“We realized early on with our digital transformation that really what we’re trying to do is digitize processes and …we really want to transform. But the people that own these business processes are stakeholders, they’re in sales, they’re in operations, they’re in HR, finance, supply chain, so we needed them before we could get started on digitally architecting a solution. So… we take a senior leader from a function and ops or a business unit and ask them to be the business process leader…. and we match you to an IT leader who’s also quite senior. So these are VP SVP roles and they’re the power couple. So we ask the domain leader on the stakeholder or business side, you define the what and the why, so what is it that you need and why? That’s the value part of it….They’re a partnership.””
Elizabeth Hackenson on Electric Ladies Podcast
How do you manage business systems in the middle of an industrial-technology revolution when those very systems are transforming too? They also use massive amounts of energy, water and are made from things like critical minerals, steel, aluminum wires, computer chips, et cetera that are all complicated by climate and energy crises.
Listen to Elizabeth Hackenson, Chief Information Officer of Schneider Electric explain how this massive global technology leader transforms itself while helping clients do the same in this fascinating discussion with Electric Ladies host Joan Michelson.
You’ll hear about:
- How what a Chief Information Officer’s portfolio really is and how they manage it 24/7 across the globe
- How they are leveraging and managing AI, as well as data centers.
- How their “power couples” have become a valuable structure for ground up systems transformation with the end user in mind.
- How they reduce their carbon footprint while helping clients do the same and maintain excellence.
- Plus, insightful career advice, such as…
“First you have to find a company that is interesting to you and what you want to do. And then to me, it’s always about focus on delivering what you’ve been asked to and what you can do. And then opportunity, in my view, opens up. Now sometimes it’s at the company you’re at and other times it’s not. And that’s okay…When you’re at that 15-year mark, you should have by then figured out what you like, what your interests are and where you want to go next. And you’ve got to take control of your destiny. And again, I think getting to a company that you believe in, you have the same values, can give you that pathway to whatever it is you’re looking for is where to start and then deliver.”
Elizabeth Hackenson on Electric Ladies Podcast
Read Joan’s Forbes article about this new report here and more of her articles here too.
You’ll also like:
- Microgrids Keep the Lights On – Jana Gerber, President of Microgrids, Schneider Electric
- Making Infrastructure Resilient – Genevieve Avice-Huet, EVP of Industrial Automation, Schneider Electric (formerly Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer)
- Critical Minerals 101 – with Abby Wulf, Critical Minerals expert and former head of Critical Minerals in the U.S. Dept. of Energy
- Business Leaders Bridging the Climate Gap – Top executives from The Earth Day Women’s Summit
- The State of Energy Today Might Surprise You – Lisa Jacobson, President, Business Council for Sustainable Energy on their 2026 Energy Factbook
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