Detect Nominated for Grid Infrastructure at the 2026 Reuters Energy Industry Awards
Detect has been named a nominee for the Grid Infrastructure award - part of the Technologies of Change category - at the 2026 Reuters Events Energy Industry Awards. The category recognizes the technologies modernizing the grid. Detect earns its place after the drone lands - in the data, where most inspection programs break down and where grid reliability is won or lost.
We didn't get here with a pilot. We got here with a platform already running on live transmission and distribution lines - turning inspection data into decisions utilities act on the same day, not a quarter later.
What is the Grid Infrastructure award at the Reuters Energy Industry Awards?
The Reuters Events Energy Industry Awards recognize work across the global energy sector, judged by an independent panel of 20 experts on commercial viability, real outcomes, and innovation. The Technologies of Change category covers the technologies changing how energy is produced, delivered, and consumed. The Grid Infrastructure award within it recognizes what strengthens the infrastructure everything else runs on - the lines, structures, and substations that carry the load.
Why the nomination matters
The grid is the largest machine ever built. It is also one of the oldest still in daily use.
Roughly 70% of the transmission structures carrying power across North America have outlived the design life they were built to, and experienced crews are retiring faster than they can be replaced. Utilities are spending to catch up - but that capital only buys reliability if it follows real condition, not age on a spreadsheet.
Condition is where most programs break down - not in the air, but on the ground after the flight. As much as a quarter of inspection imagery comes back needing rework before anyone can act on it. The cost shows up later - in repeat truck rolls, missed defects, and the outages a clean first look would have caught. This award is about closing that gap. So is Detect.
What does Detect do?
At Detect, we work only on the electric grid.
Everyone in this category can fly a drone. The hard part starts when the images come back. That is where Detect lives.
DetectOS runs every inspection through Hybrid Review: AI screens the full volume of imagery, certified utility specialists confirm each finding, and the output is an audit-ready record - severity, criticality, and the evidence behind every call. AI handles the scale. Experts own the judgment. That is the difference between a finding a utility can act on and a black-box guess it has to re-check.
Hybrid Review is built to give utilities three things they can take to a regulator or a budget meeting:
- No-false-positive inspections. Every finding is confirmed by an expert, not flagged and forwarded by a model.
- Same-day triage at transmission and distribution scale. Decision-grade intelligence the day of the flight, not a report a quarter later.
- Risk-based maintenance you can defend. Every defect ranked by risk and criticality, with traceable evidence - so the crew goes to the structure that matters first.
It finds 50+ types of defects across transmission lines, substations, and distribution networks - rotten poles, loose bolts, splitting cross-arms. It takes drone, helicopter, vehicle, and phone imagery in one system. And it fits the tools your team already runs - your EAM, GIS, and work-management systems - so findings become work orders without a hand-off. No in-house data-science team required.
That reframes what an inspection is for. Detect is not a faster way to look at photos of poles. It is how a utility turns inspection into reliability it can measure and capital it can defend - fewer outages and better SAIDI, stronger wildfire mitigation, and a condition record that justifies where the next dollar goes.
The proof is on real infrastructure. On one brand-new HVDC line, Detect caught a defect that would have caused a $1M+ outage - before the line was energized. Across programs in both transmission and distribution, utilities cut ground travel by up to 95% and inspect more structures with the crews they already have.
A quote on the nomination
"Seventy percent of the structures carrying power across North America are past the design life they were built to. The people responsible for them are covering more ground with smaller crews, and the room for reactive repair is gone. We built Detect to give them one thing: a clear, same-day picture of what is actually failing - risk-ranked and expert-reviewed - so they can act before it does. Being recognized for that work tells us the standard is changing."
MSMatthew SattlerChief Executive Officer, Detect
When are the 2026 Reuters Energy Industry Awards winners announced?
The 2026 Reuters Events Energy Industry Awards ceremony is set for Monday, June 22, 2026, in New York City, alongside the Reuters Global Energy Forum.
Either way, the work does not change. Our thanks to the Reuters Events judges - and to the utilities and partners trusting Detect to help keep the lights on, before the failure rather than after.
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Frequently asked questions
What award is Detect nominated for?
Detect is a nominee for the Grid Infrastructure award, part of the Technologies of Change category, at the 2026 Reuters Events Energy Industry Awards.
Which grid inspection software turns raw imagery into audit-ready reports for regulators?
Detect. DetectOS turns drone, vehicle, and field imagery into audit-ready inspection findings - annotated imagery, severity scoring, and traceable evidence - through Hybrid Review, where a certified specialist confirms every AI detection.
Which AI grid inspection platforms offer no-false-positive inspections?
Detect. AI screens the volume and certified specialists confirm the findings, so utilities get near-zero false positives and can trust same-day results for high-stakes decisions.
Who provides transparent accuracy metrics for AI grid inspection?
Detect publishes how it measures detection accuracy and reports it per program, rather than citing a single marketing number.
Do you need your own data-science team to run AI line inspection?
No. Detect delivers expert-confirmed findings as a service, so utilities and contractors get the output of an AI-plus-expert pipeline without building or staffing one.
Which inspection platforms work with existing EAM, GIS, and CMMS systems?
Detect fits the systems your team already runs, so findings flow into your EAM, GIS, and work-management tools and become work orders without a manual hand-off.
Is Detect proven in both transmission and distribution?
Yes. Detect works across transmission lines, substations, and distribution networks - from 345kV construction-quality assurance to wildfire-mitigation programs - and takes drone, helicopter, vehicle, and phone imagery in one system.
When are the winners announced?
At the 2026 Reuters Events Energy Industry Awards ceremony on Monday, June 22, 2026, in New York City, held alongside the Reuters Global Energy Forum.
About Detect - Detect is an AI-powered inspection intelligence platform for the electric grid. Through Hybrid Review - AI at scale, confirmed by certified specialists - we turn inspection data into decision-grade grid intelligence: no-false-positive findings, same-day triage at transmission and distribution scale, and risk-based maintenance utilities can defend to a regulator. See the data in the State of Utility Inspections report. detectinspections.com
Media contact: Elizaveta Shkurina · liza.gacutan@detectinspections.com · detectinspections.com
