Itron, Inc. reported an expanded strategic collaboration with Microsoft that the company says is intended to accelerate AI-driven capabilities for utility customers. Shares of Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) moved higher, climbing about 5% after the company disclosed the extension of the partnership.
At the center of the announcement is the new Itron Intelligent Edge Operating System (IEOS) Connector for Microsoft 365 Copilot. Itron described the connector as a tool that will let utilities employ natural language queries to retrieve information from Itron’s management systems. The company said this integration should make it easier for utilities to locate data on consumption patterns, outage history and other operational details.
Beyond the connector, Itron said the collaboration will prioritize the integration of advanced AI solutions targeted at several utility use cases: predictive maintenance, demand forecasting and grid optimization. Itron also confirmed that its solutions will be made available through the Microsoft Marketplace to simplify procurement and access for utilities and potential partners.
Don Reeves, senior vice president of Outcomes at Itron, framed the work as a response to pressures facing utilities. "Utilities are under increasing pressure to modernize infrastructure, reduce operational costs and improve reliability. By building on our established relationship, we are delivering new AI capabilities that help utilities address these challenges head on," Reeves said.
The companies plan to present their joint work at the DTECH conference in San Diego, scheduled for February 2-5, 2026. Itron said the initiative is aimed at helping utilities boost efficiency and resilience while improving customer engagement through AI-enabled capabilities at the grid edge.
While the announcement attaches capabilities and channel availability to the Microsoft ecosystem, the company did not provide detailed rollout timelines, specific performance metrics for the AI features or commercial terms in this release. The stock reaction followed the product and partnership news.