Customer needs will guide the direction of our future investments in India

- Jean Marc Theolier, Group CEO, Carlo Gavazzi Services AG.

Carlo Gavazzi has long been admired for its precision and reliability. What inspired the decision to formally enter India now through Carlo Gavazzi Automation India Pvt Ltd, and what timing factors made this move strategic?

Our global strategy focuses on specific industries and applications. Building strong partnerships with global accounts has made it essential for us to establish a direct presence in India, enabling us to better seize new opportunities and support locally our customers more effectively.

India already hosts strong automation players like Siemens, Omron, Pepperl+Fuchs, and Keyence. How do you see Carlo Gavazzi differentiating itself in this competitive landscape?

The competitive environment in India mirrors that of other global markets, though it is further enriched by the presence of highly capable local players. Carlo Gavazzi’s differentiation lies in our focused strategy and our dedication to developing meaningful innovations tailored to our key industries.

You’ve mentioned that India is not just a market but a partner in growth. How do you envision India’s role in Carlo Gavazzi’s global roadmap – as a sales hub, technology centre, or manufacturing base?

We are launching our operations in India with dedicated local sales and product support teams. As we strengthen our partnerships with customers, their needs will guide the direction of our future investments. We remain open to all possibilities, including R&D or manufacturing expansion in the future.

Carlo Gavazzi has worked with Indian distributors for years. With your new direct presence, how will the relationship with your existing partners and system integrators evolve?

Carlo Gavazzi has always focused on developing strong partner channels, including distributors and system integrators, to drive growth in key industrial and building automation markets. This approach remains consistent in India, where we are investing and working closely with our partners to generate value throughout the supply chain.

The Indian automation customer is highly value-driven – seeking a balance between price, performance, and service. How will Carlo Gavazzi maintain its global quality standards while being cost-competitive locally?

The challenges we face are similar across all global markets. Our products deliver the same quality, technology, innovation, and value wherever they are sold. I’m confident that our local presence in India will not only help us operate more efficiently to meet local needs but also allow us to develop further cost efficiencies. This will enable us to strengthen our competitiveness while continuing to drive innovation in our targeted markets. India represents a key opportunity for Carlo Gavazzi to advance further along these strategic directions.

Sustainability and smart energy management are now strategic imperatives. How is Carlo Gavazzi integrating these priorities into its products and plans for the Indian market? Energy management has been a key driver in the development of Carlo Gavazzi’s product portfolio across all three of our main product lines. It influences both the types of products we design and the market segments we invest in worldwide. From improving the efficiency of access control systems in buildings to optimising the performance of heat pumps and advancing solutions for distributed energy resources and microgrids – our focus remains on enabling smarter, more sustainable energy use.

As Industry 4.0 accelerates, topics like IoT, predictive maintenance, and digital twins are reshaping automation. How is Carlo Gavazzi preparing to lead in these next-generation technologies?

Carlo Gavazzi is deeply engaged in the core evolutions shaping our markets – from Industry 4.0, the growing adoption of DC power in automation, to the integration of cloud connectivity and artificial intelligence into our solutions. However, we do not adopt new technologies for their own sake. We implement them only when they deliver real, tangible value to our customers’ daily operations. For us, innovation must be meaningful – it should serve the customer’s needs, not the manufacturer’s high-tech ambition.

What key sectors – manufacturing, building automation, infrastructure, or renewable energy – do you believe will drive Carlo Gavazzi India’s growth in the first five years?

India’s attractiveness lies in the fact that all twelve of our targeted markets – across Industrial and Building Automation – feature strong and active players. We intend to develop all of these segments, as we see significant opportunities in each. However, given India’s tremendous and growing energy needs, we expect particularly strong demand for energy efficiency solutions. This is an area where Carlo Gavazzi has been, and will continue to be, investing substantially in research and development.

Finally, as you inaugurate Carlo Gavazzi Automation India, what message would you like to give to your Indian distributors, customers, and young engineers who will shape the next decade of automation?

In India, both our partners and many electrical engineers already know the Carlo Gavazzi brand and appreciate the value of our products and solutions. They also recognise us as a dependable and trusted partner. I encourage them to reach out to us for their next-generation projects and to challenge us with their needs – because that’s what drives us to keep innovating and delivering meaningful solutions.

Jean-Marc Théolier, French and US national, is a Master in Business Administration at University Pierre Mendes France, Grenoble, France, and BS in Mechanical Engineering at INSA, Lyon, France.

• Design Engineer and Business Development Manager at Merlin-Gerin, France, from 1982 until 1990
• Global Marketing Director and later Americas National Sales Manager at Crouzet in France and US, from 1990 until 2006
• VP Sales then General Manager of Crydom Inc., San Diego, CA, and Dallas, TX, USA, from 2006 until 2015
• Business Unit Director at Sensata Technologies and General Manager of BEI Kimco, San Diego, CA, USA, from 2015 until 2017
• CEO at Pelco Inc., Fresno, CA, USA, from 2017 until 2019
• Global Head of Sales and Marketing, Region Head Americas, Carlo Gavazzi Group from 2019 until 2022, and
• CEO Carlo Gavazzi Group since July 2022.