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As senior vice president and chief information officer of digital enterprises at GE Power, Jorge Frausto is proud to be a pivotal piece within a company that powers more than a third of the world. It’s why GE technology has equipped 90 percent of power transmission utilities worldwide. And why 40 percent of the world’s energy is managed by GE software. Yet, it’s the homegrown values and morals that he learned as a child growing up in Mexico that continues to drive him with every passing day.
“I was one of four children in a household and loved sports while growing up,” Frausto says. “I was the kind of kid that always wanted to learn something new every day. I didn’t know much about technology because there was none. I mean, these were the days of three channels on the television.”
From there, Frausto went to attend college at the Institute of Technology in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science engineering, with minors in telecommunications and mathematics. Shortly after graduation, he took a job as a project engineer with GE Mexico in 1998.
“I feel real lucky that I have been with GE ever since,” says Frausto, who has worked in various businesses under the GE Power umbrella, including enterprise systems and architecture, automation, and process excellence and who has also held leadership roles with GE corporate, transportation, aviation, and oil & gas over the past twenty years. “To work for the same company for twenty years has given me quite a foundation.”
Frausto is currently driving GE Power’s digital transformation journey. After successful deployment, the single largest enterprise resource system in GE Power—PowerMax—is now enabling GE Power’s digital industrial transformation along with strong industry expertise brought by SAP and Accenture. Frausto is also involved with large-scale digital transformation projects that need meticulous planning and robust change-management program, ensuring successful implementation across functional and business teams.
“Jorge is a passionate leader aggressively pursuing both delivery excellence and innovation,” says David A. Sauter, managing director at Accenture. “His presence is among the best I’ve seen at commanding tremendous respect and engagement from his leadership team, GE employees, and business partners.”
Jorge is now embarking on the next step in digital transformation journey and is keen to incorporate the next generation ERP architecture and the latest innovations to make user experience more tailored and rewarding. He is eager to introduce customer and supplier B2B platforms and an integrated business planning suite along with machine learning and robotic process automation, which will drive millions of dollars in business productivity and other benefits. This business transformation initiative is the foundation and will enable to position GE Power as a digital industrial company in the twenty-first century.
He leads a team of more than five hundred professionals from forty different countries who speak ten different languages. He is a believer in the “Team of Teams” concept and drives collaboration across several communities. “One of the things I love the most about my job is knowing that regardless of where you are coming from, we all want the same thing,” says Frausto, who has lived and worked in the United States for the past thirteen years. “We want respect. We want people to treat us the way we want to be treated. We want people to help make us all successful, and we want to be able to balance our personal and professional activities as much as possible.”
It’s these personal activities that truly round out the life of the father of three. “I think one of my biggest accomplishments is being able to merge my personal and professional goals,” says Frausto, who has found technological advances, such as video conference calls and telepresence to help balance his time between work and home. “My biggest job is taking care of my kids. I want them to learn by my example. It’s extremely important to me to make sure that they are responsible and accountable and humble. I also want them to be confident and exposed internationally to different countries and languages and learn to appreciate people’s differences.”
He wishes these differences could be more appreciated not only within the technology industry but also by the very company in which he works in. “I love identifying that kind of talent at GE,” says Frausto, who is a graduate of the GE Experience Information Management Program and an active sponsor of GE’s Hispanic Forum. “Through exposure, coaching, feedback, and encouragement, there are so many opportunities to have Hispanics take a bigger role here. In 2030, Hispanics will make up the largest minority in the United States, so for me, it’s a passion.”
Yet, no matter how driven he might be to make things different, he says he knows there are many challenges to be met.
“For the Hispanic community, I think the access to higher education is the first challenge they face,” he explains. “It’s definitely the beginning of the problem: the fact is that there is not enough Hispanic leadership, especially within the technology sector. To me, there needs to be high school-level internships that could help them organically. That engagement early on is going to be crucial.”
This is exactly why Frausto says that he hopes to continue focusing on encouraging mentorship within the Hispanic community as much as possible. “I had a mentor early in my career, who was a past professor of mine, that helped me through challenges by doing things as simple as calling me to ask me how I was doing,” he recalls. “The idea of mentors is something we don’t use nearly enough. Even with years of experience, a mentor is a tool that everyone could use more often.
Although Frausto admits that working in the fast-paced industry of technology can become quite a drain and a challenge sometimes, he can’t keep from being excited about all that lies ahead.
“I think artificial intelligence is going to be something quite intriguing in the years ahead,” he says. “I love to apply these state of the art technologies that help drive business outcomes.”
Frausto admittedly is looking to his own future and what personally still lies ahead for this kid from Mexico. “It is a pleasure and a privilege to do what I get to do every day,” he says. “It’s very different and very unique that someone can sit back at this point of one’s career and know that you worked for the same company for so many years. Sure, you can get overwhelmed very quickly and lose track about what really matters sometimes. But with this company, I have been able to surround myself with good people that have become my friends. I can’t imagine having it any other way.”
Accenture congratulates Jorge for his outstanding achievements at GE Power. Jorge’s drive and exceptional leadership have had a significant positive impact on the GE Power business. Accenture has enjoyed our partnership with Jorge on the multiyear business driven ERP technology journey that GE Power has embarked on. GE Power’s relationship with Accenture to support its ongoing global digital transformation reflects GE’s commitment to technology innovation. Jorge’s vision and determination are leading GE Power towards new technology solutions making GE Power a more focused, more efficient and more profitable digital industrial business. Accenture is proud to celebrate Jorge’s success.
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. With approximately 442,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. www.accenture.com
As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. For more information, visit www.sap.com.
