The Importance of Cross-Disciplinary Thinking

Sean Parham is Group VP and Head of Product Management for the ABB Ability Platform. In our conversation, he covered his origins helping the telecom industry migrate the transition to broadband, and the lessons learned that apply today. The discussion touched on the concept of “Maslows Hierarchy of Value”, the parallels of systems management applied to the challenges of managing distributed assets and the broad implications of how technology impacts multiple industries. The conversation also addresses the disruption coming from two simultaneous revolutions in IT and energy and how this changes the way that energy is generated and delivered, through microgrids, with green energy and storage. Robotics is not to be feared as it solves the undersupply of talent and people. Current areas of technology focus for startups include batteries and the consumer drone market.