Damien Dhellemmes (MBA EDHEC 1995), Senior Vice-President of Schneider Electric’s Digital Energy Commercial division

With an MBA from EDHEC after first studying engineering, Damien Dhellemmes has moved around since 1995 within Schneider Electric (present in more than 140 countries), where he is currently Senior Vice-President of the firm’s Digital Energy commercial division. Industrial automation and optimising energy efficiency are now central to the firm's strategy. Damien tells us about the challenges of these transformations, enabled by the rise of artificial intelligence and data.

Tell us about your current position and responsibilities

We help our clients to be more efficient and sustainable using software, digital products and services. I hold a global position, in the group's smallest division – although it generates €3 billion in revenue – but also the one enjoying the strongest growth. I am responsible for the commercial rollout of our strategy and achieving financial objectives by mobilising our sales forces in many different countries. 

At Schneider Electric, you started off working in production and logistics before moving to sales and digital services. Would you say that journey is necessary to get a handle on the whole chain?

It has certainly helped me, and I often say that I have had several careers within the same company. I initially graduated with an engineering degree, but I had commercial bones. And so I quickly chose to do an MBA at EDHEC, with the idea of becoming a technical/commercial engineer. I was then recruited in production by Schneider Electric in Thailand on the equivalent of the French overseas volunteer scheme (VIE). That marked the beginning of my love affair with the supply chain, moving from Limoges to Angoulême, and then Asia, where I spent time in China, India and finally Singapore. My last position in that sector covered factories, logistics and purchasing from India to New Zealand, with responsibility for 15,000 people and more than 40 plants. But my appetite hadn't been fully whetted because I joined the firm for its commercial positions but hadn't yet occupied one. I was finally given commercial responsibility for Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei; I've been in Asia for more than 20 years. As a “country boss”, I've spent a lot of time promoting and selling connected energy distribution; that brought me to my current position in charge of a commercial division.

Your career has been one of perpetual self-questioning …

What has always stimulated me is not necessarily the size of the post, but rather the opportunities for learning. When I started out in the supply chain, my career plan was to become factory director, a position I had occupied in Angoulème at the age of 30. But where to go from there? I really wanted to return to Asia since my first stint abroad, so I left for China in 2004 to manage joint ventures and industrial sites. In 2007, I started travelling to India more, and from 2009 onwards I managed the supply chain there and we went from just 3 factories to 20. We built a lot, acquired a lot, and I learned a lot.

Where are we today in terms of our energy needs worldwide? 

In general terms, we need more and more energy in a world of growth. But there are also many imperatives linked to climate change and the decarbonization of our societies, which compels us to better manage energy efficiency. The solution to this equation is electricity (the cleanest energy) and digital technology (its driving force). At Schneider Electric, we're fortunate enough to be able to surf on this very strong global market. Electric vehicles are the most obvious example of this, along with data centres, those energy monsters that we absolutely need if we are to manage the digital explosion beyond simply connecting people and moving towards connectivity between objects, which are now the primary consumers of data. Energy efficiency combines two factors: the awareness that rampant growth is no longer sustainable if we want to look after our planet, and the cost of energy itself – the current crises, including the war in Ukraine, are forcing us to wake up. We help our clients to digitalise their business in order to be more efficient (and thereby make savings) and more sustainable!

But Schneider Electric is a distributor, not a producer, of energy …

We’re not really a distributor either, but rather a provider of technologies. We don't produce energy, but we do provide all of the infrastructure (products, systems, software and services) necessary to transport and use it. Our clients secure electrical distribution facilities and software that help them manage the production and distribution of energy. We may not make solar panels or batteries, but we do manage electrical systems. We have a strong presence downstream, where energy is being consumed, whether in a data centre, hospital, tertiary-sector building or home. We also have sustainability objectives targeting a more “electric” world, as well as an imperative for energy efficiency. The current rise in the cost of energy improves the return of investment for clients who commit to this energy transition.

Do you think this market will continue to be strong?

I think so, yes. Just look at the commitments companies are making to combat climate change, with targets for 2023 and 2050. The example of electric vehicles is just getting off the ground: if you compare the market share they represent with the commitments being made by the automotive constructors of these vehicles, it's simply enormous. We used to think that things would stabilise, but that didn't factor in the arrival of artificial intelligence, edge computing, driverless vehicles, etc. All that generates huge amounts of data, including a certain number of sectors and segments close to our activities which will continue to grow. And this is against the backdrop of the COPs, which continue to raise awareness of climate change. There may be debate about how effective they are, but things are moving forward, and companies are increasingly seeing this issue as an imperative. On a global scale, we are clearly seeing a shift in the right direction, and that looks set to continue. 

With digital technology, a huge emitter of CO2, how can we lower our impact?

This is a topic of constant reflection and discussion! The global actors of data centres and real estate developers are mobilising with the aim of being more sustainable yet more efficient. I believe the key lies in data. We are now in a position to offer power monitoring systems and building management systems that bring together all of the subsystems in any building. These software programs recover the data emitted by buildings, which previously went unused. Thanks to AI and machine learning, we can now evolve towards a world capable of anticipating what will happen next. Often, this involves constructing a digital twin of the building or infrastructure (airport, shopping centre, factory, etc.) to model its needs and simulate its energy consumption. This is also a way to quickly detect any compliance breaches and correct them. Energy savings can be as high as 25% in an intelligent building (although it should be renovated if it's not recent): it will be able to detect human absence and turn off anything that's not being used, like heating, lights and lifts. This is what I call the concept of self-healing, where the building is on automatic pilot: it detects when something's not right, analyses and corrects the problem. This leads to a process of constant improvement in energy consumption. 

What's the difference in terms of positioning between Schneider Electric and the online giants (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft – the Big Five) when it comes to the smart city?

Home automation is very residential, and for the time being we are mainly positioned in the B2B sector, medium-sized or larger buildings which must become “smart”. Nonetheless, we're also investing a lot in the housing sector, in order to provide this technology and our solutions in the months and years to come. In any case, it's the same “recipe”, only the scale changes. Compared to the Big Five, our main background is hardware, the product. We look after equipment that can't be allowed to break down (data centres, hospitals). We know our products because we create them and manufacture them in our plants; we understand them and can intervene in real time. By modelling energy consumption, by comparing it to hundreds of sites which we know and look after around the world, our analysis of the situation will be pertinent. Indeed, we only sell software and digital applications in the areas we work in. We often collaborate with the Big Five, they are also our clients and our suppliers!

How can we establish a sustainable energy strategy in an unstable world going through major crises?

While the macroeconomic side of things is managed at group level, our firm is lucky enough to be highly international and diversified. Our geographic balance across the world's different nations allows us to be less sensitive to the effects of local crises. Furthermore, the COVID pandemic and the electronic crisis taught us to review how we organise our end-to-end supply chain. We ourselves manufacture more than 90% of the products we sell, and we are capable of continuing to serve our clients in an increasingly complex world. We have extensively developed our agility and must continue to progress; this is a large-scale issue that takes up a lot of time.