WEBVTT

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As a CEO, one
of the duties is to transform the company,

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making it futureproof.

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But at the same time,
to make sure you don't destroy the legacy

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that you have inherited.

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Hello Pascal,

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Thank you for joining.

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It's great to have you.

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You were CEO of Schneider
Electric for 17 years.

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Tell me a bit more about Schneider
Electric at that time.

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What was the company like?

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We were a very different company
at that time.

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We are four times smaller.

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We are almost all about Europe
and we are all about electrical products.

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So it was a very, very different company.

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And how have things evolved since?

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We remained a technology company,
but today

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our technologies are focused
on something much larger.

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But two priorities for our customers:

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One is digitization
and the second is decarbonization.

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So it's all about smart and green.

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Smart and green

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building, smart and green manufacturing
data centers, smart and green cities.

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And this comes from the fact
that over those 17 years

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we built a very different portfolio converging
digital with clean energy

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to be the partner of our customers
in being net zero.

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The company has truly transformed
and looks very different at this point

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in time. 

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That super interesting. The company did

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amazingly well during your tenure
as CEO.

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I'm sure you had your ups and downs, your
highs and lows and your moments of truth.

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So tell us a little bit more
about one of these moments of truth

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that really shaped the company
and ultimately you as a leader.

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If I go to one important moment
that was probably

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in the first three months,
my first strategic decision

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was to make sure that we would transform
profoundly the portfolio

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to deliver a completely different value
to our customers.

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I was convinced, number one,
that our customers

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needed much more
than our electrical products and systems.

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And number two,
that electrical products and systems

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could deliver much more value
than what they were delivering

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in energy efficiency, carbon reduction,
the path to sustainability.

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But the means to
that end was and is digitization.

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So then came a decision to make,
because three months into the role,

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a company called APC,
which was the most disruptive company

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in the sector, completely complementary
to what we do, was coming for sale.

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And I had to make the decision, yes or no,
do you go for that acquisition.

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A big amount of money
and certainly not expected by our investors

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or any stakeholder
that a young CEO, at the time 40, three

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months in the role,
would move into such an operation.

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And you put $6 billion USD

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on the table
to go across the Atlantic and acquire APC.

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Now that sounds exciting.

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In hindsight,

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I'm sure you get celebrated for it,
but how did it feel in that very moment?

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I've never been personally very excited
by acquisitions, but I was very convinced

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of what I had to do,
that we needed to do it

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to marry a 20-year
old startup garage in Boston,

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all designed for speed on agility
with Schneider.

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At the time, a company perceived as French

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traditional, and founded in 1836.

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So the investors didn't see it at that time,

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nobody had connected energy
with data centers and AI.

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Nobody was seeing it.

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So it was a very far-fetched strategy.

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You didn't go well at all. Stock tanked.

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We were destabilized.

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And it was an uphill battle

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to convince the markets and everybody
that this was a good alliance.

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And what did you do to win their hearts
and minds? 

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Traveling from one place to the other one, 
starting to convince employees on both sides

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that it was a great thing for the future.

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And then, of course,
going to see investors

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and convincing them of the value
that it would create. And there

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you feel very much alone.

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Because of course, you've got the support
of the board.

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But you need really to convince people
that it makes sense for the future.

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So then later on, during your CEO
tenure Schneider later became known

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also to have a very global operating
philosophy.

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Did that early acquisition
also drive your belief

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in a global operating model
and reality for you as CEO?

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Yeah, very much so,
because what Schneider brought to APC,

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which tended to be very American centric,
we brought really

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that culture
of globalization and diversity,

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which allowed APC to become

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really a much more global company.

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On the top of it, we brought the two-thirds
of the technological offer

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that was connecting their offer
to the grid

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through
a completely digitized architecture.

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So certainly more ambition for technology,

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certainly thinking long term also,
and also an ambition

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beyond the energy efficiency
to energy transition

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and sustainability, which is now somewhat
the marker of the company itself.

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Now, you took that big bet
in the first six months of your tenure.

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Did it make you more of a big-bet CEO
or did you actually also

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learn to be more cautious
because you saw how intense it was?

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Look, I always

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believe

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that as a CEO, one of the duties
is to transform

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the company and keep transforming it
or making it futureproof.

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But at the same time, above
any other sort of responsibilities

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to make sure you don't destroy the legacy
that you have inherited.

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And that is in terms of market footprint,

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in terms of technological
know-how, but more so in terms of culture.

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In terms of people,
I'm not a fan of acquisition search.

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I'd rather empower existing people
to do what they have to do.

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But one thing that we learned here

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is to make sure that we would combine
those cultures on those people

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together to achieve something
much bigger and much greater.

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About a year ago,
you handed over the CEO role

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to Peter Herweck, who is now in charge,
and you are the chairman.

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How do you look at Schneider Electric
at this point and into the future?

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Well, the teams have proven
that Schneider is well positioned, right?

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When you think about the two pillars of
our strategy, it's about electrification.

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It's about digitization.

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And digital is more than 50% of what we do.

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And then you have electrification.

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So of course, electrification
is pushed by technology.

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Add to that your car going electric
in the next ten years.

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Add to that your building.

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where the world of HVAC and 
climate control is going from fossil

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fuel to electric.

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All the future is electric.

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So digital electric,
this is what we are building. 

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Our teams are well positioned.

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We have a global presence
with very decentralized

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organizations so that we can tailor
our solution to everybody.

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Well, very excited
by what we have in front of us.

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Thank you for the inspiration.

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I'm sure people learned a lot
from what you've shared.

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Fantastic
to have you. Thank you very much.