Schneider Electric EVP Discusses Industrial IoT, AI, and EcoStruxure Solutions

Cyril Perducat, Schneider Electric’s Executive Vice‑President of IoT & Digital Solutions, takes a pragmatic view of emerging technologies. He describes the Internet of Things as a practical tool—“a means to an end”—and cautions that artificial intelligence can sometimes be over‑hyped. “In industry, some folks become so enamored with AI that they imagine science‑fiction scenarios,” Perducat said, “wondering if we can make an industrial process self‑aware.”

Perducat emphasizes that AI exists on a spectrum. He likens it to the automotive industry’s five levels of autonomous driving—from basic driver‑assist features (adaptive cruise control, parking aid, lane‑keeping) at Level 1 to fully autonomous, robot‑grade control at Level 5.

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This same gradient applies to industrial AI. Future plant systems will become increasingly autonomous, learning from data to boost performance. Yet the most valuable AI and IoT solutions address concrete problems. “When deploying predictive maintenance, how do we prioritize alarms that truly impact the process?” Perducat asked.

The EcoStruxure Asset Advisor helps utilities, data‑center operators, and hospitals assess the reliability of electrical infrastructure by combining telemetry and unstructured maintenance data. It identifies patterns that signal imminent failures and recommends which equipment poses the highest risk. For example, a detected risk of failure in a hospital’s power system should trigger immediate action, whereas an oil‑and‑gas rig facing a looming failure demands even higher priority due to the high cost of downtime.

Perducat notes that Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure platform is engineered around problem‑solving rather than generic buzz. Because its customers already rely on SCADA, M2M, and IoT systems, they demand focused solutions. “EcoStruxure is organized into six vertical domains—power management, building management, plant & process management, machine systems management, and grid management—each addressing a specific problem space,” he explained. “Within each domain, we offer a portfolio of hardware, software, and services designed to solve real customer challenges.”

Sometimes a customer’s needs span multiple domains. For instance, a data‑center operator seeking to improve efficiency while scaling renewable energy use would benefit from a combination of solutions from Schneider’s electrical distribution, building management, and grid‑management portfolios.

Although Schneider can combine expertise across domains to tackle complex challenges, Perducat emphasizes that the leadership team does not promote EcoStruxure as a “magical all‑in‑one platform.”