The £104 Billion challenge for the UK’s water sector

AMP8 - the eighth Asset Management Period - commenced in April 2025, setting the course for how the UK water sector will invest £104 billion over the next five years. With a focus on improving service delivery, reducing leakage, enhancing resilience, and protecting the environment, it marks the most significant and ambitious investment cycle in the industry’s history. A national infrastructure mission that demands precision in execution. 

The problem: decision-making bottlenecks in a data-rich, insight-poor environment

Despite the scale of the investment, water companies remain held back by fragmented systems, siloed data, and slow manual processes that impair their ability to act quickly and effectively.

In the case of leakage, for instance, many operational teams are overwhelmed with data but unsure where to direct their efforts. Highly skilled analysts spend days manually reviewing spreadsheets and data sources to decide where to deploy engineers. On the ground, technicians often arrive without the full picture - no historical data, limited context, and uncertainty whether they’re looking for a persistent leak or a new one.

Pollution events tell a similar story. When heavy rainfall hits, the same sites overflow consistently - but the insights to predict and prevent these recurring incidents remain trapped in scattered systems. The result? Delayed responses, missed opportunities to intervene, and significant regulatory risk.

The real issue isn’t the absence of data. It’s the absence of joined-up tools that can transform that data into rapid, actionable decisions.

Why off-the-shelf doesn't work

The UK utilities sector has long been underserved by traditional technology vendors. Unlike sectors such as finance or retail, there are no off-the-shelf platforms built to handle the majority of problems utility operators face.

That leaves most water companies with two costly and slow options: build internal tools manually, or commission large-scale systems integrators. Both routes are time-consuming, expensive, and often fail to keep pace with operational realities on the ground.

The cogna solution: AI-built software, delivered in weeks

At Cogna, we believe there’s a better way, and our approach is rapidly being adopted by leading utilities companies in the UK.

Our AI technology enables us to rapidly build and deploy fully bespoke enterprise-grade software solutions for customers - not in months or years, but in weeks. By deeply understanding each unique operational challenge - whether it's prioritising leakage investigations, automating pollution risk alerts and reporting, or dynamically scheduling engineers - we deliver intelligent tools that drive faster, more informed decision-making.

These aren’t generic dashboards. They are precise, production-ready applications built to unlock real efficiency - helping frontline teams act faster, analysts focus on strategy, and companies hit AMP8 performance goals.

AMP8: a turning point that demands a new approach

The scale of AMP8’s ambition is matched only by the urgency to deliver. To move from intent to impact, water companies must embrace a new kind of solution: fast to build, fit-for-purpose, and able to bridge the gap between data and action.

Cogna exists to make that possible.