Iskraemeco India CEO: ERP, AI, and the future of utility leadership

India’s utilities sector are at the frontline of digital transformation. Smart metering, once a tool for basic data collection, is now evolving into a backbone of real-time intelligence, edge analytics, and predictive service management. Behind this shift is a new generation of platforms that integrate hardware, software, and AI to create unified digital ecosystems.

At the centre of this change is Iskraemeco India, embracing a holistic energy digital transformation, powered by rapid growth and bold approach have made India one of its most strategic markets worldwide. By combining meters with cloud-native ERP, embedded AI, and long-term lifecycle management, the company is helping utilities move from fragmented vendor models to cohesive, future-ready platforms.

In this exclusive conversation with Dataquest and CiOL, Madan Mohan Chakraborty, CEO & MD, Iskraemeco India, explains how the company is redefining utility operations, what CIOs can learn from deploying AI-enabled ERP, and why India has become the global growth hub for smart metering innovation. Excerpts.

Smart metering has long been Iskraemeco’s core strength. As digital infrastructure matures in India, how are you evolving your metering solutions—from basic data collection to real-time intelligence and edge analytics?

Iskraemeco’s growth strategy in India is distinct from its global model, shaped by the presence of over 40 established players in the local smart metering ecosystem. To offer differentiated value, we moved beyond a product-centric approach and adopted a comprehensive full-stack solution – comprising metering hardware, an integrated software suite, and long-term lifecycle management over a 10-year period. This model enables utilities to move away from fragmented vendor dependencies and instead adopt a unified, future-ready platform.

Our solution is already trusted by key utilities including BESCOM, MSEDCL, DGVCL, GESCOM, and CESC Kolkata, each of whom benefit from this long-term, integrated engagement. As the digital infrastructure landscape in India matures, we are actively evolving our capabilities from traditional meter reading to real-time intelligence and edge analytics. Our smart kits, for example, are designed to identify and report specific outage points – such as the exact pole requiring attention – enabling faster fault resolution and predictive service management. The roadmap ahead includes consumer-facing tools powered by mobile connectivity and AI, which will deliver actionable consumption insights directly to end users.

Infor is a global partner in your digital transformation journey, but India brings unique scale and complexity. From legacy systems to real-time intelligence—how is Iskraemeco leveraging Infor’s cloud-native ERP to modernise utility operations in India and globally?

At Iskraemeco, our focus has been on replacing fragmented, legacy platforms with a unified, cloud-native digital backbone. Infor’s ERP stood out as the right choice due to its industry-specific architecture, rapid deployment capabilities, and proven ability to scale across complex manufacturing and utility environments.

What set Infor apart was not only the platform itself, but also the domain understanding brought in by their team and implementation partner, Genesis. Their ability to quickly grasp our business model allowed for a smooth transition. We deliberately chose to implement the ERP without customisation – relying on Infor’s built-in best practices, which accelerated the rollout across all modules and ensured internal process alignment.

In India, where our operations are scaling at over 100% annually, the ability to deploy in just 33 days was critical. The system has helped standardise quality checks, streamline production and delivery workflows, and improve visibility across operations. Globally, this consistency is enabling us to replicate success across markets. As we move toward real-time utility intelligence, the cloud-native foundation provided by Infor allows us to integrate emerging technologies – such as AI and IoT – into our operations seamlessly. This modernisation is not just about automation, but about creating an agile, data-driven organisation capable of adapting to utility needs in real time.

Infor positions its platform as “AI-first.” How are you applying embedded AI capabilities—be it invoice processing, predictive maintenance, or demand forecasting?

We see AI as a foundational element in the evolution of our smart metering solutions. While many of these capabilities are still maturing across the industry, we are actively exploring and building use cases around embedded AI – particularly in predictive maintenance, invoice automation, and outage management.

For instance, in the future we envision, AI will be tightly integrated with our billing systems to help consumers receive real-time, data-driven recommendations – such as suggestions on how to reduce their electricity usage based on behavioural patterns. These insights would be delivered via mobile platforms, allowing customers to act instantly. This type of AI-augmented billing is part of our roadmap, and Infor’s platform provides the flexibility and scalability required to support that journey.

In operational contexts, we are developing systems where smart kits can identify the exact location of faults during power outages – such as pinpointing which utility pole needs servicing – enabling proactive maintenance before service degradation occurs. Additionally, we are evaluating the use of AI to streamline invoice processing and correct billing anomalies, especially for large utility accounts.

Infor’s experience in deploying AI across industries has been valuable here. Their platform doesn’t treat AI as an add-on; it’s embedded within workflows. That allows us to move from manual or reactive operations to predictive, insight-led processes, which is essential as we scale both in India and globally.

Can you share how Infor’s plug-and-play approach has influenced your go-to-market speed or partner ecosystem in India’s highly regulated smart metering space?

Infor’s plug-and-play ERP architecture has significantly accelerated our go-to-market efforts, particularly in India’s highly regulated smart metering space. The platform’s pre-configured best practices enabled rapid deployment without customisation, ensuring both compliance and speed.

This success was further highlighted by strong internal alignment – our leadership made a deliberate choice to adapt internal processes to the platform rather than modify the system. This avoided delays, streamlined regulatory reporting, and ensured readiness across varying utility board requirements.

Infor’s collaboration with its implementation partner, Genesis, also played a key role. The seamless coordination between Infor, Genesis, and our internal teams created an agile partner ecosystem that reduced friction, supported faster deployments, and helped us engage more effectively with state utilities and regulators.

Beyond the ERP backbone, what are the most transformative digital tools you see converging with Infor’s stack—whether edge AI, eIoT, or low-code automation?

We see a clear convergence ahead, where ERP systems like Infor’s will increasingly integrate with edge AI, embedded IoT, and low-code automation to create intelligent, responsive operations. This is especially relevant in utility scenarios where time-sensitive data must drive immediate action.

For instance, our smart kits – equipped with sensor technology – are being designed to detect outages in real time and pinpoint exact failure points, such as which pole needs service during a natural disaster. This type of capability, powered by embedded IoT and edge computing, enables decisions to be made closer to the source, reducing downtime and response lag.

At the same time, we see potential in low-code platforms for accelerating process automation across non-technical teams, especially for service configuration, regulatory workflows, and utility reporting.

Infor’s cloud-native ERP provides the ideal digital core for these technologies to plug into. As we scale, the ability to seamlessly layer AI, IoT, and automation on top of a unified data platform will be essential to building the intelligent utility infrastructure of the future.

What lessons have emerged from deploying an AI-enabled ERP in complex, multi-stakeholder environments?

One of the most important lessons we've learned is that success in complex ERP deployments is less about customisation and more about alignment, across leadership, teams, and technology. In our case, resisting the urge to modify the system and instead adopting Infor’s best-practice frameworks was key. It allowed us to stay focused, move faster, and ensure long-term stability across all modules.

In a multi-stakeholder environment – where regulatory bodies, internal departments, and technology partners are all involved – clarity of direction from leadership made all the difference. When the expectation is clear that we align to the system, and not the other way around, it simplifies everything from compliance to team onboarding.

We also saw the value of working with a platform like Infor that embeds AI into core workflows rather than treating it as a bolt-on. This helped us shift from reactive processes to more predictive, insight-led operations – especially in billing, outage detection, and service planning. The result is a system that doesn’t just support growth but actively enables it.

India has emerged as a strategic growth hub for Iskraemeco. Can you walk us through the key focus areas of your India operations—be it R&D, manufacturing, or customer delivery—and how they align with your global mission?

India has become one of our most strategic and fastest-growing markets. What truly helped us stand apart here is our full-stack approach – offering not just smart meters, but also software and long-term management support spanning over 10 years. This has allowed us to build strong, integrated partnerships with utilities, and in just two years, our India order book has overtaken our global numbers.

To support this scale and momentum, our Indian arm became part of Kaynes Technologies, a $4 billion global electronics manufacturing services (EMS) company based out of Mysore. This has given us deep backward integration into PCB, PCBA, and semiconductor components, allowing us to strengthen our manufacturing capabilities in-house. We’re also investing in a silicon fabrication unit and bare board facility in Chennai, which will play a critical role in supporting both domestic and global demand.

At the same time, we’re expanding our R&D and software development capabilities in India, with teams focused on advancing smart metering technology, analytics, and integrated utility solutions tailored to local needs. Together, these efforts align directly with Iskraemeco’s global mission – to deliver intelligent, future-ready, and sustainable metering ecosystems, built on a foundation of local innovation and global expertise.

Looking ahead, how do you see the relationship between ERP systems and AI evolving—do you expect the ERP to remain the digital core, or will it become more invisible, ambient, and experience-driven?

I believe ERP systems will evolve significantly in the next five to six years. A future will come where ERP will merge with hardware – sensors, cameras, and similar tools – and become much more intelligent and context-driven. These systems will track buyer behaviour, such as which products people spend time on and whether that translates into sales. This kind of data, when absorbed and merged into ERP systems, will create completely new kinds of platforms. I think this will lead to a major disruption, and cloud-based ERP companies like Infor will be able to move faster in this space.