VANESSA MILER-FELS
SUSTAINABILITY
Vanessa is focused on how Schneider Electric can make the business more resilient and efficient while continuing to reduce its environmental impact.
“ A big part of that is using better data and digital technologies to turn sustainability goals into practical decisions,” she explains.
Starting with outcomes Climate impacts over the next decade are largely locked in, but future impacts depend on decarbonisation action over the next two decades, according to McKinsey. The consulting firm highlights that Earth can no longer support our consumption levels or current linear approaches to production.
For many businesses, sustainability has become a key focus as the impact of climate change takes effect. Predicting its impact, and what it means for large enterprises, is critical. Some firms are still at‘ the first question’ – and others simply don’ t know what the first question is.“ The first question should be not what AI can do,” Vanessa says.“ But what sustainability outcome are we trying to improve? That could be reducing energy consumption, anticipating equipment failure, identifying potential risks etc.” Vanessa highlights that starting with a clearly defined outcome helps organisations determine whether predictive analytics is the right tool for them and how success should be measured.
“ The next consideration is data readiness,” she continues.“ Organisations need reliable, sufficiently granular and
VANESSA MILER-FELS
TITLE: SVP FOR GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN, SAFETY, ENVIRONMENT, REAL ESTATE AND SUSTAINABILITY
COMPANY: SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC INDUSTRY: AUTOMATION LOCATION: UK
Vanessa is a global business, technology and investment leader in climate change and energy transition. She joined Schneider Electric for its mission: electrify, digitise and decarbonise.
end-to-end connected data across the operations and supply chains. More data doesn’ t automatically mean better insight. Data needs consistent definitions, clear ownership and the right operational context, particularly when models are expected to work across different sites, regions or business conditions.”
Why strong leadership is critical While having a vast amount of data to draw on is critical to predictive analytics, executive leadership is important too and can only be implemented effectively by a strong leadership team.
“ AI for sustainability isn’ t just a technology project,” Vanessa says.“ Leaders need to identify where it can create meaningful business and environmental value, connect
68 September 2026