2023 Thought Leaders: Carlos Urbano

What opportunities do you predict for the growth of your industry in 2023?

Digitisation is the single most important opportunity for our industry in 2023. The impacts of recent natural disasters and the pandemic have been a reminder of how adaptability and resilience are key to our survival and success. This reminder, and recognition among businesses of the role of technology, will be an important catalyst for change.

Compared to its global counterparts, Australia has been relatively slow in its uptake of technological developments. Yet the operational, economic and environmental benefits are far reaching. Digitising electrical systems is already having an exponential positive effect on operations. In fact, the more digitised an operation is, the more control it has over its energy usage and thus better capacity to optimise production while minimising energy consumption and operating costs.

This year, business leaders have an opportunity to lead by example. Sharing experiences is key to generating sector-wide success, which is why Schneider Electric places great importance on sharing its experience, learnings and wins with customers and other industry stakeholders.

What plans do you have in 2023 for an energy transition to renewables?

Schneider Electric is a global leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation. As such, energy transition is at the core of our organisation and ethos.

As the pressures of climate change and the energy crisis peak, both sides of the energy equation are equally important to achieving the path to net zero: the supply side (energy transition) and the demand side (energy efficiency).

The demand side is split between optimisation and process changes. Demand optimisation includes behavioural shifts such as efficiency in buildings, modal shifts in transport, circularity and the impact of other sectorial transformations. Process changes include the electrification of the energy system. These transformations of demand come at net benefit for consumers, bridging climate change mitigation and human progress.

Furthermore, the technology exists today in the form of digital software and renewables, but we need to deploy it.

To assess the current state of play among Australian businesses, we conduct annual research in the form of the Sustainability Index: transforming intention to outcomes, which recently revealed that (among other things) a skills gap is holding companies back. The 2022 report showed that without proper support and intelligence a significant proportion of companies struggle to make any impact on emissions reduction.

At Schneider Electric, we help organisations to identify the challenges, set their intentions and create the efficiencies to help reach their sustainability goals.

Discuss the ongoing impact of the skills shortages on your industry, and solutions being implemented in 2023.

It’s no secret that the pandemic brought chaos to supply chains globally, with unprecedented talent shortages. To plug the gap, and build a more resilient workforce, there are three main areas organisations should focus on. Firstly, educating and upskilling the current workforce, then attracting new talent, and leaning on technology partners and innovation to drive efficiencies.

The pace of change in our industry is relentless. Ensuring the talent that we already have is supported in the right way, so that they can be educated on new processes and innovations, ensures we don’t experience an even greater knowledge exodus. Active recruitment is also a clear priority. In particular, diversity and inclusion is imperative to diversifying a traditionally homogenous workforce, bringing with it the potential for increased creativity and innovation.

Finally, incorporating technology and software solutions can allow people to upskill through freeing up time for training and relieving the workforce from outdated and inefficient processes.

There is no single quick fix to the talent shortages within our industry but if we focus on these three important steps, we can at least start to bridge the gap in 2023.

What are the three biggest challenges or threats facing your industry in 2023?

Decarbonisation, the current economic climate and the impact of the pandemic will all present new challenges in the year ahead. Businesses must be able to adapt, innovate and lean on new technologies and data to drive industry forward. This will require strong leadership and a collective effort from the industry. For many businesses, leaning on partners will be key to their success.

In fact, our own 2022 research shows that over a third (38%) of organisations are receiving external partner support when it comes to decarbonising, and this included over half (55%) of Australia’s companies with more than 200 employees.

Companies engaging third-party experts were more likely to have implemented energy management systems (41%), IoT assets (40%) and specific software (35%), while companies that hadn’t gained assistance had lower levels of adoption.

Ultimately, tomorrow’s challenges require the intelligent application of software-based technologies. This digital paradigm has the potential to provide unprecedented operational capabilities and support new business opportunities for all enterprise stakeholders.

Carlos Urbano is Vice President of Industry, Pacific Zone at Schneider Electric, with responsibility for the continuing growth of the Industrial Automation and Process Automation businesses. Carlos has held multiple roles in Schneider Electric over the past 15 years, most recently as Industry Business Director at Schneider Electric Brazil.