How best to start a generative AI transformation when the future is simultaneously so promising, unknown, and potentially risky? Schneider Electric and BCG partnered to make the most of this exciting opportunity.

While many organizations see generative AI mainly as a technical and data challenge, Schneider Electric’s leadership recognized that the technology requires transformation of business processes and people development along with enhanced risk management. And that is how Schneider Electric is treating this moment as it decides which generative AI opportunities to pursue.

A Brief History of Schneider Electric
Founded in 1836 as a steel and heavy equipment manufacturer, Schneider Electric has a history of keeping up with the times. The €34 billion company is now a global leader in the digital transformation of energy management and industrial automation. Back in 2009, before the Internet of Things was a household phrase, Schneider Electric launched EcoStruxure, an open, interoperable platform that delivers digital solutions in energy management, building automation, and data centers. In November 2021, the company created a global AI organization staffed with 300 professionals to pursue high-value use cases alongside internal functions and business units. It also named a chief AI officer.

The recently completed review of the value chain to identify promising uses of GenAI is the most recent chapter in Schneider Electric’s rich history of reinvention. In line with earlier AI efforts, the review examined potential productivity gains, revenue opportunities, talent upskilling, and people development.

This effort has yielded some early lessons.

Generative AI will likely enhance how work gets done, create demand for new skills, and eliminate the need for other skills. It will accelerate the clock speed of organizations, creating the need for agile leadership, diverse perspectives, and better soft skills in addition to ongoing change management capabilities. And it will likely change how organizations are configured. Many routine tasks performed by humans will be executed by AI, and creative and experience-based skills will take on greater value.

In recognition of the human-centric nature of a GenAI transformation, Schneider Electric decided to involve stakeholders from across the company from the start. The company held 56 workshops attended by more than 200 internal stakeholders from 15 functions over four weeks. The workshops brought AI and technology experts together with business executives to build awareness of generative AI capabilities, co-create high-value opportunities, and identify ways to excite employees.

This upfront inclusion and mobilization of people signaled to the organization that leaders view the adoption of generative AI as a company-wide effort rather than a top-down or bottom-up initiative. In the workshops, employees were encouraged to flag potential barriers to various approaches and recommend ways to overcome implementation challenges.

The workshops also identified training as a critical success factor, an area that emerged in a recent BCG survey of 13,000 employees, in which 86% said they felt the need for upskilling to stay relevant in an AI world.