Since the last 125 years, GE has seen its business survive two world wars and multiple recessions, including the Great Depression. Its survival could be pinned down to an ‘evolve and adapt’ approach. Munesh Makhija, VP, GE India Technology Centre & CTO, GE South Asia, spoke to BusinessLine on the company’s art of disrupting and rebuilding simultaneously; its engagement with start-ups; and the larger waves of digitalisation sweeping industrial businesses.

What has been changing since over the last few years for GE?

We have always been in the business of infrastructure and are present in energy, transportation and healthcare. If you look at the world today, all of them are undergoing a sea change. Add to that there are productivity increases driving outcomes to do more with less. It is very similar to what we see in our daily lives and the way tech is transforming the world around us. When you apply that to the industrial world, a combination of physical sciences and AI can completely change the game. We call this the digital twin. It is the combination of data and intelligence.

How can this make sense in, say, transportation?

Take the example of an aircraft engine. A digital trend can start to predict for a specific engine. If I have the same model engine flying for an Emirates aircraft versus United Airlines, we can get information on how both the engines behave. I can actually say it would behave differently due to factors such as high dust and sand in one compared to the other. So, why should I subject the same diagnostic treatments to both the engines?

How has the journey been in India? How has it changed in the last few years?

In India, we have the largest engineering centre in the world. What started out as ‘let’s do some analysis of the back office’ kind of work has now transformed into taking the lead in digital to every aspect of our business. We are running 7 lakh digital twins today, which have delivered $300 million in productivity for our customers. 70-80 per cent of our suppliers are based in India. Similarly, in renewable energy, we launched a Digital Wind Farm solution, a connected and adaptable wind energy ecosystem that leverages big data and analytics and pairs it with a digital infrastructure. This, in turn, enhances production, reduces cost and boosts availability and productivity over the life of the wind farm.

How do you engage with start-ups who are much nimbler?

We have 702 labs in Bengaluru in all business areas. At any given time 10 or 15 per cent of them are broken down or reinvented. We don’t want to be a museum but want to be dynamic and connected to the market.

As you increase engagement with start-ups, does it mean lesser engagement with your outsourcing partners?

It is the opposite. We have built a partnership ecosystem for digital and have 300 partners, which includes traditional outsourcing guys.

GE has always been associated with leadership. Now, with disruption all around, how do you look at leadership talent?

Firstly, culture — the way we work, how we think about work and implement it. In an uncertain world, you have to stay lean, learn, adapt and empower employees. Unlike some companies who start with a black sheet of paper and say disrupt, we believe in disrupting while building on our legacy. It is one thing to say a company has great AI capability. But when it is grounded in a physical understanding of how things work, only a handful of companies in the world think in that fashion. We do learn a lot of things from start-ups. The only thing we guarantee is that we will keep evolving.

How has the government sector fared for GE, compared to three years back?

It is positive. I don’t want to get into specifics but broadly, power distribution, defence, oil and natural gas exploration are the areas where we are active.

We see a lot more intent, willingness to move and the engagement is better than in the past when it used to be 30-35 per cent. Now, it contributes 60-70 per cent.

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