Member Spotlight

Austin Alexander, Vice President, Artificial Intelligence – Xylem 

Xylem is a leading water technology company committed to solving critical water, energy and infrastructure challenges with technological innovation and digital solutions. From collection and distribution to reuse and return to nature, Xylem’s highly efficient technologies, including digital and networking solutions, helps utilities proactively navigate the complexities of driving improvements across the entire water cycle to deliver greater visibility, performance, compliance, and remarkable cost savings.

You’ve led across sustainability and now Artificial Intelligence. What fundamentally changes when AI moves from a digital tool to a core driver of strategy in the water sector?

On one hand, nothing changes.  At Xylem, our history is about providing the best technology in order to enable water security for our customers and communities.  That has remained constant from advanced pumping systems to AI-driven solutions. What is changing is how quickly technology evolves and how it enables us to rethink how work gets done and how assets are managed. AI is accelerating that shift, opening up new ways to optimise systems, support decision-making, and ultimately deliver better outcomes across the water cycle.

As AI becomes more deeply embedded in strategy, it also changes how organisations think about technology itself. It is no longer simply a tool that supports existing processes, but something that can help organisations rethink how decisions are made, how assets are managed and how work gets done. The opportunity is to use AI not simply to automate what we already do, but to challenge ourselves to think differently about what is possible across the water cycle.

You recently contributed to work with Global Water Intelligence on “Watering the New Economy,” which highlights the growing interconnection between AI and global water demand. What do you think the industry is still getting wrong, or oversimplifying, when it comes to the risks and opportunities of AI in water?

It is very easy to simplify and dramatise headlines around AI right now, both in terms of workforce change and the increasing water and energy demands of data infrastructure. Both are important considerations, but the conversation can quickly become overly simplistic when we focus on either the promise or the risk without looking at the broader context.  This presents a fantastic opportunity for the water sector to lead this transformation with grounded, evidence-based insight and practical solutions, as highlighted in the white paper. Rather than simply reacting to the headlines, the sector has an opportunity to bring its expertise to the conversation and help shape how this growth happens responsibly.   AI is not the first and won’t be the last industry shift that relies on water, and its risks are not negligible. The important thing is to understand those impacts, quantify them where we can, and look at them alongside the potential benefits that AI and data infrastructure can bring.

 However, we already have strong technical and operational capabilities in the sector that can help guide this transition in a smart and sustainable way, if we choose to lead rather than react. Water professionals understand resource efficiency, infrastructure resilience and the realities of managing water systems at scale. Those capabilities give the sector a valuable role to play in ensuring that the growth of AI is managed thoughtfully and sustainably.

Looking ahead, what will define a leading utility in an AI-driven world, and what risks are we still underestimating as a sector?

For leading utilities, the defining capability in an AI-driven future is the ability of people to understand where human judgment adds unique value. As AI becomes more capable, knowing when to rely on technology and when human experience, context and judgment need to take the lead will become increasingly important. This doesn’t mean roles might look very different in the future, and we should expect the nature of many roles to evolve as AI becomes more integrated into day-to-day operations. Howeverwe will continue to need smart, adaptive leaders who can guide organisations through this technological and economic transition. The utilities that are able to help their people adapt alongside the technology, rather than simply deploying new tools, will be better positioned to realise the benefits of AI while managing its risks.

You’ve spoken about the importance of partnerships in making AI work in practice. What does it take to build successful collaborations between utilities, technology providers, and other stakeholders in this space?

Real partnerships sound easy, but are difficult to achieve in practice. Foundational to them is trust, and  trust is built through shared experience. You don’t get to real trust util you have experiencedshared hardships or challenges together.  In the context of AI, where the technology is evolving so quickly and there is still a lot for everyone to learn, that willingness to work through uncertainty together is particularly important.

To get through those challenges, you need a shared commitment to resilience. To achieve resilience, a shared mindset of curiosity and willingness to learn together is required. No single organisation has all the answers, so the strongest partnerships are those where each party is willing to bring its expertise while also being open to learning from the others.  When you bring a group together that has this special sauce of curiosity, resilience and trust, you have an unstoppable partnership that can genuinely deliver impact. That is ultimately what turns a partnership from a formal relationship into something capable of solving real problems and creating lasting change.

As someone working at the forefront of AI in the water sector, what advice would you give to young professionals looking to drive innovation and meaningful change through emerging technologies?

What matters now more than ever are two things: 

Emotional intelligence.  In other words, be a person that can collaborate across teams and organizations, navigate challenges and understand what it means to interact with fellow humans. While technical expertise is still good to have, how you apply that expertise in an organization will matter even more. 

Understand the real work.  It’s easy to have a perception that AI can be a magic wand to solve all issues.  But in order to truly leverage the technology, you still need to take time to deeply understand how the work gets done and what it means for your organization, customers, etc.  So my recommendation is to spend time close to the work – whether that’s getting hands on turning a valve or understanding how back-office invoices are processed.  The people that can apply real-world learnings with technology are going to be the most valuable to organisations.