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In this episode of the Moore’s Lobby podcast, we sit down with Antonio Di Vaira, Senior VP for Power Product of Schneider Electric to discuss the massive shifts happening in the world of energy distribution. The conversation kicks off by exploring how the explosive growth of electric vehicles and energy-hungry technologies like AI are pushing traditional power grids to their breaking point. He also explains that while building out new grid capacity is part of the long-term solution, the industry needs ways to sustain this growth in the short term.
Schneider Electric is developing solutions for a more robust and efficient power grid. Background image used courtesy of Adobe
This sets the stage for a deep dive into microgrids. Di Vaira breaks down how intelligent software is needed to manage the complex orchestration between sources and loads.
The discussion also explores the exciting potential of native DC (direct current) power distribution. As more sources (like solar panels) and loads (like EVs and data centers) are native to DC, creating dedicated DC microgrids can offer significant gains in efficiency and simplicity.
The episode concludes with a look at the future of the industry. Di Vaira emphasizes the need for engineers to adopt a multidisciplinary mindset and the critical importance of staying customer-centric to drive true innovation.
Meet Antonio Di Vaira
Antonio Di Vaira is the Senior VP for Power Products in North America, Mexico, and Central America at Schneider Electric. He oversees strategy, R&D, market development, and go-to-market for the ANSI, NEMA, and LV portfolio, including Services.
He previously spent over 20 years at ABB in global and local leadership roles across R&D, product management, M&A, and supply chain. Antonio holds a master’s in computer engineering from the University of Pavia.
AI under “neural networks” label has been around for few years. Today , with the exception of “assisted writing” and silly videos, there is not much AI can actually offer. The power “requirement” is further distracting from current , actual accomplishment of AI…if there are any worth to brag about.