We are incredibly proud to announce that Lovelytics has been named the 2026 Databricks C&SI Energy & Utilities Partner of the Year at Databricks’ annual Data + AI Summit in San Francisco.
This recognition marks our eighth Databricks Partner of the Year award since 2022, a milestone that continues to support our simple, yet powerful goal of helping turn data and AI investments into enduring advantages for our clients.
We are humbled, energized, and more motivated than ever to keep raising the bar of excellence in the energy sector.
In this blog, we’ll explore what this award means for us, why we think we keep getting recognized, and unpack our “award-winning” accelerators that continue to deliver over $1.5B in value for our Energy & Utilities clients.
Let’s get into it!
What This Award Means
The Databricks Partner of the Year awards are among the most prestigious honors in the data and AI ecosystem. They recognize partners who don’t just implement technology—they deliver measurable, transformational results across reliability, forecasting, and sustainability on the Databricks platform.
Being named the C&SI Energy & Utilities Partner of the Year is an honor we don’t take lightly. It reflects the trust our clients place in us and the work we’ve done together on some of the most important challenges in the industry, like powering energy grids, optimizing energy trading, mitigating wildfire risks, and modernizing aging infrastructure.
These aren’t abstract use cases, they affect millions of people every day.
We’re proud of what our clients have accomplished on the Databricks platform, and we’re grateful to be recognized alongside the work they’ve led.
Our CEO, Scott Love, captured the philosophy that drives everything we do:
“Our success is rooted in the strength of our Databricks partnership and a shared belief in the transformative power of data and AI. Engineering isn’t the product; it’s the engine. By using AI to automate the foundational plumbing, our strategic accelerators ensure every AI investment has a clear, measurable path to profit for our clients. I’m proud of what we’ve built and even more excited for what’s ahead.”
Why Lovelytics Keeps Winning
Five years. Eight awards. 40+ deployments with quantified ROI. Lovelytics has spent the better part of a decade doing one thing exceptionally well: turning Databricks into real, measurable business value for our clients.
This award isn’t the result of a single milestone, it’s the product of years of compounding work: client success that speaks for itself, AI blueprints (also known as accelerators) purpose-built for the energy industry, and a depth of Databricks experience that’s simply hard to match
Let’s break down each of those reasons in more detail.
Customer Outcomes that Back the Award
Awards mean the most when the results speak for themselves.
Across our Energy & Utilities portfolio, which includes Xcel Energy, FirstEnergy, Devon Energy, Southern Company, Ameren Energy, EDF Trading, and many more, Lovelytics has consistently translated Databricks investments into outcomes that improve grid reliability, reduce operational risk, and unlock significant financial value.
Here are a few of the highlights that helped earn this recognition.
Category-Defining AI Accelerators
Rather than starting every engagement from scratch, Lovelytics has developed a portfolio of battle-tested, production-ready AI accelerators purpose-built for the energy industry:
- Gridlytics — AI-powered grid modernization that helps utilities proactively reduce infrastructure downtime and improve grid reliability.
- Dronelytics — Automated aerial intelligence for AI-driven asset defect detection, replacing costly manual inspections with scalable drone analytics.
- Energylytics — Extended day-ahead energy trading intelligence that unlocks $20M–$80M in incremental margin for energy traders.
- GenAI Migration Accelerator — The ecosystem’s first GenAI-powered migration solution, dramatically reducing the time and cost of platform transitions.
- Veglytics — Uses imagery, LiDAR, and AI to automate encroachment detection and prioritize high-risk pruning.
These aren’t demos. They are customizable, production-deployed solutions delivering real, measurable results at some of the largest energy companies in North America.
Databricks Obsessed
Years ago, we made a deliberate choice: go deep on Databricks rather than wide across every platform. That bet has defined everything about how we work, our methodology, our accelerators, our talent, and the outcomes we’re able to deliver for clients.
In practice, that means one embedded team takes a client from a business problem to an adopted solution, without the handoffs that slow most engagements down. Strategy, implementation, and governance all live under the same roof. And because we’ve built this muscle across 40+ production deployments, we’re able to move 2x faster than the industry average, not by cutting corners, but by knowing exactly what works.
We’re proud that Databricks recognized that commitment with their own investment in Lovelytics, the only pure-play Databricks consulting firm backed by Databricks Ventures. When the people who built the platform choose to invest in your firm, it’s a meaningful signal that the work speaks for itself.
Kori O’Brien, SVP of Global Partnerships at Databricks, spoke to what truly differentiates Lovelytics in a crowded market:
“While the industry often gets caught up in the complexity of data engineering, Lovelytics stands out by focusing on the final outcome: production-ready AI that drives measurable value. As a dual winner of our Energy & Utilities and Brickbuilder Partner of the Year awards, Lovelytics has built an exceptional track record, now five years strong, with high-impact, repeatable AI accelerators. They are helping our joint customers move incredibly fast, turning massive datasets into clear business impact.”
AI Outcomes Lovelytics Delivers for Energy & Utility Leaders
The energy sector doesn’t have a shortage of data, it has a shortage of data that’s unified, governed, and actually driving decisions. Fragmented systems, legacy infrastructure, and AI initiatives that never make it past the pilot stage are the norm. We built our entire E&U practice to solve exactly that. Here’s what that looks like in practice.
Unify Every Data Source Into a Single Source of Truth
Most energy companies are operating with critical data scattered across GIS, OMS, ERP, SCADA, and a dozen other systems that don’t talk to each other. We migrate and unify these disparate sources onto Databricks, giving your entire organization a governed, reliable foundation for analytics and AI— in months, not years. The result: faster decisions, less duplicated work, and a platform your teams can actually trust.
Our clients typically see 30%+ efficiency gains just from eliminating the friction of fragmented data alone.
Escape AI Pilot Purgatory and Deploy Production-Grade AI
Nobody wants another proof-of-concept that gathers dust. Lovelytics starts with battle-tested, high-ROI AI use cases purpose-built for energy and utilities, wildfire risk modeling, asset defect detection, vegetation management, crew scheduling optimization, use cases where the business value is proven and the path to production is clear. We move fast, we build right, and we govern from day one.
The cumulative result across our E&U client portfolio speaks for itself: over $1.5 billion in total business value delivered.
End Reactive Maintenance Before the Next Outage Happens
The costliest infrastructure failures are the ones you didn’t see coming. Using predictive analytics on Databricks, we help utilities identify failing transformers, encroaching vegetation, and other grid threats before they trigger an outage, shifting teams from reactive firefighting to proactive asset management.
Our clients see up to 40% faster defect detection, giving operations teams the lead time they need to act before the lights go out.
What’s Next
This recognition is a milestone, but it’s not the finish line. Lovelytics is committed to continuing to innovate, expand our accelerator portfolio, and deepen our expertise in Energy & Utilities and beyond. With nearly tripling pipeline year-over-year in the energy sector alone, the momentum is real, and we’re just getting started.
If you’re attending the Data + AI Summit in San Francisco, June 15–18, we’d love to connect. Visit us at Booth #421 to meet our industry experts and see live demonstrations of our award-winning solutions, including Gridlytics, Dronelytics, and Energylytics.
Five Years. Eight Awards. $1.5B in Client Value. See What Lovelytics can do for your grid.
FAQ section
Q: What is Databrick’s C&SI Energy and Utilities Partner of the Year?
A. The Databricks C&SI (Consulting & Systems Integrator) Energy and Utilities Partner of the Year is an annual award given by Databricks to recognize the partner that has demonstrated the greatest impact in the Energy & Utilities industry. It honors partners who go beyond implementation to drive measurable, transformational business outcomes for their clients on the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform, across areas like grid modernization, predictive maintenance, energy trading, and operational AI.
Q: How many years in a row has Lovelytics received a “Partner of the Year” award from Databricks?
A. Lovelytics has received a Databricks Partner of the Year award every year since 2022 — earning eight total awards over five consecutive years. The 2026 C&SI Energy & Utilities Partner of the Year and Brickbuilder Partner of the Year marks our latest recognition in that streak.
