Grids Are the Center of Everything

What exactly is a “digital grid”—and why is it the cornerstone of our energy future?

In this episode, Elisa Wood sits down with Ruben Llanes, CEO of the Digital Grid business at Schneider Electric, to explore the digital transformation of energy infrastructure. With over 15 years at Schneider and a lifetime surrounded by energy systems (his father owned an electrical contracting business), Ruben shares his insider perspective on why grid modernization is the key to managing the explosive growth of data centers, aging infrastructure, and prosumer energy participation.

From rethinking load growth and AI-driven energy demands to unveiling Schneider’s One Digital Grid platform, Ruben offers a hopeful but urgent message: the technology exists—but will we move fast enough?

• Ruben’s journey from Deutsche Bank to leading digital grid innovation at Schneider Electric

• What a digital grid actually means—and how it changes everything from asset management to customer engagement

• How distributed energy, electrification, and AI are reshaping grid demands

• Why aging infrastructure and long interconnection queues are major challenges

• The role of grid management software and “non-wire alternatives” in solving energy supply gaps

• Incentive structures and regulatory shifts needed to accelerate modernization

• Schneider’s One Digital Grid platform and how it unifies IT, OT, and third-party applications

• Use cases powered by AI and integrated data ecosystems

• A vision of the future: resilient, intelligent, consumer-empowering grids
  

Ruben Llanes is the CEO of Schneider Electric’s Digital Grid business, where he oversees the integration of software, analytics, and system intelligence into the global energy infrastructure. With over 15 years at Schneider Electric—and prior experience at Deutsche Bank—Ruben brings a rare combination of financial expertise, operational leadership, and visionary thinking to the role. He previously led AutoGrid and has deep insight into the technological and regulatory forces shaping the future of energy.

• Schneider Electric Digital Grid

• AutoGrid (acquired by Uplight)

• Esri GIS Solutions

• AI Dash – Vegetation Management

• Distributech International
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