KPMG global tech report 2023: Energy sector insights

Growing regulatory and customer expectations and geopolitical turmoil are putting energy companies in the spotlight. New research from KPMG suggests that the industry is banking on technology investment for its future growth.

New research by KPMG International, the KPMG Global Tech Report 2023, based on a survey of 2,100 executives from 16 countries and nine industries, shows that energy companies see new technologies as a lifeline they can leverage to overcome their market’s challenges. 

According to Rabra, this confidence is because “the energy sector has historically been at the forefront of adopting new technologies. Now, we’re seeing a lot of innovation in core business models.” One example of this is in the sector’s adoption of low-code/no-code platforms that can fast-track processes.

“Compared with classic platform buildout, low-code/no-code platforms make processes up to five times faster,” says Rabra. “Which expedites time-to-market, time-to-value and time-to-change.” Digital transformation projects involving low-code/no-code systems have boosted organisational profitability and performance for 72 percent of the energy executives in the survey.

“Low-code/no-code platforms are being used to improve the customer experience, service quality, ESG [Environmental, Social, and Governance] compliance and overall collaboration,” says Rabra.

This progress explains why 74 percent of energy respondents say that their business’s leaders are confident in the resilience of applications built by these platforms. The average across all sectors surveyed is 59 percent.

“Energy organisations are aware that this is the way forward,” says Rabra. “They have seen the value of these systems first-hand, so they are not going to go back to classical application development factory models.”

That said, low-code/no-code platforms require coding from scratch, which could limit control of the code and how it is executed. But Rabra says that energy organisations are trying to safeguard these systems. “Companies are using more cloud-based standard platforms,” he says. “They are going through extensive security and scalability testing, compliance reviews and third-party assessments.” 

Both regulators and consumers are watching energy companies closely, which might explain why energy executives in the research say that regulatory obligations and security concerns are their top triggers of digital transformation. They also say that stronger data privacy or cyber security are the user expectations that are most influential on digital transformation projects.

To meet these expectations, energy companies monitor security internally and in their wider ecosystems. “It’s often repeated that a chain is as strong as its weakest link, so energy firms hold ecosystem partners to a very high standard,” says Rabra. “Energy companies often create governance models for the entire ecosystem to adhere to, helping ensure a clear and strict security baseline.”

These safeguarding exercises create built-in trust. According to 72 percent of energy executives, digital transformation efforts involving cyber security have increased profitability and performance over the past 24 months — 12 percentage points more than the average across all sectors.

“The energy industry is asset-heavy in the upstream and customer experience heavy in the downstream,” says Rabra. “As such, there’s a lot of value to be created, especially with new business models. Then, there’s the preservation of that value — and that’s where the focus on cyber security and compliance comes in.”

This security-by-design approach creates trustworthy digital transformation initiatives that energy companies can implement technology with confidence moving forward. “With new business models — including renewable energy — I’m quite optimistic about the growth technology promises,” says Rabra. “And the industry is just getting started.” 

• The energy sector, facing regulatory scrutiny and geopolitical challenges, exhibits resilient confidence in technology investment, with 75 percent of market factors showing a commitment to overcome disruptions such as geopolitical volatility and market competitiveness.

• Energy companies prioritise technology investment but recognise the need for proactive integration of trust, security, privacy, and resilience into technology rollouts. Despite facing barriers like a lack of AI expertise, the sector has effectively leveraged low-code/no-code platforms to boost profitability and performance.

• While energy firms express confidence in existing tech infrastructures, the 2023 Global Energy CEO Outlook by KPMG underscores the importance of investing in talent. The industry's success in digital transformation projects relies on a combination of domain skills, digital skills, and professional skills, emphasising the need for training programs, especially in AI, to ensure future success.

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