Monica Collings OBE is Chair of NESO’s Electricity Markets Advisory Council and of Rappor, Non-Executive Director at Adler & Allan, and Independent Committee Member at Northern Powergrid - governing across energy, professional services, environmental risk and infrastructure.
She brings the standard of a former Chief Executive who led a £1bn-turnover energy retailer, So Energy, through the energy crisis and its merger with ESB Energy. Monica was the sole female Chief Executive of a UK domestic energy supplier at the time, recognised with an OBE for services to diversity in the energy sector and nominated for the Sunday Times NED Awards’ NED to Watch.
Across her portfolio, Monica is committed to amplifying customer voices in the boardroom. She advises founders and executive teams, speaks internationally on net zero, crisis leadership and board governance, and chairs POWERful Women, working to bring the UK energy sector to 40% female representation by 2030.
At Technology Optimists London on 18 November, Monica will moderate the panel discussion How AI is changing the power industry already, and what will happen in the next 12 months. She will be joined by Calina Schanze from Ørsted and Carolina Tortora from NESO. The panel will look at where AI is already making a difference in the power sector, and what the industry should expect next.
Ahead of the conference, we asked Monica three questions.
1. Why does this debate matter now, and what do you want the audience to take away from it?
Every board in this sector is being asked “what’s our AI strategy?” Most can’t yet answer that honestly. The gap between a promising pilot and something that is embedded and works at scale is where value gets won or lost, and where customers and system security carry the risk if we get it wrong. I want people to leave this event with real use cases, and knowing which questions to put to their teams, vendors and regulators on Monday morning to get things going.
2. What do you see as the biggest barrier to AI delivering real value in the power sector?
Accountability. Data and skills gaps are real, but the deeper problem is that nobody is clear who owns the decision when the algorithm goes wrong. In a regulated, safety-critical sector, pilots stay pilots until boards and regulators settle that risk question. That’s a governance problem as much as a technology one.
3. Why are you taking part in Technology Optimists London, and what are you most looking forward to?
I’m an optimist, but a pragmatic one. In my executive life I led a supplier through the energy crisis, and I’ve seen what happens when a sector bets on models nobody stress-tested for those extreme scenarios. I want to push past the hype to what can actually deliver for customers and the system today and in the future. I’m most looking forward to some honest and friendly disagreement on stage.
Honest and friendly disagreement on stage is exactly what Technology Optimists London is built for.
Secure your ticket and join the conversation on 18 November.
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