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April 29th, 2026

Managing IT in the Midst of a Tech Revolution – Elizabeth Hackenson, Chief Information Officer, Schneider Electric

  1. Managing IT in the Midst of a Tech Revolution - Elizabeth Hackenson, Chief Information Officer, Schneider Electric Joan Michelson 44:12

“We realized early on with our digital transformation that really what we’re trying to do is digitize processes and …we really want to transform. But the people that own these business processes are stakeholders, they’re in sales, they’re in operations, they’re in HR, Finance, supply chain, so we needed them before we could get started on digitally architecting a solution. So… we take a senior leader from a function and ops or a business unit and ask them to be the business process leader…. and we match you to an IT leader who’s also quite senior. So these are VP SVP roles and they’re the power couple. So we ask the domain leader on the stakeholder or business side, you define the what and the why, so what is it that you need and why? That’s the value part of it….They’re a partnership.””

Elizabeth Hackenson on Electric Ladies Podcast

How do you manage business systems in the middle of an industrial-Technology revolution when those very systems are transforming too? They also use massive amounts of energy, water and are made from things like critical minerals, steel, aluminum wires, computer chips, et cetera that are all complicated by climate and energy crises.

Listen to Elizabeth Hackenson, Chief Information Officer of Schneider Electric explain how this massive global technology leader transforms itself while helping clients do the same in this fascinating discussion with Electric Ladies host Joan Michelson.

You’ll hear about:

  • How what a Chief Information Officer’s portfolio really is and how they manage it 24/7 across the globe
  • How they are leveraging and managing AI, as well as data centers.
  • How their “power couples” have become a valuable structure for ground up systems transformation with the end user in mind.
  • How they reduce their carbon footprint while helping clients do the same and maintain excellence.
  • Plus, insightful career advice, such as…

“First you have to find a company that is interesting to you and what you want to do. And then to me, it’s always about focus on delivering what you’ve been asked to and what you can do. And then opportunity, in my view, opens up. Now sometimes it’s at the company you’re at and other times it’s not. And that’s okay…When you’re at that 15-year mark, you should have by then figured out what you like, what your interests are and where you want to go next. And you’ve got to take control of your destiny. And again, I think getting to a company that you believe in, you have the same values, can give you that pathway to whatever it is you’re looking for is where to start and then deliver.”

Elizabeth Hackenson on Electric Ladies Podcast

Read Joan’s Forbes article about this new report here and more of her articles here too.

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Joan Michelson Electric Ladies Podcast - Innovation, Energy, Climate, Careers

Joan Michelson, MBA is a highly accomplished business leader and award-winning strategic social impact and ESG – environment, social, governance – leader, who drove breakthrough results at Chrysler (in EVs), American Express and Deloitte, small businesses, and government agencies. She is an instructor on ESG issues to professionals, leaders and board members across industries. Her specialties include leveraging ESG solutions and partnerships strategically for maximum benefit, helping organizations recruit innovative, diverse women, and helping these women thrive in their careers. She is based in the Washington D.C. area.

Joan is also an accomplished journalist who has worked with top media organizations and hosts and produces the acclaimed Electric Ladies podcast (formerly known as Green Connections Radio), about innovation and leadership in energy-, climate- and sustainability-related issues across industries, featuring women experts.

She writes regularly for Forbes on these issues and has also been in the Harvard Business Review, HuffPost, TheAtlantic.com, Greenbiz, The New Economy magazine (distributed at the World Economic Forum), New Thinking magazine, regional business journals; and various other media. She coproduced segments with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” ABC News, and “The Crusaders,” and television specials on NBC.

Joan has spent her career working in energy-sustainability-climate-ESG issues and in marketing communications, including as head of communications and co-leader of the sales and marketing team of Chrysler’s Global Electric Motorcars (GEM), driving “best year ever” growth and significantly accelerated the adoption of electric vehicles. Prior to GEM, she led marketing communications efforts to high-net-worth and high-visibility clients in management consulting-financial services companies Deloitte and American Express. She's a native of NYC and has a BA from UCLA, an MBA from Baruch College at City University of NY, and post-graduate studies at Harvard Business School, The New School and The Aspen Institute, among others. She has a Sustainability and ESG certification from Competent Boards.