EXECUTIVE INSIGHT

Philippe Arsonneau is the Infrastructure Segment President at Schneider Electric. His role involves propelling the energy transition across the Power & Grid, Mobility and Semiconductor sectors.

Having been with Schneider Electric for more than 30 years – and leading multiple teams across different geographies – Philippe has been instrumental in helping Schneider’ s partners and customers decarbonise and electrify amid the energy transition.

Here, he shares how Schneider is aiding grid modernisation.

TITLE: SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE SEGMENT

COMPANY: SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC INDUSTRY: AUTOMATION LOCATION: DUBAI, UAE

Philippe joined Schneider Electric in 1991 and during his tenure has held leadership positions across Europe, Asia and the US. Philippe took charge of Schneider’ s Infrastructure Segment in January 2025, unifying Power & Grid, Electric Mobility and Semiconductor sectors, focusing on promoting the energy transition.

How does Schneider support and underpin grid modernisation? The whole ecosystem spans from generation right through to becoming the prosumer. When we have solar on our roof, an EV or whatever the case is, we’ re all part of the energy equation.

A lot of grids were built more than a hundred years ago for another time, another generation. They were fit for purpose. We produced centralised energy, we transmitted it, we distributed it.

Now we have a much more modern grid and increasing demands. Electrification is really at the forefront. It’ s the cleanest form of decarbonisation that we can have. The grids themselves, in this context, are becoming increasingly challenged and complex with distributed energy resources. This we need to be conscious of. The grid is really the central enabler for a decarbonised world and for more electrification.

And we have the advent of AI data centres. We’ ve all got our mobile phones. We’ re all driving – some of us are driving electric cars – industry is becoming more electrified. This means the grid is becoming more complex to manage.

This is where companies like Schneider Electric play a pivotal role in helping the grid operators modernise their grid. I’ m all for building out renewables and building new infrastructure, but I think one of the biggest things for us is driving resiliency, enhancement and flexibility within the current grid system.

At Schneider Electric, we do that by enhancing grid infrastructure, digitising the grid, making the grid much smarter than it was when it was built.

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