At the Panoramai AI Summit, Giorgio Pauletto, Head of Foresight and Innovation at SIG (Services Industriels de Genève), revealed the gap between official AI policies and organizational reality. Drawing on strategic foresight methodology and utility sector experience, he provided frameworks for understanding AI's energy implications and adoption patterns.

The Underground Adoption

Pauletto's most striking revelation challenged conventional AI governance assumptions: « 61% of the people you have in your companies are using AI without telling you ». This statistic suggests that AI adoption has already occurred organically, requiring proactive management rather than restrictive policies. His observation that employees « are keeping the productivity gains for themselves » highlights the stealth transformation occurring across organizations.

Energy Economics Framework

As a utility sector executive, Pauletto provided unique insight into AI's infrastructure implications: « The pricing of AI is going to converge to the price of electricity ». He warned that energy consumption will fundamentally reshape AI economics, not through training costs but massive inference computing requirements. This perspective proves particularly relevant as organizations scale AI deployment.

Foresight Methodology Application

Pauletto positioned AI transformation within broader trend analysis, comparing current innovation levels to the 1992-93 web emergence period. His team uses foresight methodology to anticipate competency evolution, helping SIG project future skill requirements rather than reacting to technological change.

Organizational Response Strategy

Rather than restricting AI use, SIG has trained 400 of 1,700 employees in prompt engineering and applications, creating guidelines through experimentation rather than preemptive regulation. This approach acknowledges reality while building organizational capability systematically.

Democratization Impact

Pauletto highlighted AI's transformative potential for traditionally challenged workers, describing tools helping field technicians generate professional reports from simple notes. This democratizes capabilities previously requiring additional support, suggesting AI's potential for organizational equity advancement.

Future Preparation

His team opened a meditation room alongside AI training, recognizing that technological acceleration requires human grounding: balancing productivity gains with personal reflection and social connection. This holistic approach positions wellbeing as essential to sustainable AI adoption.

Key Achievement: Pauletto demonstrated how foresight methodology can illuminate AI's infrastructure and organizational implications, positioning leaders to manage hidden adoption while preparing for long-term energy and competency transformations.