From ‘User-Managed Energy’ to ‘Energy Serving Users’: Whither the Next-Generation HEMS?

MUNICH, June 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — In recent years, with the rapid adoption of residential photovoltaics, energy storage, electric vehicles (EVs), and dynamic electricity tariffs, home energy systems are undergoing a significant transformation from device management to energy orchestration. Concurrently, a new wave of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, powered by Large Language Models (LLMs) and Agentic AI, is shaping the future of next-generation Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS).

On June 22, EcoFlow hosted a new product launch event in Munich, officially unveiling its next-generation smart home energy management system – OASIS 3.0. As the central pillar of EcoFlow’s intelligent energy ecosystem, OASIS evolved from the energy management capabilities of the EcoFlow App first released in 2020, before undergoing a systematic upgrade in 2023 to formally establish the OASIS system architecture. Powered by the EcoFlow App – the world’s NO. 1 smart home energy App with 3.4 million users, EcoFlow is shifting the industry focus from device connectivity to deeper user understanding. This marks a new era: moving from user-managed energy to energy that proactively serves the user.

Against this backdrop, EcoFlow concurrently hosted a roundtable forum during the launch event. Representatives from academia, industry, user communities, and corporate technology sectors were invited to discuss Towards a Truly Proactive and Self-Evolving Home Energy System. The forum explored core challenges in home energy management, new opportunities presented by Agentic AI technology, and the future development of smart home energy systems.

The forum’s distinguished panelists included Dr. Anurag Mohapatra, Group Leader at CoSES, Munich Institute of Integrated Materials, Energy and Process Engineering (MEP), Technical University of Munich (TUM); Thomas Haupt, Initiator and Project Manager of the HEMS-Finder research project; Felix Goldbach, a YouTuber, speaker, and podcaster, best known for his channel Money for Future; and Dr. Xiaoke Yang, EcoFlow’s AI Technology Lead. Their perspectives offered comprehensive insights into the evolution of next-generation HEMS.

HEMS: A Major Building Block of the Future Energy System

Before the panel discussion, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Thomas Hamacher, Chair of Renewables and Sustainable Energy Systems and Director of the Munich Institute of Integrated Materials, Energy and Process Engineering (MEP) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), delivered a keynote speech titled “HEMS: A Major Component in a Smarter and More Flexible Power Grid.” He noted that HEMS will become a major building block of future smart grids and power systems. As electricity becomes the central final energy carrier, economic competitiveness, sustainability, and resilience will be key priorities for the future energy system. Future power grids may be organized through a hierarchical structure of “Energy Cells”, ranging from individual devices and households to buildings and districts. Within this structure, HEMS will play an important role in coordinating active energy resources, providing flexibility, and enhancing system resilience. Looking ahead, the future power system could be simpler and more resilient than many expect, with the key challenge being to think simple and focus on real tasks.

From ‘Device Connection’ to ‘User Understanding’: The Real Challenges of HEMS

During the roundtable discussion, panelists highlighted the practical challenges still facing current home energy management systems.

Dr. Anurag Mohapatra noted that device integration and system interoperability remain widespread industry challenges. Despite claims of support for open protocols, compatibility issues between different devices and installation complexity continue to compromise user experience. He further emphasised that there is still a lack of industry benchmarks, making system comparison difficult and preventing clear technical baselines across vendors.

Thomas Haupt offered a market-centric view, noting that the primary concerns in the German home energy system market revolve around device communication capabilities, installation service infrastructure, and cross-system compatibility. He further added that it is often unclear what each system is actually designed to do, making it difficult to compare solutions and effectively transfer knowledge to installers, which in turn led to his initiative, the HEMS Finder project. For most users, a system’s stability, reliability, and ease of installation often outweigh its complex intelligent features.

Felix Goldbach, a content creator and user representative with a long-standing focus on home energy applications, shared observations from a user’s perspective. He emphasized that most users do not want to constantly monitor or adjust systems, and that AI can meaningfully help by keeping interaction simple and minimal.

From a technical standpoint, Dr. Xiaoke Yang observed that many HEMS still suffer from “functional silos”, where prediction, optimisation, and user interaction are fragmented. Furthermore, there is a significant gap between system operation and user understanding. Making system complexity transparent and comprehensible to users remains a major challenge.

From Rule Execution to User Understanding: HEMS Enters the Agentic AI Era

The rapid advancement of AI has frequently brought up discussions about the impact of LLMs and Agentic AI technology on the home energy sector.

Dr. Yang stated that over the past decade, HEMS has evolved from rule-driven to AI-prediction-driven stages. With the rapid advancement of LLMs and Agentic AI, home energy systems are poised to enter a new phase.

In this new phase, systems will no longer merely execute predefined logic and algorithms. Instead, they will comprehend user intentions and dynamically reconfigure functional units. For instance, users could simply express needs like “I’m travelling next week, please minimise electricity costs” or “We’re hosting a party this weekend, prioritise comfort.” The system would then automatically translate these into energy optimisation goals, intelligently coordinate generation, storage, charging, and household loads, and execute the resulting plan after user confirmation.

This “Agentic HEMS”, capable of self-evolving based on user needs, ensures that AI serves user decisions rather than making decisions for them.

This self-evolving approach is also designed to address some fundamental challenges facing modern home energy systems, including fragmented device ecosystems, dynamic and unpredictable external conditions, and diverse energy needs across households. Rather than following fixed optimisation strategies, the system continuously learns from user preferences, adapts to changing conditions, and intelligently coordinates energy assets across the home. Over time, it becomes increasingly personalised, resilient, and autonomous, helping users achieve their goals with less effort while always keeping them in control.

Dr. Anurag Mohapatra also suggested that it makes sense to apply AI in a data-native environment. At the same time, he stressed that fallback layers and engineering backups must be in place. The verifiability of system decisions must also be clearly demonstrated.

What Users Care About: Beyond the AI Label

How AI capabilities translate into tangible user experience was also a key point of discussion.

Anurag agreed that the most important systems are those users barely notice, operating reliably in the background. He further noted that In Germany, where grid reliability is already high, HEMS must integrate into infrastructure-level expectations, becoming invisible background intelligence rather than a constantly visible tool.

Thomas Haupt further elaborated, suggesting that the ideal future home energy system might be the one that requires as little user input as possible. He added that AI-driven HEMS can bring benefits to end users.

Felix Goldbach engaged the audience by asking how many installers are already selling equipment bundled with a HEMS. He noted that, driven by the rise of dynamic tariffs, HEMS is rapidly becoming a standard feature rather than a niche offering.

Dr. Xiaoke Yang concurred, stating that the key to next-generation HEMS lies in AI truly understanding users, making complex decisions effectively, and returning every critical decision-making power to the user. This involves a technical pathway where users set goals, AI develops plans, users confirm, and the system executes. He emphasised that continuous learning and optimisation should ultimately aim to alleviate the user’s energy management burden. Beyond operational efficiency, data security is another critical requirement: all user data must remain user-owned, locally operable and controllable, and protected through robust security mechanisms. Together, these principles define an “AI you control”.

From Smart Systems to Open Ecosystems: Next-Generation HEMS Needs Common Standards

Achieving worry-free and user-friendly energy management requires more than just AI capabilities. Fundamental functionalities like device interconnection, energy service access, and grid coordination still necessitate unified, open industry standards.

As previously noted by Dr. Anurag Mohapatra and Thomas Haupt, a core challenge lies in communication interfaces and device interoperability. While intelligent capabilities are crucial for HEMS, their value can only be fully realised within a unified, open, and sustainable ecosystem.

Dr. Xiaoke Yang stated that as home energy systems progressively move towards an AI Agent-driven era, technical innovation from a single company alone cannot resolve industry coordination issues. To foster long-term healthy industry development, EcoFlow has received official approval for an LF Energy project and plans to collaborate with industry partners to co-create next-generation HEMS benchmark scenarios. The goal is to address long-standing industry pain points such as device interconnection, data interoperability, and transparency in system validation scenarios by promoting an benchmarking platform. He concluded that future home energy systems should not be closed silos. Instead, they should be built upon open ecosystems and unified standards. Also with the increasing number and diversity of flexible resources, HEMS plays an increasingly important role in providing flexibility and enhancing the resilience of larger power grids. Only when devices, energy service providers, and grid systems can coordinate efficiently can the full value of smart energy management be unleashed.

Future HEMS will gradually evolve from energy scheduling tools into intelligent energy agents capable of understanding user needs, proactively formulating strategies, and continuously optimising their own capabilities within open ecosystems and unified standards.  As an important pioneer of this transformation, EcoFlow is advancing this vision through OASIS 3.0, driving home energy management toward a smarter, more efficient, and more sustainable future.

ABOUT ECOFLOW

EcoFlow is a global pioneer in eco-friendly energy solutions, driving the transition toward smarter, cleaner and more independent power. Founded in 2017, EcoFlow is No. 1 in smart home energy storage solutions, empowering millions of users to take control of their energy at home and beyond. With operational headquarters in Seattle, Düsseldorf, Irvine, Tokyo and Birmingham, and a business and data centre in Singapore, EcoFlow operates as a global ecosystem spanning research, operations, and manufacturing. Its innovative technologies serve over 6 million users across 140 markets and redefine how the world takes control of its energy. https://www.ecoflow.com/eu

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/ecoflow-new-product-launch-roundtable-forum-focuses-on-self-evolving-smart-energy-302810684.html

Brings more than 20 years of experience across the space and technology sectors, spanning public company leadership, capital markets, and strategic finance

ROCKVILLE, Md., June 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Quantum Space, a company building the next generation of advanced maneuverable spacecraft to disrupt the orbital economy, today announced the appointment of Adarsh Parekh as Chief Financial Officer. Parekh will oversee the company’s financial strategy as it advances the development of the Ranger spacecraft platform and enters the public markets via a proposed combination with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. VI (Nasdaq: IPFX).

“America’s security increasingly runs through space and meeting that demand means scaling production of Ranger on a strong financial foundation. Adarsh has led finance operations for space companies, overseeing major transactions and public-company milestones, and brings the discipline and sector knowledge we need to responsibly scale,” said Jim Bridenstine, CEO of Quantum Space. “Meeting growing demand for space-based defense capabilities requires a strong financial foundation, and Adarsh will lead that work as we advance Ranger toward launch.”

Parekh is a space industry veteran with a strong track record of leading public companies, overseeing disciplined financial operations and executing M&A transactions. He joins Quantum Space from Sidus Space, where he served as CFO, overseeing the company’s financial operations, capital allocation strategy and capital markets activity. Prior to Sidus Space, Parekh served as CFO of Terran Orbital, where he led the company’s sale to Lockheed Martin. He began his career in investment banking at Lehman Brothers and later served as a Principal at RRG Capital Management. Parekh holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Quantum Space has built real momentum, with the contracts, the technology, and the team to disrupt the orbital economy,” said Adarsh Parekh, CFO of Quantum Space. “This is a pivotal moment for the company, and I look forward to working with Jim and the team to build the financial foundation that turns that position into long-term value as we bring Ranger to launch.”

Quantum Space holds six contracts and pending proposals with the U.S. Space Force, the Department of War, DARPA, and the Air Force Research Laboratory, including a contract award under the Space Force’s Andromeda program, an IDIQ vehicle aimed at fielding a proliferated constellation of maneuverable, refuelable spacecraft in geostationary orbit. Parekh will oversee the financial strategy underpinning the growth of the Ranger platform and meeting contract commitments.

About Quantum Space

Quantum Space builds advanced maneuverable spacecraft to strengthen U.S. space defense and meet the demands of modern space operations. The company’s mission centers on the Ranger platform: a highly maneuverable spacecraft being engineered for national security and commercial operators. With patented propulsion, extended on-orbit endurance, and modular flexibility, Ranger is being engineered to outmaneuver legacy satellites and operate dynamically across diverse mission sets. For more information, visit www.quantumspace.us.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/quantum-space-appoints-adarsh-parekh-as-chief-financial-officer-302808862.html

SOURCE Quantum Space

Practitioner-built, principles-based guidance from FEI’s Committee on Corporate Reporting on how AI impacts Internal Control Over Financial Reporting (ICFR)

MORRISTOWN, N.J., June 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Financial Executives International (FEI) today announced the release of the AI Framework: Internal Control Over Financial Reporting, a new whitepaper developed by FEI’s Committee on Corporate Reporting (CCR) to help companies integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into financial reporting while maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting (ICFR).

The framework was authored by a cross-industry group of corporate controllers, chief accounting officers, and accounting leaders from Fortune 100 and large public companies, with input from academia. It is intended to be a living document that will evolve alongside AI technology and regulatory expectations.

“As finance leaders race to capture the value of AI, they are being asked to do so without disrupting the reliability of financial reporting that markets depend on. This framework reflects exactly what FEI does best: convening the most respected practitioners in the profession to translate an emerging challenge into practical guidance. It gives finance teams a credible, principles-based starting point to adopt AI responsibly while protecting the integrity of their internal controls.”
— Andrej Suskavcevic, CAE, President and CEO, FEI

“AI doesn’t change management’s fundamental responsibility for effective internal controls — but it does change how we earn comfort over them. By focusing on validating outcomes, the framework gives companies practical control approaches they can put to work today, and a path to scale automation responsibly as their AI systems prove reliable over time.”
— Aaron Anderson, contributing author and CCR member

As AI moves rapidly from experimentation into core finance and accounting processes, management teams face a dual challenge: capturing AI’s efficiency and analytical benefits while preserving the reliability of financial reporting that capital markets depend on. The framework provides a practical, principles-based approach for identifying, scoping, and managing AI systems used in financial reporting — whether AI is embedded in a process or relied upon as a control — consistent with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and the COSO Internal Control – Integrated Framework.

Rather than attempting to audit the inner workings of “black box” AI systems, the framework emphasizes human oversight and outcome-based validation, and offers four business control approaches that companies can deploy individually or in combination:

Human-in-the-Loop (HITL): Integrating human intervention at strategic decision points to validate system outputs and manage model uncertainty.Performance Testing: Leveraging curated test data sets to compare AI system outputs against known “ground truth” results to ensure ongoing mathematical and logic accuracy.Multi-Model Validation: Using a systematic comparison between the primary AI system and an independent “challenger” model to identify variance and confirm reliability.Data Analytics: Employing advanced monitoring techniques to analyze system trends, identify anomalies, and ensure the AI operates within established guardrails.

The framework also addresses AI-specific risks such as hallucination, model drift, and algorithmic bias; provides guidance on SOX scoping and risk assessment; and outlines an outlier management and resolution process.

The AI Framework: Internal Control Over Financial Reporting whitepaper is not intended as legal guidance or advice, and it should not be relied upon for decisions that may raise liability concerns. FEI is not responsible for how companies or individuals use the AI Framework: Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Where questions exist concerning possible legal ramifications, readers of the whitepaper should consult with appropriate legal counsel.

The complete Framework is available for $195.00 on the FEI website here.

About FEI’s Committee on Corporate Reporting (CCR)
The Committee on Corporate Reporting (CCR) is a high-powered, multi-industry committee of Financial Executives International composed of highly engaged Corporate Controllers and Chief Accounting Officers from Fortune 100 and large public companies. CCR focuses on engaging accounting standard setters and regulators and has a positive impact through comment letters and other advocacy, including direct engagement with the SEC, FASB, PCAOB, and the Big 4 accounting firms.

About Financial Executives International (FEI)
Financial Executives International (FEI) is the leading association and advocate for the views of corporate financial management. Its Members hold policy-making positions as chief financial officers, chief accounting officers, controllers, treasurers, and tax executives at companies in every major industry. FEI enhances Member professional development through peer networking, career management services, conferences, research, and publications. Members participate in the activities of local Chapters in the U.S. FEI is located in Morristown, NJ. Visit www.financialexecutives.org for more information.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fei-releases-ai-framework-internal-control-over-financial-reporting-to-help-finance-leaders-adopt-ai-302810219.html

SOURCE Financial Executives International