Hi! Thank you for taking the time to be with us today.
My name is Chris Leong and I am the Chief Marketing Officer of Schneider Electric.
A quick poll – how many of you have heard of Schneider Electric?
Well – I like to say that Schneider is the world’s largest invisible brand.
What if I tell you that in January 2021, just a few months ago,
Schneider was voted as the most sustainable company in the world,
ranking #1 from over 8,000 companies!
I can tell you that this is not an overnight success.
We started our sustainability journey 15 years ago,
aligning our goals to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
and peg our self-imposed targets each year
to the compensation bonus of all our leaders and employees –
this is what we call “walk the talk”.
If bridging progress and sustainability with digitization and innovation intrigues you,
then you definitely want to learn more about Schneider.
While many companies may have a sustainability agenda, what is unique about Schneider,
is, beyond our enterprise sustainability goals,
our business is in providing sustainability solutions for our customers.
So, what does that mean? What does in reality Schneider do?
In simple terms, we are a technology company,
we help to digitize the world of energy management and industrial automation
for efficiency and sustainability.
Some of you may think the B2B world is remote from your day-to-day life,
unlike a typical consumer product company. Well I can tell you that’s where you are mistaken.
Let’s talk about your life as a student, and during Covid.
Attending classes remotely? Peer life existence only on social media?
Relaxing binge watching on Netflix? Hopefully not too much.
Shopping on Amazon?
To enjoy all these digital platforms that we take for granted,
you need reliable and efficient Data Centers.
And Data Centers are not the only area we are in.
Schneider solutions are in 40% of buildings around the world
your college campus, offices where mum and dad work,
malls that we all missed, hotels, train stations, airports,
manufacturing plants for your favourite ice cream, sneakers, hoodies,
electronics and in critical infrastructures such as power grids, water systems and hospitals,
ensuring all infrastructure and buildings around us work like clock-work
in a safe, efficient, reliable, connected and sustainable manner.
Really - if you think about it, Schneider is for everyone, everywhere, at every moment,
and even when you are sleeping, we ensure Life Is On.
Now, a vision only becomes a reality when it is complemented with strategies and action plans.
And I hope you are learning that in your business class.
At Schneider, we placed equal importance on why, who, where and how
beyond just that “what” we do.
That is why we decided to be the most local of global companies.
This means Schneider people are located in over 100 countries,
in close proximity to design, produce and serve our customers locally.
This means first hand local insights for our innovation,
agile local supply chain for lower carbon footprint
and fully empowered local teams for fast decision making.
We are one of the few companies in the world
where our executive committee is placed one third in Europe, US and Asia.
Our board and executive committee are with over a third women representation.
In my own 14 people leadership team,
we have 11 nationalities based around the world!
We value diversity & inclusion above all else.
We believe regardless of your gender, color, faith,
everyone deserves an equal opportunity for your career progression in the company.
Let me give you an example.
Conventional wisdom may question how does a Malaysian-born Chinese woman,
“not an engineer”
end up as an executive committee leadership team member
in a French European 25bn Euro company.
Well - I am and this is my 10th year in this amazing company.
I can’t miss this great opportunity in talking to all of you today
the next generation of thinkers, innovators, makers and leaders
on the most important challenge of our generation. Climate Change.
We are the generation to discover it
and we owe it to future generations to contribute to the resolution
supporting transition to green and smart energy that supports Paris Accord 1.5°C pledge.
At Schneider, we brought forward our carbon neutral commitment
by five years to 2025 and net-zero by 2030.
Remember - Electricity is the best vector for decarbonization
and Schneider’s business is electricity distribution and automation management.
From EcoStruxure, our IOT, machine learning, AI digital innovation
to Sustainability Advisory Services such as Project Gigaton with Walmart last year
targeting one gigaton of carbon avoidance to their full supply chain
to business model innovation such as AlphaStruxure and GreenStruxure
providing Energy As A Service for renewables adoption
without CAPEX, pay-as-you-go model
with microgrid solutions for green infrastructure around the world
there is no limit to creativity in tackling this once-in-a-lifetime challenge.
So, whether you are in finance, business management,
engineering, computer science, logistics, supply chain or marketing
if you care about sustainability,
about digitization,
about diversity & inclusion
and how the human race can drive progress and sustainability for all
then I welcome you to be part of our tribe
with an unwavering meaningful purpose
be part of Schneider Electric. Are you ready to build a greener and smarter world?