Why IT skill development is core to Schneider Electric’s transformation
I often get asked at external events what my teams and I do at Schneider Electric. I usually smile and say, “We make dreams come true.” While this gets a laugh, it’s a true representation of our work. Behind every customer relationship is a complex digital reality. Platforms must integrate. Data must flow. Systems must be scaled securely. Ideas must move from presentations to execution. However, making these “dreams” come true requires more than technology. We need the right people with the right skills to turn ambition into success.
Building expertise that evolves as fast as technology
The reality is simple: technology doesn’t wait and neither can we. We need to constantly recalibrate our capabilities to keep pace with a rapidly evolving digital landscape. 40 years ago, most professional skills stayed relevant for ten years or more. Today, that window has collapsed to roughly four years, and it continues to shrink.
At Schneider Electric, we are a skills-first organization. Delivering on our commitments—customer satisfaction, operational excellence, and faster time-to-market—requires sustained investment in strong IT capabilities. I refer to this as Digital+: the combination of engineering excellence, product thinking, security discipline, customer empathy, and the ability to keep learning without losing momentum.
Our transformations and our future rely on our ability to grow, specialize, and empower our digital workforce.
IT is a people business
While IT often evokes systems, platforms, technological advancements and architectures, the real story is fundamentally about people. Big digital transformations succeed because of the expertise, creativity, and adaptability of the teams behind them.
- People design the architecture.
- People drive modernization.
- People build and scale new capabilities.
- People collaborate with business teams to turn strategy into execution
- People support existing solutions, adoption and success.
This is why investing in digital competencies is not optional. It’s a strategic business decision.
Providing the tools to succeed
Skill development only works when people have access and time. To support this, we expanded our digital learning ecosystem with:
- E-learning platforms such as Coursera, offering thousands of technical and professional development courses
- Curated learning paths aligned to key transformation areas such as cloud, data, AI, DevSecOps, and architecture
- Certification opportunities to validate expertise and enhance career growth
- Official, protected learning time, ensuring development is not a “nice to have” but part of the job
This combination ensures that every team member, no matter where they are in the organization, can continuously expand their capabilities and stay up-to-date with technological advancements.
Keeping skills fresh through mastery, not just training: The Electrifier program
Transformations require specialists with passion, people who want to master advanced technologies. To support and reward this ambition, we designed the Schneider Electric Electrifier program. Electrifier recognizes our people with outstanding achievements, expertise, and leadership. It gives them the chance to directly affect strategic business drivers. By maximizing their careers and potential, these experts become instrumental in shaping our future.
Electrifier helps us:
- Spotlight experts who drive innovation and technical excellence
- Recognize the extra effort required to master advanced technology domains
- Create a culture where specialization is valued and celebrated
- Enable experts to influence architectural and strategic decisions
This program has become one of our strongest levers for building a motivated, future-ready technical community.
Building a community at scale: Our Digital Hub model
To ensure we can deliver complex transformation programs with speed and depth, we established Digital Hubs across our organization. In Barcelona alone, we have more than 500 people representing over 30 nationalities. That diversity is not just a statistic. It is an operating advantage. Complex problems look different depending on where you stand, and the best solutions often come from the collision of perspectives.
The Digital Hub model helps us:
- Develop deep expertise by gathering talent around strategic technology domains
- Move faster by strengthening cross-functional delivery and reducing handoffs
- Create clear career pathways for experts who want to specialize
- Standardize where it matters so we can scale safely and reliably
- Build belonging through active communities that increase engagement and employee satisfaction
Digital Hubs are not only execution engines, but they’re also talent centers.
Building our future together
To achieve our vision and maintain our position as your Energy Technology Partner, we must advance energy and industrial intelligence through leading innovations. Thus far, our competitive advantage has not been from technology alone. It has come from the collective intelligence and skillset of our people:
- Experts who understand emerging technologies
- Architects who can design scalable digital ecosystems
- Engineers who can turn strategy into reality
- Product owners who can align digital capabilities with customer needs
- Experts who are agile while rigorously respecting the IT foundations, standards, and protocols that keep our ecosystem secure and scalable
- Leaders who invest in talent, not just projects
By strengthening our IT capabilities and combining them with Schneider Electric’s deep business expertise, we are strengthening the future of our company.
If you’re curious about technology, want to master your field, and are hungry to make an impact, you’ll be right at home with us. Visit our Careers Page to help us shape the future.
About the author
Cem Yöndem, VP DCR Digital Solutions
I am a senior digital executive with global experience leading large‑scale digital transformations across Schneider Electric over the past 25 years. Having worked across multiple countries and cultures, I bring a broad international perspective to designing and delivering digital solutions that meet diverse customer and operational needs. As VP of Digital Solutions within the Digital Customer Relationship organization, I focus on developing data‑driven platforms, strengthening customer experience, and enabling scalable digital operations. Throughout my career, I have witnessed—and actively responded to—the rapid evolution of technology and its impact on customer expectations, organizational design, and business models. With a background spanning technology leadership, enterprise strategy, and end‑to‑end transformation programs, I apply a structured, outcome‑oriented, cost efficient approach to modernizing customer‑facing capabilities.
Add a comment