Ignition Partners is a B2B growth partner for energy, climate-tech, consulting and technology companies. It brings outsourced sales and marketing under one roof: data-led outbound, telesales, account-based marketing, digital advertising and brand positioning, backed by more than 20 years of lead-generation experience.

In energy, Ignition Partners works across the value chain, from supply to metering and data services. Its Thought Leadership as a Service offer combines editorial strategy, interviews with subject-matter experts, content production and regulatory and technical checks, so that what clients publish holds up in a sector where accuracy matters.

Ignition Partners also publishes Talking Utilities, a business intelligence platform for the commercial community in UK energy and utilities. Its Expert Voices series features interviews filmed at Future of Utilities events.

Software is Infrastructure: a series at Smart Energy 2026

At Future of Utilities: Smart Energy 2026 in London, Ignition Partners and Future of Utilities are filming a series of one-to-one interviews on the theme Software is Infrastructure.

The energy system now runs on code as much as on copper. Grid flexibility, customer billing, asset management and trading all depend on software that has to be as reliable as the physical networks it supports. That raises hard questions about how software is bought, built and trusted, and whether the SaaS model still fits regulated, safety-critical environments.

Joanne Smalley of Ignition Partners will interview senior leaders in a studio space on the exhibition floor. Topics include:

• Resilience and accountability: who owns the risk when critical software fails
• Build, buy or partner: how utilities are rethinking relationships with technology vendors
• The future of SaaS: what replaces it, or what it needs to become
• AI: whether it speeds up delivery or rewrites the rules
• Data and interoperability: the plumbing behind a smarter grid

Edited answers will be shared on Future of Utilities, Ignition Partners and Talking Utilities channels and will feed into a written piece arguing that software is infrastructure.

Previous interview series with Future of Utilities

Future of Utilities Summit 2026, London. Read our event wrap-up, Who pays for tomorrow? Affordability and investment dominate Future of Utilities Summit, or watch the Expert Voices interviews published on Talking Utilities:

• David Watson, BFY Group: watch the interview
• Freddie Baker, Centrica: watch the interview
• Jonathan Morris, Head of Future Energy and Water Systems, Tower Hamlets Council: watch the interview
• Kate Mulvany, Cornwall Insight: watch the interview
• Sean Layerle, Baalbek Insights: watch the interview
• Lennart van Walsum, Global Solar Council: watch the interview

Energy Transition Summit 2026, Amsterdam. Six conversations with Avrille Palha of the European Investment Bank, Alberto Oguara of Climate-KIC, Simon Banham of the UK Department for Business and Trade, Aarth Saraph of the UN Environment Programme, Tim van Amstel of E.ON One and Sara Brooks of Kaluza, covering energy security, grid investment, investor risk, customer flexibility and AI. Read what six conversations told us and our event wrap-up, What Happened at Energy Transition Summit 2026, or watch individual interviews:

• Simon Banham, UK Department for Business and Trade: watch the interview
• Aarth Saraph, UN Environment Programme: watch the interview
• Tim van Amstel, E.ON One: watch the interview

Smart Energy 2025, London. Creating the energy transition from scratch – “If you wanted to get there, you wouldn’t start from here”: read the write up or watch the interviews filmed onsite at Smart Energy 2025:

• Simon Weiher, Head of Group Innovation, Axpo Group: watch the interview
• Catherine Vama, Global Sales Director, Kraken: watch the interview
• Will Ephraim, Head of Sales, Eliq: watch the interview
• Sean Layerle, Managing Partner, Baalbek Insights: watch the interview
• Christoph Bernkopf, Co-Founder and CEO, Podero: watch the interview
• Mark Hewett, Grid and Water Lead, BFY: watch the interview
• Magnus Cormack, Data and AI Expert: watch the interview
• Mark Coyle, Good Energy: watch the interview

The full conversations are on the Ignition Energy Insights YouTube channel.

Find out more

• Ignition Partners website
• Thought Leadership as a Service
• Ignition Energy Insights
• Talking Utilities Expert Voices