Why Schneider Electric is repositioning itself as an energy technology partner

As energy, technology and sustainability increasingly converge, infrastructure companies are looking to move beyond traditional product-led communication and build stronger technology narratives. The growth of data centres, connected homes, industrial automation and AI is making energy increasingly central to technology conversations. For Schneider Electric, this shift is reflected in its positioning around "Advancing Energy Tech", as the company seeks to strengthen its role as an energy technology partner across data centres, buildings, homes, industries, infrastructure and the grid. The repositioning comes as technology becomes a larger differentiator across Schneider Electric’s market. Rajat Abbi, Vice President – Marketing, Schneider Electric India, says the company's long-standing focus on sustainability, digitisation and electrification is now converging with a more connected technology ecosystem. “The organisation wants to be positioned as a technology company. Because the kind of customers and markets which we cater to, everything is getting connected through technology. With more data centres coming in and homes becoming smarter, technology is becoming the real differentiator. So we thought this is the right time for us to pivot ourselves to become a technology partner, and not only a technology partner, but an energy technology partner for our customers, partners and stakeholders," he says. Making energy visible Energy infrastructure has traditionally been a category that consumers encounter without necessarily recognising the companies and technologies behind it. Abbi believes that is changing as electrification, automation and digitisation become embedded across homes, businesses and industrial environments. "Energy is very much visible, and we are an energy management and automation company. If you see electrification, automation and digitisation, they are everywhere. It is actually the heartbeat of any equipment, whether you are a consumer at home, a factory owner, a building owner or a data centre operator. Energy is no longer invisible. It is at the forefront of the transformation which is happening now," he notes. This has shaped Schneider Electric's marketing approach, with the company focusing on customer needs and pain points rather than communicating only around products. The objective is to position its solutions around outcomes such as smarter homes, greener buildings and more resilient data centres. The company also uses a 360-degree marketing approach spanning strategic events, campaigns and sponsorships. "We believe in the power of marketing and branding in communicating the right value proposition to the right set of customers and stakeholders. We do that through an integrated approach, a 360-degree approach, whether it is participation in strategic events, doing large high-decibel campaigns or being involved in sponsorship of major cricket teams and so on. We try to use all the levers of marketing to ensure that energy is not invisible. It is very much visible," he explains. Schneider Electric's businesses require different communication strategies. Its Home Solutions business caters to B2C consumers, while Secure Power is focused more on data centres and Power Systems addresses infrastructure and grid requirements. The company, therefore, does not follow a single media or marketing playbook. While digital remains important because of its measurability, traditional media continues to be used depending on the objective. "If my requirement is to educate millions of consumer households in the country about a product like Wiser smart home solution or a new range of switches which I am launching, I am very well present across connected TV, traditional media channels, digital platforms, social media, using regional and national influencers, and so on. But if my requirement is to engage with an enterprise customer, a B2B customer, then my approach is led mainly through digital, presence in large thought leadership forums, organising large events like Innovation Summit, Innovation Days, and so on. There is no one-size-fits-all kind of an approach. It all depends on what is the objective we are trying to achieve and what is the business we are trying to achieve those goals for," Abbi says. India and AI in the marketing mix India is also gaining importance within Schneider Electric's global ecosystem. Abbi says the country is the company's third-largest market globally and one of its four global hubs, with around 38,000 employees based in India. The Indian team also has significant autonomy to develop campaigns, with some initiatives subsequently leveraged in other markets. Global projects are sometimes implemented in India first to generate learnings that can be applied elsewhere. "India is the third largest market for Schneider Electric Group globally, and India is also one of the four global hubs. About 38,000 employees of the group are based in India, which makes India the biggest hub also for talent globally for Schneider Electric. The kind of work which we are doing in India is seeing global recognition. The campaigns which we run in India sometimes are also leveraged outside India. The learnings and the experiments which we do in India are also very useful for some of the other geographies," he says. According to Abbi, the complexity of the Indian market makes it particularly relevant as a testing ground. "India is not one country. India is a country which has many countries within it. And therefore, the nuances in a country like India change every 5 or 10 kilometres," he remarks. AI is another major factor reshaping Schneider Electric's marketing function. At the business level, the company uses AI-enabled solutions through its EcoStruxure platform for areas including energy efficiency and predictive maintenance. Within marketing, Abbi sees AI as an enabler that can automate operational work and give marketers more time for strategic thinking. The company is using approved tools such as Microsoft Copilot and Canva across content and creative workflows. "AI is a very good friend of marketing, I would say, because it is on one side helping us to ensure that the operational tasks, the mundane tasks, are done more seamlessly and in a faster way, which gives my team more time to think, more time to think strategically and plan bigger campaigns. We use several AI tools within the organisation. For example, Microsoft Copilot, Canva and some of the other approved tools are helping my team and myself in ensuring that, right from using a tool to make the content sharper to using a tool which helps in making our creatives more beautiful, it is helping us tremendously in elevating the overall impact of marketing," he explains. The company is also creating internal AI cohorts and champions, with teams developing expertise in areas such as content creation, digital analytics and creative visualisation. For Abbi, however, AI will make human originality more important, not less. "What will differentiate a good marketer from a great marketer would be originality of thought, because AI will never be able to replace the original thinking capability of a human being. And that is going to differentiate, years to come, decades to come, in terms of who is a good marketer and who is actually a great marketer," he says. From sustainability messaging to participation Schneider Electric's sustainability marketing has increasingly focused on participation rather than awareness alone, with initiatives such as Green Yodha and the One Unit Mission. Abbi says Green Yodha initially targeted enterprises, policymakers and public and private sector organisations before the company recognised that consumers also needed to become part of the sustainability conversation. The One Unit Mission was subsequently built around encouraging people to pledge to save one unit of electricity a day. "The best marketing campaigns also have the quality of being very simple to understand and execute. Complex campaigns are never remembered by anyone, and they are, in the end, I would say that is my personal take, complex things always fail towards the end. The One Unit Mission was launched to encourage common people on the ground to come forward, take a pledge to be a Green Yodha and just save one unit of electricity per day. It could be by using smarter appliances. It could be by reducing the use of electricity and power when you don't need it, and so on," he says. Abbi said more than 250,000 people had participated in the initiative over the preceding three to four months. Schneider Electric is also using social listening to track conversations around sustainability, energy efficiency and technology. Looking ahead, Abbi sees the rapid pace of technological change and the need to continuously train talent as major challenges for marketers. The growing AI ecosystem also creates an energy challenge, particularly as data centres consume increasing amounts of power and water. "The way technology is changing, even AI, every month there is a new AI trend, a technology which is coming up, and no one can accurately predict where the future lies. So one challenge obviously is how do you prepare for a future which is going to change very dramatically and very fast? Second, I would say the challenge would be how do you train your teams? How do you train your talent? Because end of the day, you have to use AI tools, you have to use AI technology. But when the technologies are changing so fast, how can you train your talent and train your teams to adopt and embrace those technologies?" he says. For Schneider Electric, the immediate marketing priority is to establish "Advancing Energy Tech" across its markets and customer segments. "Our first priority, as I started the conversation, is to position Schneider as a strong energy technology partner. We want Schneider to be recognised as an energy technology company in India and across the world. That is going to be our priority for the next several months and several years," Abbi says. Beyond positioning, Abbi said marketing will also focus on business outcomes, including pipeline growth, new customer acquisition, faster order conversion and stronger product launches. The longer-term ambition is to build on Schneider Electric's sustainability credentials and become a technology brand that comes to mind for both B2B and B2C audiences. While Schneider Electric is widely recognised for its sustainability credentials, the company’s long-term ambition is to strengthen its position as a leading technology brand. The aim, he says, is for Schneider to be among the brands that come to mind when consumers and businesses think about technology.