The opportunity
Enable advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), over-the-air software updates, predictive maintenance, enhanced infotainment, and the future integration of autonomous driving capabilities.
From “AI Megatrends - AI In Energy : Connected, Intelligent Energy and Energy SaaS” (June 2023)
battery recycling : most electric vehicle batteries are designed for a lifespan of about 12 years before they lose efficiency, but they can be repurposed and reused in microgrid energy storage solutions for a ‘second life’. One company, Connected Energy in the UK, has equity investment from Volvo, Caterpillar, and others, who recognize the emerging secondary market for used batteries. Connected Energy will specialize in taking old car batteries and building them into large-scale commercial energy storage systems.
Smart grids are typically characterized by a high penetration of distributed generation, consumption, and metering devices. These include wind, solar, hydro, tidal, and thermal generation units, electric vehicles, microgrids, residential smart meters, etc. Control and optimization of all these elements require exchanging an enormous volume of data and metering information that should be ingested, inferred, and reflected upon. In this context, big data analytics, in particular artificial intelligence methods are a key enabler of fully autonomous smart grids.
Power plant boilers are the most important part of a power plant, but they are difficult and time-consuming for human operators to inspect and repair. To reduce risks and shorten maintenance and unplanned outages, FE is developing AI-enabled robots that can perform real-time, non-destructive inspection of boiler furnace walls. If they find a crack, they can operate repair devices to make an immediate repair, while using AI to enable smart data analysis and autonomy.
From “Decoding Tomorrow: The Way Forward: #9 Auto & Transportation - “A decade from now, the automotive landscape will be dominated by companies that treated 2025’s reality check not as a crisis, but as the greatest competitive opportunity they ever witnessed!”” (October 2025)
Where are we at this point, and what’s the way forward? The once-unquestioned acceleration toward an all-electric, fully autonomous future has been interrupted by significant headwinds, particularly in Western markets. This has triggered a strategic divergence: legacy automakers seem to be giving up on the trend to once again concentrate on carbon vehicles, squeezing as much as they can out of a dying platform, while new, aggressive Asian automakers take over a future based on EVs.
The vehicle is a software platform . The most valuable part of a modern vehicle is its code. Vehicles are becoming upgradeable, intelligent platforms on wheels, enabling new business models based on over-the-air (OTA) software updates and subscription services.
Personal Autonomous Vehicles (Level 3/4) : Adoption of Level 3 systems, such as Mercedes-Benz’s DRIVE PILOT, remains a niche luxury feature, constrained by high costs and strict operational limitations.
From “Decoding Tomorrow: 30 Megatrends - #2 : Ambient Intelligence - ""AI is the invisible architect dissolving computing into the very fabric of our lives.”” (June 2025)
This trend is kind of near and dear to my heart since I’ve been speaking and writing about it for almost three decades - albeit in the context of what I call ” hyperconnectivity .” And back in 2000, in one of the many Internet-related books I was writing at the time, I introduced the concept of the “IP-chip”—a visionary idea of a computer microchip with built-in Internet capabilities, designed to enable seamless global communication between everyday devices.
Even so, it’s going to happen, My original predictions suggested that these devices would possess a degree of “intelligence ,” but I didn’t anticipate the massive acceleration of all trends related to AI. Thinking about it now, it seems that AI will provide the ” brain ” for this vast network of connected devices, transforming mere connectivity into true ” smartness .” This integration, now referred to as AIoT, enables devices to learn from data, make autonomous decisions, and automate tasks at a scale and speed far beyond what we can do. It allows for real-time data analysis, informed decision-making, and continuous performance improvement by learning from patterns.
Why? These billions of connected IoT devices generate massive amounts of data. This data is being processed by ever more advanced algorithms to create real-time insights, predictive capabilities, and automation. This symbiotic relationship means that as more IoT devices are deployed, they generate more data, which in turn improves AI models, making IoT devices smarter and more valuable, thereby driving further adoption. It’s an acceleration feedback loop.
Read the full pieces on jimcarroll.com:
AI Megatrends - AI In Energy : Connected, Intelligent Energy and Energy SaaS
Decoding Tomorrow: The Way Forward: #9 Auto & Transportation - “A decade from now, the automotive landscape will be dominated by companies that treated 2025’s reality check not as a crisis, but as the greatest competitive opportunity they ever witnessed!”
Decoding Tomorrow: 30 Megatrends - #2 : Ambient Intelligence - ""AI is the invisible architect dissolving computing into the very fabric of our lives.”