As the world grapples with intensifying climate extremes and rapid urbanization, cities are confronted with a critical challenge: developing infrastructure that can withstand shocks, operate sustainably, and remain maintainable over time. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a game-changing force in this endeavor, enabling city leaders to predict risks, optimize resources, and make informed decisions that safeguard communities and the environment.
At Microsoft, we are committed to collaborating with governments and innovators worldwide to advance AI-powered infrastructure. The latest Smart Cities World Trend Report, developed in partnership with Microsoft, highlights the shift of cities from reactive planning to proactive resilience, leveraging AI to anticipate, adapt, and respond to challenges.
Moving from Prediction to Preparedness in Jakarta’s Flood Management
In Jakarta, Indonesia, flooding has long posed a significant threat to the city’s residents. The Jakarta Smart City program, in collaboration with SAS,1 has deployed an AI-powered analytics platform that forecasts flood risks up to six hours in advance. By integrating data from rainfall sensors, river gauges, and weather services, the system enables authorities to take proactive measures, including closing floodgates, activating pumps, and issuing alerts through the JAKI app before disaster strikes.
This transition from reactive to preventive action exemplifies the potential of AI in strengthening resilience. As Hannah Prior, Climate Resilience Lead for Microsoft’s Worldwide Public Sector, notes:
“We are entering an era where we can no longer predict with certainty what will happen next… In the past, city planners would have planned for a one-in-100-year flood. However, such events have become more common and, therefore, more challenging to plan for.”
Enhancing Operations with AI: Evergy’s Utility Transformation
In the United States, Evergy, a public utility serving 1.7 million customers across Kansas and Missouri, has adopted AI and automation to transform its operations. Utilizing Microsoft Power Platform, Evergy has developed over 275 automation solutions, saving more than 120,000 hours annually. From drone image processing for power line inspections to intelligent data extraction for inventory management, AI is enhancing Evergy’s efficiency, reducing errors, and bolstering resilience across its energy infrastructure.
These innovations not only streamline internal processes but also support Evergy’s transition to cleaner energy generation, ensuring workforce adaptability and operational continuity in a rapidly evolving energy landscape.
Strengthening Water Resilience for Future Challenges
In southern France, the Société du Canal de Provence (SCP) is addressing water stress through its REImu program, an intelligent water network initiative powered by Microsoft Azure technologies. By integrating IoT sensors, smart meters, and big data platforms, SCP can monitor consumption, detect leaks, and forecast demand across a 6,000-kilometer distribution network. The system also combines meteorological and agricultural data to provide adaptive irrigation advice and enhance drought preparedness.
The next phase will utilize AI to refine consumption forecasts and detect inefficiencies automatically, transforming water networks into climate-resilient, data-driven systems.
Adopting a System-of-Systems Approach to Plan for Uncertainty
Beyond individual use cases, cities are beginning to adopt a system-of-systems approach, integrating data across water, energy, transport, and environmental domains to model complex interactions and plan dynamically. Platforms like Sentient Hubs in Australia exemplify this shift, enabling near real-time scenario planning and collaborative decision-making.
“It’s really about moving from a static, five-year flood plan sitting in a PDF on a shelf to a dynamic, living plan that exists as a digital platform… People can access it at any time to understand, in near real-time, what’s happening across their systems.”
—Hannah Prior, Climate Resilience Lead for Microsoft’s Worldwide Public Sector
This approach transforms resilience planning into an active, adaptive process, one that evolves with every new dataset and empowers cities to respond to uncertainty with confidence.
Advancing Sustainability and Efficiency through AI
AI’s value extends beyond resilience; it also helps cities achieve sustainability goals. In Munich, Germany, the municipal utility Stadtwerke München uses Microsoft Azure IoT and Azure AI to optimize electric bus operations, forecast energy demand, and reduce waste. Ninety percent of Munich’s electricity already comes from renewable sources, and AI is helping the city move closer to full carbon neutrality.
In Singapore, the Smart P.U.B. initiative uses thousands of sensors and AI analytics to detect leaks and optimize water distribution, achieving 5% water savings and near-zero pipe bursts.2 These examples demonstrate how AI can reduce emissions, conserve resources, and improve service delivery.
Building Responsible, Inclusive Infrastructure for All
As cities scale AI-powered infrastructure, governance and fairness must remain central. Seattle’s 2025–2026 AI Plan sets a benchmark for responsible deployment, grounded in principles of innovation, accountability, fairness, and transparency.3 The plan mandates human oversight, bans harmful applications, and introduces a Proof of Value Framework to assess AI projects for responsible impact.
Used responsibly, AI can democratize resilience, making forecasting affordable and accessible, reducing bias in decision-making, and ensuring that infrastructure serves all communities equitably.
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The journey toward resilient, sustainable infrastructure is underway, and AI is at the heart of it. From Jakarta to Kansas City, from Provence to Munich, cities are demonstrating what’s possible when technology meets purpose.
To learn more about how Microsoft and our partners are helping cities build future-ready infrastructure, join us at the 2025 Smart City Expo World Congress. Discover the latest innovations, connect with global leaders, and explore how AI can help your city thrive amid uncertainty.
1 https://www.sas.com/sas/partners.html
3 Seattle launches responsible AI implementation plan – Smart Cities World, September 25, 2025
As the Transportation and Urban Infrastructure lead in Microsoft’s Worldwide Government industry group, Doug Priest helps cities and other government agencies forge new solutions to important challenges through technology.
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