Schneider Electric , a global energy technology leader, has appointed Steven Santini as Vice President of Secure Power for Sub-Saharan Africa. The Secure Power division acts as the architect of digital resilience, delivering the intelligent operational technologies and ecosystems that safeguard the world’s most critical infrastructure. 

By bridging the gap between energy reliability and digital availability, the Secure Power division provides the sustainable, always-on foundation required for modern data centres, distributed IT, and the global economy to thrive.

With more than 15 years’ experience in IT infrastructure, channel leadership, and strategic alliances, Steven brings a wealth of experience in building solution-driven ecosystems that bridge the gap between IT  and OT technologies. 

Born and raised in South Africa, Steven returns with deep-rooted expertise in IT infrastructure, spanning compute, storage, and software-defined solutions. Since joining Schneider Electric UK&I in 2018, he has been a catalyst for evolution, most notably as IT Channel Director for the UK & Ireland, where he pivoted the business from hardware sales to a high-value, solutions-led organization. 

Most recently, he has spearheaded global strategic alliances, developing the methodologies that power enterprise data centres, prefabricated solutions, and the next generation of sustainability-focused software."

In his new role, Steven will focus on strengthening Secure Power’s ecosystem across Sub-Saharan Africa, reinforcing trusted partnerships and driving a more outcome-based approach to delivering value to Schneider Electrics customers and partners.

“I strongly believe we should not be selling products, we should be delivering outcomes,” says Steven. When we understand the full technology stack and the workloads our customers are running, the conversation shifts from racks and power distribution units to business performance, resilience and sustainability. That is where real value lies,” he explains,

Steven emphasises that success in Sub-Saharan Africa depends on relationships and trust.

“Africa operates on relationships. People buy from people, and trust is everything. Our priority is to rebuild and strengthen our ecosystem -our partners, alliances and customers - so that we create a strong foundation for sustainable growth through 2026 and beyond.”

He further adds that once this foundational ecosystem is firmly established, the region will be well positioned to accelerate more advanced solution-selling strategies and drive Secure Power to top-tier performance levels.

In his role, Steven, together with his team will lead the strategic direction of the division, supporting customers across data centres, edge environments, industrial applications and critical infrastructure with resilient, efficient and sustainable solutions.