I have the great pleasure of being here
with Silvio Napoli.
He's the chairman of Schindler Group.
So maybe Silvio if you'd start a bit
with just telling us about Schindler Group.
Sure, Schindler is one of the world's leaders in elevators,
escalators, moving walk.
It was founded in 1874 by the Schindler Family.
Today, we move 1.5 billion people a day.
Wow.
That's impressive.
We talk a lot about digital transformation these days.
What does it mean to you and what does it mean to a company
that has such a rich history?
Until now,
all the data associated with transportation
was trapped in every machine room, in every shaft,
in every escalator in what we call the control
or the computer that regulate the elevators.
We were always dealing with customers
who own the buildings, that take care of the maintenance,
but the passenger was always something we could never reach
except transporting.
So today, digital offers us the opportunity
to improve customer experience,
to use the data, and get our business to the next level.
So talk a little bit about that journey, if you will
My guess is taking your people on a journey of understanding
what digital opportunity might be
has been a body of work for you.
What's it been like?
It is, it's been a journey.
I think most industrial companies,
we started using what we call IT as infrastructure,
which goes through ERP, and then it evolves slowly towards
means to optimize the processes.
We try to look at even how we could improve our services.
The next step is first of all,
enhancing collaboration across our technicians,
across all our different units around the world.
But in parallel, there is also another aspect,
which is thanks to data-driven business,
we can now look at expanding our business.
We even created a startup called BuildingMinds,
which goes beyond elevators and escalators.
It's about a software-as-a-service platform
to help real estate and construction
in terms of introducing an operating system
that can bring all contributors on one single platform.
Wow.
So what has that meant for your people?
You sort of create a startup within Schindler.
How do the people who have been, sort of,
a part of the traditional business
interact with the new business?
What's that been like?
Brand new innovation, disruptive innovations,
tend to be suffocated in traditional businesses.
Oh, I see, yeah.
So we said with a startup,
we isolate it from the main business.
And then we created a new team in a different location,
and that team now reports directly to me, to the board,
as opposed to the normal business.
And I'm very pleased with the progress so far
and, most of all, response from our customers.
That's great, that's great.
So let's come back to the technology itself.
Talk to me about the importance of data
and data as a foundation for everything you do.
Construction and real estate is an industry
which has been very reticent to innovate.
Every contributor to a building
was bringing their own process, their own data,
and their own tools.
As a result of this lack of collaboration,
buildings are still built largely the way they were
50 years ago or even more.
So data is key, and that's where Microsoft was instrumental
as a partner.
We do need a common platform
and you have this common data model,
which I think makes a huge difference,
which enables us to look into all these opportunities
and address requests from our customers.
Great.
Well, look, I'm really glad that we've been able to partner
in that regard. I appreciate it.
You've done a great body of work here,
and it's impressive to see your own growth as a company,
as well as the the birth of a startup as well.
What advice would you have to share with your peers
that are trying to achieve some of the same things?
I think one needs to be humble in the approach.
It looks very cool, it's very exciting,
but Rome wasn't built in a day, I can say this as a Roman.
And definitely you're not going to go
through your digital journey as fast as you think you can.
Yeah, that's right.
I do think one has to look in parallel at processes,
technology, and culture.
And if I have to maybe highlight what I believe
is the biggest challenge, it is culture.
The fact of creating this startup
was about sending a message on culture,
meaning we are here to foster innovation
regardless of any immediate operational aspects.
But more than that, culture is about sending the message
that the future is about collaborating in a company,
to force people to change the way they've been working,
which in a company which has 145 years of history,
can be a challenge.
Yeah, I bet, I bet.
Well, thank you so much, Silvio, for sharing
all of your thoughts and congratulations, frankly,
on all your success.
I appreciate the humility
that you bring to the conversation as well.
I personally believe this is a learning journey
that we're all on together,
and I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
Thank you, Judson.