Mission Critical is excited to introduce you to the 2024 Top 25 Women in Technology. Meet Vandana Singh.

Title: Senior Vice President, Secure Power Division, North America

Company: Schneider Electric

Age: 50

Education: Bachelor’s degree in science; master’s degree in Business Administration

Organizational affiliations: Serving on the board for Dress for Success

Achievements/awards: Vandana was a finalist for the 2022/23 Mission Critical Women in Technology Award

What made you realize you wanted to pursue a career in technology?

Technology’s multi-dimensional influence is profound – it has the power to accelerate innovation to solve our most complex challenges and is a platform to build bridges across societal norms to connect humanity across generations, cultures, and geographies.

What inspires you to do what you do?

We’ve been given a once in a lifetime opportunity to make a difference. My passion is my work with and through people and I’m inspired by the potential to fuel and foster growth in a purpose-driven organization. I channel this inspiration by building high-performing, collaborative teams to deliver innovative solutions. I am an ardent advocate of transforming our customer’s experiences to deliver meaningful customer and community outcomes, and spark change through my work.

What role does sustainability play in your life?

My dedication to sustainability is woven through all areas of my life. With a background in sciences, professionally, I lead efforts at Schneider Electric to inspire and support the industry to digitize and conserve energy. There are three main concepts necessary to guide the data center industry through a successful sustainability journey. First, data centers can energize with renewables and micro data centers to manage greenhouse gas emissions. Second, data centers should rely on predictive analytics to manage energy usage. Finally, we must follow the circular economy model and the “renew, re-use, recycle” ideology in data centers.

What is the most fascinating thing you have learned while working in this industry?

Our data consumption needs across industries will continue its unprecedented growth curve and Schneider Electric is at the helm of driving transformation for digitization and automation future states – critical to deliver efficiency drivers and manage TCO. Our singular most asset to meet and solve these challenges is our talent – one that’s diverse, futuristic, and empowered to deliver change. This will require us as leaders to show up at our personal best – in addition to driving strategic transformation and results, we need to exude empathy, gratitude, and self-awareness. Combining inward-facing work with outward-facing actions will help create impactful and lasting game-change.

What’s something unique about you personally?

For me, sustainability starts at home. I grew up in India and every summer headed out to visit grandparents who lived in a small farming community. Conservation, recycle, renew and circularity was elemental to everyday living. Lessons learned at a young age provided me a frame for future practice and set the stage for my passion for sustainability. I am avid gardener and conservationist. When I started my work with Schneider finally, my personal passion in sustainability converged with my professional conviction.

What’s something unique about you professionally?

Stories have a unique ability to teach, inspire, and motivate people to action. I often use stories, books, and poems as inspirations to make my point.

Why is diversity, equality, and inclusion important to you?

An inclusive and diverse workforce is powerful as it represents the world we live in, with its myriad perspectives which need representation in our professional environments. To put this into practice means attracting and retaining multi-faceted talent and operating in an equitable, meritocracy-based model which in turn both enriches our business outcomes and our people’s lives. Embracing our differences makes us collectively stronger.

What aspect of the industry do you think has the most potential for growth, and, on the other hand, which aspect do you think needs the most improvement?

The data center industry is growing at an unprecedented rate due to the proliferation of AI. This rapid growth is driving unparalleled demand; the industry is scrambling to build additional capacity to support it. As a result, data center capacity planning is also transforming from near-term transactional to long-term supply capacity partnership agreements. By leading the strategy for this transformation, we can tap into greater market potential and expand our reach into new markets. This presents a unique opportunity for Schneider Electric to serve as a trusted advisor and offer future-proof strategies and solutions to our customers.

With the growth rate and thirst for electrical utility supply, both reliable and more sustainable, we find ourselves as an industry trying to find better “grid interactivity and active power management solutions.” Growth in microgrids, combining renewable energy sources and interaction with the grid, is a huge opportunity worldwide.

When you imagine the future of the technology industry, what does it look like?

Our purpose is a gift - to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability for everyone is relevant, compelling, and value-based with a tremendous potential to impact humanity. How many times in our lifetime do we get positioned to lead a significant change, to be part of an adventure? The market is evolving, and key drivers such as Electricity 4.0, AI, and Emobility show us the potentiality of the future.