More than providing electricity and water, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) enhances the lifestyle of over 1.2 million customers through innovative technology. DEWA has always been an early adopter of technology, creating customer-focused solutions like the High-Water Usage Alert, which notifies customers of unusual consumption to help them detect leakages in water connections. In early 2024, DEWA introduced Copilot for Microsoft 365 to enhance internal operations. DEWA achieved a remarkable improvement in productivity, reducing task completion time from days to mere hours. Customer happiness remains consistently at 98%, while internal efficiency continues to soar, demonstrating Dubai’s leadership in modernizing the most fundamental services.
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is providing sustainable, efficient, and reliable power and water services to Dubai’s residents. With a workforce of over 10,000 employees, DEWA manages the entire chain of electricity and water, from production to distribution.
DEWA is constantly looking to simplify the lives of Dubai residents. Marwan Bin Haidar, Executive Vice President of Innovation and the Future at DEWA, echoes Leonardo Da Vinci’s sentiment, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. We embody this by leveraging cutting-edge technologies."
Digitalizing services for better experiences
A crucial part of this mission is creating a cultural shift within its workforce and its citizens. “Today, we have successfully encouraged them to embrace this digitalization. We are one of the world’s first leading utility providers to embrace these kinds of digital enablement even internally, like digital twins of our generators and transmission central lines. Using the most advanced technologies helped us achieve the lowest customer minutes lost (CML) in the world, of just 1.06 minutes per customer yearly. This exceptionally low service interruption demonstrates our commitment to providing reliable and uninterrupted services to our customers,” says Marwan Bin Haidar.
In DEWA’s journey towards technology-driven excellence, its strategic initiatives and commitment to innovation are evident. As a long-time partner, Microsoft has supported DEWA’s vision, particularly in projects involving AI, helping to further enhance its capabilities. One of the first such projects was the Business Requirement Document (BRD) Generator. "Using Azure AI Services, we enable our employees to generate documents easily and swiftly by entering minimal information. The BRD Generator creates the document with required information and the list of requirements for each document is stored in the system. A person might not know everything needed for each document, but an AI algorithm, trained on 500 billion parameters, will highlight any gap," remarks Abdulla Aljaziri, Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, of Innovation and the Future at DEWA. “With the Azure-powered Business Requirement Document Generator, what used to take a week can now be done in one day, including reviews.”
“With the Azure-powered Business Requirement Document Generator, what used to take a week can now be done in one day, including reviews.”
Abdulla Aljaziri, Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, Innovation and the Future, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)
Empowering customers with AI-powered alerts and tools
Another significant innovation is the chatbot, Rammas. DEWA was the first government utility to introduce a chatbot based on Microsoft AI technology in 2017. Since then, Rammas has responded to over 9.2 million customer inquiries autonomously. “When Microsoft launched Azure OpenAI Service, we quickly integrated it into our chatbot. This increased the chatbot’s accuracy and resulted in more human-like customer interactions,” shares Aljaziri.
“With Azure OpenAI Services, we can carry out complex data analysis quickly and use those insights to improve our customers’ experience.” All these changes didn’t go unnoticed; DEWA achieved 98% of Dubai Government’s Instant Happiness Index, which is managed by Dubai Digital Authority.
Boosting productivity with Copilot
To further enhance its operations, DEWA adopted Copilot for Microsoft 365, improving productivity across the organization. "We wanted to do more with less, and the best way to achieve that was to integrate intelligent solutions into the tools we've been using for years," Marwan Bin Haidar recalls. DEWA began by selecting champions from various departments to test Copilot. Once the benefits were clear, it started rolling Copilot out in phases across the organization. Al Jaziri explains, "We began with 1,000 licenses, slowly training senior managers, directors, and EVPs, and gathering feedback. People quickly realized that Copilot enabled them to do more quality work with less effort." This methodical approach ensured smooth adoption and growing demand across DEWA employees.
Employees found Copilot to be a game-changer in their daily tasks. Marwan Bin Haidar states, "With Copilot for Microsoft 365, we saw a remarkable improvement in productivity." Copilot makes everything easy, from summarizing meetings and emails to giving out assignments. “It’s all integrated. I also don’t need to manually search for anything; everything is in one place,” Marwan Bin Haidar shares. “I like to remind people that Microsoft named it Copilot: we’re the pilot and the tool is simply helping us do what we do."
“With Copilot for Microsoft 365, we saw a remarkable improvement in productivity. It’s all integrated. I also don’t need to manually search for anything; everything is in one place.”
Marwan Bin Haidar, Executive Vice President, Innovation and the Future, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)
Copilot has proven itself especially invaluable during research. ”Previously, researchers had to scour numerous sources and large documents. Now, they can simulate a conversation with the document's author. They can ask questions and get concise bullet points. Furthermore, they appreciate how Copilot can follow their writing style, such as for requests for proposals. It ensures everything is covered with a focus on quality,” adds Marwan Bin Haidar.
Vision for the future
Looking ahead, DEWA plans to continue pushing the boundaries of technology, including analyzing turbine generation data with Copilot in Power BI for faster analytics and easier data processing. Additionally, DEWA is exploring the introduction of voice chat for customers, instead of keyboard-based interactions, further enhancing the user experience. Marwan Bin Haidar adds, "We have a list of more than 85 AI use cases: we are taking it step by step to ensure successful implementation before scaling it across the entire organization. Our ambitious plans drive us to continually embrace the latest and best solutions, ensuring we remain at the forefront of innovation."
Follow Microsoft