• CERAWEEK 2025 | March 10-14, 2025
  • CERAWEEK
  • March 10 - 14, 2025

Larry Cochrane

Microsoft Corporation

Managing Director and CTO

 Larry Cochrane, Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer for the Energy Industry, Azure Global Engineering, is responsible for defining and driving Microsoft Azure’s global energy strategy and forging partnerships with customers and partners for Azure adoption. His in-depth knowledge and passion have been pivotal in managing Azure Internet of Things (IoT) organization for the Microsoft Energy Management building block Azure services, as well as establishing North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIPs) compliancy for Microsoft Azure, support and management of engagements with customers’ executives, participation in utility industry standards setting bodies, and support for analyst engagements. Mr. Cochrane has also led initiatives such as the Microsoft Smart Energy Reference Architecture. Prior to joining Microsoft, he was Vice President of Automation Systems Research & Development for AREVA and responsible for product development for substation automation, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), energy management and distribution management, market management, trading and financial settlement for the electric utility industry.  At AREVA, Mr. Cochrane established technology integration strategy for the merger of 250Me Energy Management and Markets Business with 260Me Protection and Control Business. He served on the AREVA Transmission and Distribution (T&D) Automation Steering Committee for 600Me Automation Business and worked to establish consistent processes and development approaches for worldwide research and development (R&D) Centers of Excellence, including Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) program and agile development methodologies.

Sessions With Larry Cochrane

Wednesday, 11 March

Thursday, 12 March

  • 07:30am - 08:40am (CST) / -

    Distributed Energy: Balancing flexibility, reliability & resilience
    Clean Tech

    Distributed Energy Resources (DERs)—including solar PV, battery storage, electric vehicles, and responsive loads—are proliferating in distribution grids around the world as customers seek greater control over the cost and environmental footprint of their electricity use. At the same time, extreme weather events, natural disasters, and cyber intrusions have brought the resiliency value of these resources into focus. As widespread adoption becomes a reality, utilities face new challenges and opportunities that have the potential to transform the way the distribution grid is managed. What role should utilities play in guiding DER adoption? How should the resiliency benefits of DERs be valued? What lessons can be drawn from regions where DER penetration is already significant?