Transforming the finance function in a context of hypergrowth: discover the Vision of Augustin Barrelet, CFO Secure Power Division & Data Center Business at Schneider Electric
Faced with exploding demand in the data center sector, Schneider Electric's finance department is rethinking its roles, tools and priorities to support a high-speed transformation.
The market for digital infrastructures is growing by leaps and bounds, driven by the widespread use of the cloud, artificial intelligence and exponential demand for computing power. In this context, Schneider Electric 's Secure Power & Data Center Business division plays a strategic role, with double-digit growth and a contribution that already represents 20% of Group sales.
To keep pace with this exceptional dynamic, the finance function needs to reinvent itself. It is no longer simply a question of managing budgets or producing reports, but of supporting rapid decision-making, steering resource allocation, securing contractual risks, while contributing to digital transformation.
A profound transformation of methods, tools and skills is therefore underway, supported by the Horizon program and an overhaul of management systems.
As part of an exclusive study conducted with Ifop "AI, businesses, regulations: the priorities of finance functions 2025-2026" for the white paper La Finance à l'horizon 2030: pilotage et transformation technologique, Augustin Barrelet, CFO of the division, looks back at the challenges of this transformation and shares the keys to making finance a central player in a context of hypergrowth. Read his interview in full below.
The data center market is growing exponentially. How are these dynamics shaping the priorities and responsibilities of the CFO in your division?
The data center business is currently the Group's biggest growth driver, already accounting for 20% of sales. As CFO, I'm focusing on three imperatives: constantly adapting our production capacity to rapidly expanding demand, particularly in North America. To support innovation, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence, which is radically transforming our sector, requiring significant investment in R&D, both internally and through targeted acquisitions. Finally, my third objective is to drive an agile financial strategy, capable of rapidly reallocating resources to emerging opportunities in R&D or the supply chain. This requires transparent communication and the ability to justify budget adjustments in the light of rapidly changing market conditions.
At the same time, risk management has become an absolute priority. We manage large-scale contracts, which calls for heightened vigilance on contractual aspects, as some of these customers weigh heavily in our sales. We work closely with the Group's risk management and legal teams to anticipate and mitigate potential risks. This situation leads us to innovate in our approaches, as the amounts involved often exceed the usual thresholds for the Group.
Faced with these challenges, how can the digital transformation of your finance department help you optimize your operations?
Our priority is to increase the operational efficiency of the finance function, particularly in reporting and analysis.
This ambition is supported by the Group's Horizon program, which is the cornerstone of this transformation. It aims to homogenize our digital architecture by deploying an EPM (Enterprise Performance Management) solution and a digital finance layer "on top" of our ERPs. This will enable us to standardize reporting, obtain fine granularity of end-to-end data and eliminate customized reports.
This represents a profound change of mindset for finance teams , who still carry out a large number of tasks manually. The aim is also to achieve better data integration end-to-end without waiting for ERP changes in the various divisions.
In addition, this automation will strengthen our regulatory compliance and pave the way for a more strategic use of artificial intelligence, particularly in financial forecasting, based on a consistent and reliable database, which is a sine qua non for success.
"We had 18 months to set up SAP's Digital finance layer and then implement EPM, with very little time in between to acculturate to our new environment."
Does your division benefit specifically from setting up this program?
Traditionally within the Group, data was structured by offer and by country, but we lacked a unified view of our customers. This evolution is therefore in line with one of our objectives, which is to develop a customer-centric perspective for monitoring financial performance.
We need standardized and granular data, and here again, we need to be able to automate as many processes as possible. The new architecture will give us a consolidated view of our customers and their contribution to our performance.
Did implementing this program present any particular challenges for your teams, and how did you overcome them?
Migration to a new digital architecture was a major challenge for our division, as we use an Oracle ERP separate from the SAP solution deployed in the rest of the Group.
The timing was also very tight. We had 18 months to set up SAP's Digital Finance Layer and then implement EPM, with very little time in between to acculturate staff to our new environment. This project required the implementation of middleware to ensure system interoperability.
This required a great deal of agility within a large group, where a transformation of this scale mobilizes many different departments. In addition to my own teams, I also had to collaborate with the unit that globally manages the transformation of finance at Schneider Electric, as well as a number of shared services such as accounting or financial planning and analysis , and finally the data and IT teams.
Our business is growing at a double-digit rate, so a project of this kind inevitably causes tensions. If we've managed to stay on course, it's thanks to the commitment of our teams, who have fully grasped the importance of what's at stake. Schneider's strong collaborative culture is also an essential asset for success in this type of mission, because transformation requires working in a community, collaborating with people to whom you don't report hierarchically.
We have also recruited hybrid profiles who have both skills in the finance function and an appetite for data. Ideally, we'd like to find people who have already been involved in transformation projects, are resilient and able to work with other professions, particularly IT.
"My division is piloting a major transition of our ERP system from Oracle to SAP by 2030."
What are the next steps in this transformation?
We continue to work on improving our forecasts, by implementing driver-based forecasts.
This method consists in identifying and modeling the drivers - i.e. the measurable operational and economic variables - that directly influence our financial results. For example, to forecast revenue growth, we analyze factors such as rate increases or sales volume trends. By modeling these relationships using historical and current data, we can adjust our assumptions to develop more accurate forecasts.
In addition, my division is piloting a major transition of our ERP system, which will move from Oracle to SAP by 2030 and complete our full integration into the Group's digital architecture.
Would you like to discover new testimonials? Find the other exclusive interviews conducted as part of the study "AI, businesses, regulations: priorities for finance functions 2025-2026" by clicking here.
