How the Fulcrum and Slalom partnership brings AI to utility field operations

Utilities looking to put AI to work already hold much of what it needs in their field operations. Asset management, vegetation management, linear construction, and emergency response generate records ranging from inspection findings to proof of work. Getting those records ready for AI has long been a struggle, since they come from separate tools, spreadsheets, and paper forms.

The Fulcrum and Slalom partnership takes on that problem for electric, gas, and water utilities. Fulcrum’s Field Operations Management platform brings that fieldwork together in one place, and every finished job delivers a complete record. Slalom’s AI strategy and delivery experience then turns those records into working AI programs. Below, we look at why the partnership starts with fieldwork, what each company contributes, and how the two will measure the return on AI together.

Why AI makes field data the focus of the Fulcrum and Slalom partnership

Utilities that keep field records in single-task mobile apps, disconnected spreadsheets, and retyped paper forms have long depended on human judgment to hold it all together. A longtime employee can spot a wrong asset ID at a glance, knows which spreadsheet to trust, and fills in missing details from memory. An AI model has none of that institutional knowledge to draw on, so it treats every record it receives as equally reliable. Whatever flaws sit in the data end up shaping each answer and prediction the model produces.

The gaps in those records trace back to how field software gets designed in the first place. Asset management systems, GIS platforms, and the mobile apps attached to them each serve a single office function and record only what that department needs. Safety checks, equipment prep, and follow-up tasks end up with no home at all, leaving AI to work from a partial view of the job.

Fulcrum and Slalom designed their partnership to close those gaps on the job site itself, where field records first take shape.

Reliable field data from the start

Field crews run the entire projects in Fulcrum, so every record the job produces carries five qualities that disconnected field tools leave out.

• Verified on site. Validation rules catch a missing value or an impossible reading while the crew is still on site, so errors get fixed before they reach the database or require a return trip.
• Traceable to its source. Every record carries GPS coordinates, a timestamp, and the identity of the person who submitted it.
• Consistent from crew to crew. Each crew works from the same fields, choice lists, and formats, so one crew’s inspection reads the same way as another’s.
• Complete across the whole job. Asset details, safety checks, materials, photos, and follow-up work all live in the same record, giving AI the full context of each job.
• Free of retyping. Data flows straight from the field into connected systems, so transcription errors never get a chance to creep in.

Each quality comes built into fieldwork by default, so reliable data arrives as a byproduct of the work itself, while field teams get that reliable data without adding a single step to their day.

AI for field crews and the office teams behind them

Fulcrum also brings its own AI to the partnership, putting it to work in the routines of crews and office teams.

In the field

Audio FastFill turns a crew member’s spoken observations into structured entries on the form. A lineworker in heavy gloves or a technician in a cramped vault can record findings without stopping to type, and every entry lands in the same record as the rest of the job.

In the office

Fulcrum Insights lets supervisors and managers ask questions about the field record in plain language. A manager can ask which assets failed inspection last quarter and get an answer drawn from the complete field history, without building a report first.

Building field tools with AI

AI lets utilities extend Fulcrum to fit new field workflows without recreating the disconnected systems that caused the data problem in the first place. A field expert can explain the process a job requires, and AI produces a working app extension inside Fulcrum to match it. Every extension runs on Fulcrum’s existing GIS, offline sync, security model, and permissions, so nobody has to build those pieces from scratch.

Every capability draws on the same record

Audio FastFill, Insights, and every new extension work from the same field record, so crews, managers, and the people building new workflows share one picture of the work. All three also run inside Fulcrum’s security model, so IT keeps control of access and integration while field and office teams put AI to work their own way.

What Slalom builds on a reliable field record

Slalom takes the records Fulcrum captures on every job and turns them into enterprise AI built around each utility’s goals. The earliest projects tackle questions utilities already ask but have struggled to answer with any precision.

Slalom uses installation records that show what went in, where, and when to help a utility locate warranty-eligible components without hunting through old files. The same records show the pace at which each project draws down inventory and where materials go missing or arrive damaged. Slalom then lines up results from one project against another to show a utility which suppliers, sites, or processes need a closer look.

Once a utility has several years of reliable records behind it, Slalom can take on longer-range work. AI can then flag unusual patterns, such as a run of rework in one region that stands out from the rest. 

Predictive models built on the same record can estimate which assets will need maintenance next, so crews reach them before a failure occurs. Records of clearances, tree conditions, and past trimming cycles support the same kind of forecasting for vegetation work. Knowing where growth will threaten lines next helps utilities lower wildfire risk for crews, the public, and the grid.

Measuring what AI delivers for a utility

Every AI project has to earn its place in a utility’s budget, so leaders need a clear way to show what each one will deliver. Utility AI projects run on field data, and getting that data right produces benefits of its own. Records hold up in an audit, and leaders make decisions from accurate figures. However, benefits like those resist a dollar amount, so they drop out of the business case for the AI projects that depend on them.

Slalom already helps organizations rank AI use cases and model their return through its AI Value Platform. Slalom and Fulcrum are building an AI value calculator together to bring the benefits of reliable field data into that kind of business case. The calculator assigns dollar figures to records that hold up in an audit and data accurate enough to guide decisions, so each AI project’s business case reflects everything it delivers.

Utilities working with both companies will use the calculator to prioritize their AI use cases and measure which ones will make the biggest difference. Leaders can then go into budget discussions with a clear picture of what each AI project will return, including the gains that come from reliable field data.

Building utility AI on field data that holds up

The Fulcrum and Slalom partnership strengthens utility AI programs at the source, in the fieldwork every model depends on. Utilities on Fulcrum run asset management, vegetation management, linear construction, and emergency response from the same platform. Crews finish each job with fewer steps, and AI helps them and their office teams along the way. Every finished job also leaves a complete, consistent record, with no stray spreadsheets or paper forms to reconcile. Slalom then turns those records into enterprise AI with a measurable return for each utility.

The benefits grow as more of a utility’s fieldwork moves onto Fulcrum. Other field tools can consolidate onto the same governed platform, leaving IT fewer systems to secure and the business a shorter queue of requests waiting on development. From the first record a crew finished in Fulcrum to the figure that wins budget approval, the partnership covers every step a utility AI program needs.