by enabling new services in the first place. This guiding principle has always defined the prioritization of all activities, including those related to digitalization. When digitalization is viewed as an integral part of the business strategy, existing governance structures for prioritization and implementation come into play. Once again, employees play a central role in ensuring success. Through the gradual introduction of a product-centric way of working based on BizDevOps principles, the focus is on the skills needed to implement solutions rather than on traditional organizational structures.
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