Business
Schneider Electric CEO Olivier Blum credits his time as CHRO for shaping his leadership style
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
Top news
OpenAI joins browser wars
OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT Atlas, a new web browser integrated with the company’s ChatGPT AI model, during a livestream on Tuesday, aiming to establish itself as a starting point for users’ internet journeys. The new product casts OpenAI as a contender in this generation’s brewing browser wars.
Warner Bros. Discovery considers sales
Warner Bros. Discovery, parent of HBO, DC Studios, CNN, Discovery Channel and more, revealed Tuesday that it’s considering different sale opportunities following “unsolicited interest from multiple parties for the entire company.” The company has reportedly turned down two overtures from Paramount, and the board is now reviewing a range of options. The state of limbo leaves Warner CEO David Zaslav in the fight of his career.
GM posts solid earnings
General Motors announced $48.59 billion in quarterly revenue on Tuesday, beating Wall Street expectations and leading the company to raise its full-year outlook. The solid earnings are partly due to the tariff-mitigation strategies and strong sales of the automaker’s gas-powered vehicles.
Superintelligence ban
AI pioneers and tech leaders, including Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak, have called for a halt on the development of ‘superintelligence,” citing risks ranging from “loss of freedom” to “potential human extinction.” It can start again when there is strong public support and safety guardrails in place, they said.
Sequoia COO’s departure
The FT reports that Sequoia Capital COO Sumaiya Balbale, a practicing Muslim, left the firm in August over comments by partner Shaun Maguire that she considered Islamaphobic. The episode shows how politics are driving divisions at the top VC firm.
Louvre theft
The theft of $100 million in jewelry from the Louvre this week has left the public wondering how such a brazen heist could have taken place in broad daylight at the world’s most-visited museum. The Louvre’s leadership is under fire for focusing on new projects rather than increasing security and its director will have to explain herself to France’s Senate at a hearing today. The items were not insured because it would have been prohibitively expensive to do so.
The markets
S&P 500 futures were up 0.01% this morning. The last session closed essentially flat. STOXX Europe 600 was down 0.17% in early trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.75% in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.02%. China’s CSI 300 was down 0.33%. The South Korea KOSPI was up 1.56%. India’s stock markets are closed today. Bitcoin is steady at $108K.
Around the watercooler
America’s cattle chief rips into Trump’s Argentine beef bailout, saying it ‘does nothing to lower grocery store prices’ by Sasha Rogelberg
Executives at DoorDash, Airbnb, Sephora and ServiceNow agree: leaders need to be agile—and be a ‘swan’ on the pond by Preston Fore
Brené Brown warns American workers are not neurologically wired for this level of rapid change and instability: ‘People are not okay’ by Emma Burleigh
Instagram cofounder rips ‘AI FOMO’ that caused a rush to adopt and no metrics: ‘When it gets fuzzy, it’s very hard to then evaluate’ by Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez
CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams and Claire Zillman.
