I have heard Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE discuss global energy scenarios – the economics and politics of nuclear power and fracking and electric batteries, describe how an unlikely part of the world – the UAE has birthed 3 world class airlines. talk details of medical devices and software in locomotives. He regularly meets with most heads of state around the world. So on stage he can draw on real life customer and personal stories – thousands of them.
He does not need props on stage, but he does bring them on, and they are usually stunning in their impact. Last year as he introduced his Industrial Internet concepts to the world, he was dwarfed by one of his GEnx engines. It was an effective way to present the fact that the engine is a massive data source which generates a TB of flight data a day. Yesterday, as he provided an anniversary update on the concept he presented next to a blowout presenter. Actually, just a part of the 50,000-pound, 70,000 component, 60-foot-tall safety valves which make oil drilling less risky. GE’s Drilling iBox provides drilling rig crews with massive data streams about valve positions, pressures, temperatures and well bore conditions.
Finally, he picks really interesting venues for his talks. Last year he used Dogpatch Studios in San Francisco, yesterday Navy Pier in Chicago. Not that it matters. He can sit a bunch of execs around a campfire anywhere in the world and tell them about all kinds of anecdotes and acquaintances.
Photo Credit, GE and Dogpatch
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