Olivier Blum

Chief Executive Officer, Schneider Electric Se

Search every verified Olivier Blum interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. On June 1, 2026, Olivier Blum, CEO of Schneider Electric, appeared on the program "La Grande Interview" to discuss a partnership with Softbank. Blum stated that Softbank had committed $75 billion to develop data centers in the Hauts-de-France region, with Schneider Electric serving as a key industrial and energy partner. He described the project as a "flagship project" for France and noted that the two companies have a historical relationship spanning many years. Blum characterized Schneider Electric as a "facilitator for the AI ecosystem to work together," explaining that the company helps design and optimize data centers that are increasingly energy-intensive and require liquid cooling. He also emphasized the importance of energy for artificial intelligence, stating that "there is no artificial intelligence, there is no data center if there is no energy." Blum argued that Europe is not arriving too late to AI development, asserting that the technology "is only just beginning" and that investors are focused on sovereignty and the need for local computing capacity, regardless of political changes.