- In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady talks to Schneider Electric CEO Olivier Blum.
- The big story: OpenAI enters the browser wars.
- The markets: Mostly mixed.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. On the cusp of his first anniversary as CEO,
Schneider Electric‘s Olivier Blum is in Copenhagen
today to share a new vision for the French energy tech giant. Founded in 1836, the Fortune Global 500 company now makes
Fortune’s lists as one of the most
innovative,
sustainable and
best places to work.
I had an opportunity to speak with the Dubai-based Blum about his plan. Here are some highlights of where he’s putting his focus now:
Creating intelligent energy systems: With 160,000 employees and 1 million partners worldwide, Schneider Electric already has a robust ecosystem around its products. But Blum wants to evolve from being an energy technology company to an “energy technology partner” that leverages data and connects the grid to the data center in new ways to create more intelligent, efficient and adaptive energy systems for customers. Said Blum: “Our job is to make sure that we connect an ecosystem of people and provide the technology that will make it happen.”
Accelerating the energy transition with big tech: From the need to draw more power from the current infrastructure to the need for new infrastructure to harness solar, wind and other renewables, Blum is prioritizing initiatives to create new advanced infrastructure with partners like
Nvidia and increase the efficiency and performance of existing systems. Among other things, he’s launching a new global consulting services brand to help customers meet those needs. “This acceleration of both supply and demand is happening faster than expected,” Blum said. “That will disrupt the way we invent the technology of the future.
Moving beyond ESG: “While we want to deliver strong financials in the next quarter, we always try to imagine how we impact our environment positively,” Blum said. “We still want to be a responsible company for the short and the long term. We used to call that social responsibility—it was more charity—then it moved to ESG sustainability, and maybe the next cycle is more about impact responsibility … It’s not only for your wallet or the planet that you have to do the energy transition, it’s because of demand.”
Keep management layers to a minimum: The complexity of large companies can be a
barrier to decision making. Blum’s solution is to “keep one layer which is common … the 20% of stuff that has to be truly global in strategy” and build out its four regional hubs to “create empowerment and speed in the way we are managing the company.” That means more resources, centralized supply chains and independence for regional operations in places like North America and China to “empower people as close as possible to the action.”
Creating culture from the top: “At the end of the day, you can have the best technology, the best brand,” Blum said, “but 90% of success is about the selection of the people you will put in the job.” Blum credits his time as CHRO with making him more attuned to the importance of leadership, noting “you realize how much the culture, the behavior of the people, are impacted by what comes from the top of the company. ”
You can read the full interview
here.
More news below.
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
