PSIHOLOGIJA USPJEHA Ivan Paić

Guest Ivan PajićHosted by Tanja PuretaMay 3, 2026

Ivan Pajić

About this episode

What you'll hear in this conversation

Ivan Pajić oversees Schneider Electric's project business across the globe, a portfolio worth billions. His path to this global vice president role, based in Dubai, began not with a grand strategy for corporate ascent, but with a deep dive into electrical engineering. For five years, he built a technical foundation at Končar, a Croatian company. Then, he made a deliberate, uncomfortable shift: from pure research and development to marketing. That pivot, he explains, was crucial – it taught him to see problems from a fundamentally different perspective, moving beyond the exactitudes of engineering into the broader, less defined world of market needs. This conversation explores how that blend of technical depth and strategic reframing prepared him for the scale of global leadership, and what it means to lead a segment of a company with nearly two centuries of history.

Insights from the conversation

What to take from this episode

Schneider Electric began as a heavy metal processing company almost two centuries ago, then pivoted entirely to electricity management and automation. Enduring businesses don't just innovate within their field; they sense a deeper shift in value creation and are willing to redefine their entire purpose.

Ivan Pajić describes his move from pure engineering and R&D into marketing as 'quite a challenge' because it forced him to think differently and view things from a completely new, less exact perspective. For leaders with a deep technical background, deliberately stepping into a 'softer' field often proves to be the most demanding — and ultimately the most broadening — career pivot.

Schneider Electric invests 5% of its 27 billion euro annual turnover back into research and development. In technically complex markets, true differentiation isn't built on incremental improvements; it requires a systemic, revenue-proportional commitment to creating entirely new solutions.

For a long time, Schneider Electric operated in markets like Croatia through nearly 500 different brands, only recently consolidating under its own name. Sometimes, a global giant’s true market position is obscured by its own history; claiming a unified brand identity is a deliberate, necessary act to match its actual scale.

After three and a half years in Grenoble, Pajić returned to Croatia deliberately applying his 'different way of thinking' and wider perspective as a role model for his team. The value of global experience isn't just in observing best practices; it's in internalizing a new mindset and then actively embedding it back into your home organization.

Pajić's current role spans major global markets from China and the US to Australia and Africa, managing a portfolio of over 2.7 billion euros. Leading at this scale isn't just about overseeing large numbers; it requires a constant, granular understanding of highly diverse market needs to deliver consistent value.

Explore further

ScenariosBusiness challenges CardsEducational cards TimelineTopic evolution