Saul Zambrano

Saul Zambrano

Global Industry Director for Energy and Utilities at Software AG.

Saul has a decade-long career working across a diverse set of Global Energy and Utility clients, helping shape actionable strategies and deploy large scale operational initiatives in the utility, oil & gas and renewable energy sectors. He has lead multiple digital transformations, as both a consultant and operational executive, in the areas of customer engagement, growth, operations optimization, and risk quantification and management. Saul has an MBA from the Cox School of Business at the Southern Methodist University, and graduated from University of Texas at El Paso with a BBA in economics.

Recent posts

  • IoT

    How to leverage data in the energy industry

    The piecemeal approach taken by midstream oil and gas operators to leveraging their data is often challenged in providing scalability and value beyond its initial purpose. On my last trip to Abu Dhabi, I came across a great description of the technology challenges facing the overall oil and gas sector: “The digital transformation of oil and gas companies has been…

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  • App & Data Integration

    Digital utilities: And the data beat goes on

    Modern, digital utilities have a huge challenge managing the deluge of data that they create. Utility data management is one of the least-discussed challenges facing utilities today. My first experience with this was when I worked at a west coast utility during the implementation of a large (multi-million end points) smart meter deployment. While we had planned for the storage of…

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  • Strategic Portfolio Management

    The digital North Star for utilities

    Planning for technology adoption in utilities involves never-ending cycles of regulation and change, moving as inexorably as constellations do around the North Star. I recently had the opportunity and privilege to support a field service webinar: “Lessons Learned from Technology Adoption During the Pandemic.” Everyone’s experience was largely similar across all industries: Throw away your five-year “North Star” development plans…

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  • Process Management

    Customer loyalty – the new metric for success

    I recently came across a thought-provoking publication by Deloitte that outlined the evolution of the utility customer journey from rate payer to consumer to prosumer to transumer.  My initial reaction was the authors really like the word play with “sumer.”  My second reaction was one of skepticism.  Let me explain.  According to Deloitte, the different types of customer journeys can be described as follows: Ratepayer – Uniform payment plans with a take-it-or-leave-it customer…

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  • IoT

    Go carbon neutral with IoT

    One of the more famous quotes in the scientific community is “nothing exists in a vacuum.” And while I don’t disagree with the statement, I don’t mind misconstruing it to illustrate a point. It can be argued that “carbon” does in effect live in a vacuum. Before I get to the point, a bit of background. The oil and gas…

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  • IoT

    Saving the planet with IoT-empowered smart energy

    2020 will forever be remembered for two reasons – Covid 19 and the accelerated impact of climate change. And, while the two trends are not directly related, there is a clear realization across the world that a more sustainable path is needed for how we live and how we power our economies.  To meet this challenge, an acceleration towards greater…

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  • IoT

    Energy 2021: Who will be left standing?

    The energy markets had a rough ride in 2020: Supplies flooded the market while prices and demand plummeted during worldwide pandemic lockdowns. Fracking and wells closed, refineries were mothballed or closed. Margins are tighter, and supply/demand is expected to remain roughly balanced for the foreseeable future so prices will remain low for the medium term – and probably long term. What will happen…

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  • IoT

    A year of black swans for energy markets

    The black swan effect is a metaphor that describes events that are rare, hard-to-predict and have a major impact. While a single black swan event is extremely rare, to have two happen at the same time is exceptional. That is the situation the oil and gas sector finds itself in this year. Covid-19 caused an economic contraction that demolished oil demand at…

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  • IoT

    Help for oil & gas: 5G and IoT

    By embracing 5G and IoT, Middle East and Africa oil and gas producers ensure they can stay competitive. There will be some major challenges facing the O&G sector for the next five years. Demand has dropped thanks to Covid-19, and this threatens the livelihood of a number of companies. The ones left standing will be those with the lowest production,…

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  • IoT

    Utilities Must Save on Operational Expenses

    Whether it’s turning on the lights when you flip a switch, or getting water when you turn a tap, utilities provide the gateway to health, education, entertainment and security. But in 2020, utilities are facing an accelerating risk to their business model - their aging infrastructure.  The U.S. Department of Energy concluded that 70% of power transformers are 25 years or older,…

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