Real-Time Visibility Across Six States: How KYRO Supported Oversight on Duke Energy’s Capital Program | KYRO Case Study

When your oversight staff are spread across multiple states, inconsistent reporting is the same as no reporting at all. Twenty people sending updates in twenty different formats from six different states gives leadership noise, not a picture. The utility needs one format, one system, and one escalation path to get a consistent view of what is happening across its program.  

Duke Energy expanded its distribution capital program to improve reliability across a six-state service area. Twenty dedicated oversight personnel were recruited, trained remotely, and deployed across Duke's regions. They used KYRO AI as their system of record for daily field reports, issue documentation, final inspections, and safety observations. Duke accepted the team's KYRO AI workflows and received their reports and updates in real time.

The Challenge

Duke Energy's electric utilities serve 8.7 million customers across North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. As the utility expanded its distribution investment to improve reliability, it needed personnel for project scheduling, contractor supervision, quality assurance, safety oversight, and progress documentation.

The core problem was consistency. Duke's service area is incredibly widespread. Finding the right oversight professionals and getting the same quality of information from all of them was difficult. Twenty staff members spread across six states reporting in different ways would leave leadership with an incomplete picture.

How KYRO AI Was Used

KYRO AI served as the oversight team's primary system of record. Duke accepted the team's KYRO AI workflows and received all reports and updates directly.

• Real-Time Reporting: Staff reported progress, issues, and milestones in KYRO AI in real time instead of waiting until the end of the day. Duke stakeholders received the updates exactly as they happened.

• Standardized Daily Reports: Daily field reports came back from every site in the exact same format, regardless of which state the site was in.

• Issue Documentation and Escalation: Issues requiring Duke's action were documented directly in KYRO AI and escalated from the inspector to supervisors and Duke engineering.

• Shareable Moments: Safety observations, including potential client-side incidents, were shared seamlessly across the entire oversight team.

• Remote Onboarding: Twenty oversight staff were recruited and deployed across Duke's regions. All required training was completed remotely through an online learning management system.

• Role-based access: Field staff and supervisors each see what their role needs, and Duke receives the updates and reports.

Gastonia, North Carolina: A Failing Pole Caught Before Work Began

During a pre-construction site visit in Gastonia, a Senior Construction Manager found a double dead-end pole with badly deteriorated crossarms. One arm was split so severely that the switch it carried was hanging loose. This created a high risk of structural failure, a dropped switch, an unplanned outage, and severe danger to nearby crews.

The manager used KYRO Ai’s reporting tools, documented photographs, used redlining capabilities and escalated the issue to the project engineer immediately.  KYRO’s field to office reporting capabilities ensured the structure was urgently added to the replacement queue and documented the condition so Duke could prioritize it in their asset planning system. Duke's engineering team fast-tracked the pole changeout before any work started or any outage occurred.

The Result

• Duke successfully expanded its distribution capital program while improving reliability, effectively managing projects across a highly dispersed service area.

• 20 oversight staff were deployed, trained remotely, and reported the exact same way in every single state.

• Duke gained much better project visibility, allowing them to make fast decisions and resolve issues before they escalated.

• In Gastonia, a failing structure was replaced before any work began, resulting in zero outages and zero safety incidents.

Why This Matters for Utilities

When a capital program spans multiple states and dozens of sites, the biggest risk is losing visibility into how the work is progressing. KYRO AI gave Duke's oversight team one unified system of record for daily reports, issue documentation, safety observations, and inspections across all six states.

The result was a consistent, real-time picture that Duke's stakeholders could act on immediately. They no longer had to wait for end-of-day summaries arriving in different formats from different locations.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How does KYRO handle issue escalation from field to engineering?

When an inspector finds a problem on site, they document it in KYRO with the relevant details. Issues can be escalated from the inspector to supervisors and engineering through the platform. The utility receives documented issues with specifics, not verbal summaries.

Can KYRO standardize reporting across multiple states or regions?

Yes. KYRO provides one format for daily field reports regardless of location. In this engagement, 20 oversight staff across six states all reported in the same format. The utility received a consistent picture rather than different formats from different regions.

How does KYRO support safety documentation in the field?

KYRO includes safety and compliance forms for pre-job briefings, tailgate meetings, and incident reports. All safety data is GPS-tagged and timestamped. The platform also supports FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse checks, SAMHSA-certified drug testing documentation, motor vehicle reports with automated renewal, and credential expiry alerts at 60, 30, and 7 days.

Does KYRO work on mobile devices in the field?

Yes. KYRO runs on mobile devices even when offline. Field teams can capture data, submit reports, and upload documents even in areas without a cellular signal. Work is submitted once they are back in range.

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