The digitization of businesses — even traditional and brick-and-mortar-based ones — continues to spread steadily. Big industries, from oil big rigs to jet turbine manufacturers, are revamping their models from the ground up with new digital models befitting the analytical prowess underlying the Internet of Things. Power utility providers are in the middle of a major digital transformation that is changing operations, and the roles of personnel.

John Srouji, North American sales director at GE Power Digital, talked with John Furrier (@furrier), host of theCUBE*, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, during the GE Minds + Machines event. They discussed the exciting, if uncertain, climate in Industrial Internet of Things.

“This notion of living in the in-between is, you’re going to have to make some assumptions, you’re going to have to take some leaps of faith, but you better get onboard,” Srouji said, noting that even industries reluctant to make the digital transformation cannot afford to forego state-of-the-art cyber security. “It’s the underpinning of everything,” he said, adding that power plants, for instance, have more to lose from poor security than just about anyone.

“At the bare minimum, you’ve got to have strong cyber security within that platform,” he stated.

Digital disruption on the job

Srouji said that the even utilities salespersons have to step up their roles to keep up with digitization. “The evolution of a salesperson for utilities has really broadened beyond operations into the digital strategy,” he said.

He also stated that he expects IIoT to go increasingly mainstream in coming years. “This notion of the digital thread and how can I not just accommodate efficiencies, but how can I incorporate that into the strategy of the utility is what’s emerging right now,” he said.

*Disclosure: GE and other companies sponsor some GE Minds + Machines segments on SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE. Neither GE nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of GE Minds + Machines.

Photo by SiliconANGLE