00:00Hi, everyone. We've been experiencing two simultaneous transformations reshaping the
00:05global economy. The rapid acceleration of AI, which you all know, and the energy transition
00:11that's under increasing pressure to support that growth sustainably and reliably. The real question
00:17is not just how we scale AI, but how we power it responsibly, requiring a new approach where
00:24digital and energy are managed together and not separate. This is where Schneider Electric plays
00:29a critical role as a technology partner at the intersection of electrification, automation
00:35and digitalization. Elizabeth, thank you so much for being here with me.
00:38Thank you for having us. Of course. The global AI race is rapidly increasing
00:43the need for more power. Do you think this is going to be a good thing or a bad thing?
00:47Well, I think it's probably both, but I'm hoping it's more of a good thing. And that's
00:54where companies will work together. And that's why we have the energy technology coalition
01:00with Bloomberg. Because even though Schneider is a leader in energy efficiency, especially
01:06for buildings like we're in today, a data fact, if you don't already know it, 30% of energy
01:12consumption around the world is due to buildings. And there's already products and services in
01:17the market today that Schneider provides to bring that down to a 15% reduction. But we're also
01:24working with other companies to do even better. And so that's why we hope with the coalition,
01:29we'll bring energy companies, infrastructure companies, technology companies together to
01:34solve this challenge that's ahead of us. Because AI is driving data center demand, data centers
01:42are driving energy. And so it really needs to be a coalition, a collection of all of us working
01:47together. Absolutely. And I mean, it does, it is, it's an impossible challenge. I'm not going to lie.
01:52Um, so how do you guys compete in a never ending race to catch up on technology?
01:57Well, technology is the forefront. So we, uh, want to be the technology leader, uh, with all of our,
02:04uh, customers that we serve. And so we're always looking for what's next. We're always experimenting,
02:11we pilot a lot. Uh, we work with startups, we work with, uh, uh, other innovation groups,
02:17because the technology is changing at such a rapid pace and even AI. I mean, we've been working with
02:23AI for quite some time now. And even in my role as the, um, head of IT, you know, I'm
02:30finding that
02:30every month that goes by, it's just exponential. Uh, and I'm also fortunate to use some of the products
02:37that Schneider, uh, uh, sells to customers from an efficiency perspective, because we have a lot
02:43of, uh, what we call smaller data centers, uh, in the company to power our factories, our distribution
02:48centers. And so for years as an IT leader, I never even knew what my energy consumption was. Uh, and
02:56now
02:56I do through our tools with EcoStruxure IT. It monitors all of our equipment. We know if, uh, equipment
03:03is unhealthy, maybe consuming too much electricity, which in the past, I never even knew that. So,
03:08um, again, technology is at the forefront of, of what we do, and we're just going to continue to
03:13make investments in advancements. So, um, what are some common misperceptions or disconnects that you
03:20have seen in the public narrative that, you know, you have a chance to kind of rectify here?
03:24Well, I think that, uh, AI is getting a lot of really good attention, and then it's getting some
03:30negative press. And I'm, uh, a technologist my, my whole career. I've, I've been at this
03:37for 40 years. I've, I've seen, uh, the wave of, uh, mainframes to the internet to post iPhone,
03:45cloud, and now AI. And it is such an exciting time, but we have to be responsible about it.
03:52And I love that discussion earlier today about this. And I do believe we will solve really big
03:59problems in the world, uh, especially this conundrum with having enough electricity to power,
04:05uh, AI and all the good things that it's going to do for us in, in the future.
04:10Um, we have like 30 seconds left, but let's say we're back on the stage again next year.
04:15Um, what do you think will have changed between now and then?
04:18Well, um, I, I don't have the crystal ball. I don't, I don't really know.
04:22But what I'm hoping is that just the advancements I've seen in the last couple of months with AI,
04:28that it will be so exponentially better in, in many ways. We have a lot of experimentation going on
04:36right now, uh, even in my organization that we could not have done three to six months ago.
04:43Uh, so I'm expecting, uh, great achievements. Uh, I tease my team all about this all the time,
04:51uh, that we, we really have an opportunity to do things we haven't done before when it comes to
04:58digitization, automization. Yep. Um, so I guess what this conversation has highlighted for me is
05:04simple. It's not really a technology gap. It's more of an execution gap. So the solutions are there.
05:10It's more just like the challenges of scaling them at speed. Yes. Yes. Operate and scale.
05:14Anyway, thank you so much, Elizabeth. Thank you. Take care.
Comments