Interview: National Gas, UK IT Industry Awards finalist

'Energy and technology have converged rapidly’

We talk to Sridharan Govindarajan of National Gas to find out more about the company's biggest challenges and achievements over the past year.

The UK IT Industry Awards are the largest and most well-known event in the technology industry calendar. Owned and operated by Computing and BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, the awards enjoy an unmatched level of professionalism and industry knowledge.

This year's winners were announced at a live awards ceremony on Wednesday 12^th November in London, and National Gas was a finalist in six categories.

Before the awards we talked to Sridharan Govindarajan, Lead Engineer in Technology Engineering at National Gas, to find out more about the company's biggest challenges and achievements over the past year.

Sridharan (Sri) has over 16 years of experience delivering technology solutions across energy, banking, telecom and healthcare. His expertise spans Azure DevOps, Power Platform, Copilot agentic AI and enterprise automation. Sri has led innovations in test automation, cloud cost optimisation and AI-driven dashboards, driving measurable impact and operational excellence.

Passionate about engineering transformation, Sri combines deep technical knowledge with a collaborative mindset to build scalable, future-ready solutions that align with strategic business goals.

Why do you think awards like the UK IT Industry Awards matter?

Awards like this inspire professionals like me to push boundaries and set new standards. In addition to being a symbol for recognition of excellence and boosting motivation and morale, it enhances credibility, fosters collaboration by bringing together leaders & innovators, and encourages continued excellence and innovation.

What would winning this award mean to your company?

Winning this award would highlight National Gas's engineering transformation towards a future-ready energy system and affirm our commitment to innovation through AI and automation to support the UK's net zero goals. It would boost morale, recognise our team's technical excellence and encourage continued progress and investment in future energy engineers.

What would you say is your company's proudest achievement over the past year?

Our proudest achievement has been the successful delivery of IT transformative solutions when we separated from National Grid. The cloud technology first approach not only improved efficiency across overall IT estate of applications but also future proofed our IT enablement with scale and speed for organisational expansion.

What have been the biggest challenges of 2025 so far and how have you overcome them? How have your people helped with that?

The biggest challenges of 2025 have centred around adapting to rapid technological change, delivering quick outcomes through automation and diving into AI-led journey using tools like Copilot AI. I overcame these hurdles by converting IT challenges to opportunities, investing in upskilling and leveraging my engineering expertise to implement fast and near solutions. Leaders in my team are real enablers who not only provided the best of opportunities but also stood with me in every complex situation to make me successful.

How do you think the industry has changed over the past year and what changes do you think it still needs to make?

This year, energy and technology have converged rapidly. The energy sector is advancing clean hydrogen, carbon reduction, and digital infrastructure, while technology pushes AI and automation. At National Gas, we've delivered cloud platforms, scaled Copilot AI and introduced hydrogen-ready systems. To keep progress fair and future-proof, the industry must prioritise grid flexibility ethical AI, and inclusive talent growth.

What do you see as the main opportunities for the industry in the coming year? How do you plan to capitalise on those opportunities?

The energy industry is poised for rapid progress in 2026, especially in clean hydrogen, smart infrastructure and digitalisation. With government funding and regulatory support aligned with Net Zero targets, there's a drive to modernise systems and adopt AI and renewables efficiently. I aim to leverage agentic AI, low-code platforms and new technologies to improve decisions, optimise assets, and foster innovation within cross-functional teams.