Detect Named Top Grid Asset Management Provider 2025 by Utilities Tech Outlook

Grid asset management isn’t what it used to be. With aging infrastructure, unpredictable weather, and resource-constrained teams, utilities are under pressure to do more—with less—and do it faster.

That’s why Utilities Tech Outlook has named Detect Technologies a Top Asset Management Solutions Provider for 2025, recognizing the field impact of DetectOS—our AI-powered inspection and analytics platform that helps utilities move from reactive maintenance to real-time awareness.

Utilities are reassessing how inspections get done

For many operators, inspections still follow time-based schedules, including flyovers, ground patrols, and visual logs reviewed days, weeks, or even months later.

These methods—and the time between capture and review—make this a slow, manual process, often missing emerging issues until they escalate.

DetectOS helps utility teams break that cycle by analyzing captured footage as early as the same day, enabling fast, autonomous detection of high-risk asset conditions. This shorter turnaround time means inspections can be translated into action that much quicker.

DetectOS is built for how Utilities actually work

DetectOS utilizes custom-built AI, trained on transmission and distribution defect patterns, accurate utility network coordinates, and critical third-party attachments (such as telecom equipment), to synthesize and process drone and ground-based imagery. 

DetectOS can identify a wide range of issues, including but not limited to:

• Structural fatigue and metal degradation

• Bolt corrosion or missing hardware

• Vegetation encroachment before clearance limits are breached

• Weather-driven damage from wind loading or storm stress

“We designed Detect to be the operating system for grid health,” says Matthew Sattler, CEO of Detect. “

It’s always on, always learning, and built to support the way utilities already operate—without adding friction.”

The electric grid can arguably be considered the largest, most complex machine on Earth, and thus requires tools that scale with its scope. DetectOS was built as an operating system to do just that.

Each finding is geo-tagged, linked to the correct structure ID, and ranked by severity so utility teams know exactly where to focus.

DetectOS in the field: a real customer story

In one deployment, a utility used DetectOS to inspect 2,600 towers across mountainous terrain. Over 120,000 images were captured and processed in 25 days. A severely corroded bolt nearing failure was flagged and resolved before it could trigger a week-long outage.

“Utilities aren’t short on data—they’re short on time,” says Sattler.

“Detect helps them act faster, with clarity and control.”

So far, Detect has been deployed across 18,000+ structures at six utilities, identifying over 70 critical asset conditions—many of which would have otherwise gone unnoticed until failure.

Designed for speed and field usability

DetectOS was designed from the ground up as a workflow solution designed to support everyone from asset engineers to field inspectors.

• Flight paths are optimized to reduce time in the air when using drones

• Imagery is auto-tagged, eliminating spreadsheet overhead and manual effort to assure accurate locations.

• Risk triage is built in, so crews focus on what matters

• Structure-level data is delivered fast, with no backlog, no delay

“This does not replace the need for experienced inspectors,” Sattler says.

“Instead, we want to provide them the context and clarity they need to move quickly, safely, and confidently.”

Whether it’s storm response, fire-risk mitigation, or everyday condition assessment, Detect helps utilities operate with more precision and less guesswork.

Next: going from detection to prediction

Today, DetectOS already accelerates how utilities identify and resolve risk. The next evolution involves helping utilities predict which assets are most likely to fail and when that failure might occur. DetectOS goes beyond just prediction. It also guides experts in taking appropriate actions to resolve issues and monitors for potential future problems.

We’re building predictive models that use inspection history, material degradation patterns, and environmental exposure to:

• Forecast time-to-failure

• Recommend proactive maintenance intervals

• Help planners prioritize by true asset risk, not guesswork

“We’re building toward a future where data doesn’t just explain the past,” Sattler says.

“It prevents the next failure before it starts.”

See how DetectOS can transform your asset inspections

This award from Utilities Tech Outlook marks a meaningful moment, but the real value is in what it represents: a shift happening across the industry. Utilities are already struggling to keep up with routine inspections. systems that help proactively make a safer, stronger grid.

“What this [award] really shows,” Sattler adds,

“is that the industry is done waiting for problems to surface. Detect is helping them stay ahead of what’s next.”

Schedule a personalized demo and see for yourself how utilities are identifying 70+ critical conditions before failure, reducing inspection time from weeks to hours.