Learning from the Past with Gopal Paripally
PROJECT DIRECTED BY
Harry Bradfield
Johnson Controls
WRITTEN BY
Tom Fogden
Learning From the Past with Gopal Paripally Business Enquirer’s Tom Fogden speaks to Johnson Controls’ Global VP of Engineering and Technology Gopal Paripally about leading a global research and development operation.
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Yes, it was a shock in many directions and on many levels,” says Gopal Paripally, Global VP of Engineering and Technology at Johnson Controls over a Zoom call about his relocation to the United States from India when he was in his twenties and his experiences since. Paripally is smartly dressed in a light blue shirt, one button undone. His office in Boston, on America’s east coast, is clean and organized but sparsely decorated. “Obviously, my social and work life were all disrupted,” he continues, “because the culture here is quite different. My family members moved here shortly after but, without my extended family, it was hard initially though I quickly adapted to the change.” Gopal, now in his late forties, grew up in rural southern India before heading to the Osmania University in Hyderabad to study engineering in Electronics and Communications.
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Johnson Controls “Growing up in South India, life was vastly different compared to the United States,” Paripally explains. This experience as a child shaped Paripally into the leader at Johnson Controls we see today. “You always think ‘What can go wrong?’ It might be the power goes out, or the bus that you need to catch might not turn up. Whatever you do, whether you are studying for a test or cleaning the yard, we had to make sure it was done well and with heart and soul put in it. But when you were studying for tomorrow’s test, your house might lose power, and the next day the bus you need to ride to take you to that test might not show up. You should have at least two to three backups. How do you build that risk mitigation, like in a war-game?
Manufacturing Feature “You have a major exam that you need to write – such as an entrance exam to study engineering– there are 1,000 seats and you have to compete with half a million kids. So, you must build detailed study plans, work hard, prepare, and do practice tests like playing war-games to compete to be the best and build risk mitigation plans. Those are some of the challenges that helped me build the war-games in whatever I do.” However, while learning to prepare for, and overcome, adversity in his childhood, Paripally was also able to learn some important lessons from the people around him – lessons that he carries forward into his leadership today. “We used to live in a town – like a municipality – and a lot of people used to come from the villag-
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es. So, my mother Ganga used to help them, taking them to hospitals or to the market to sell their stuff or give them a hot meal to provide the support. “My mother taught me about building a social network and the importance of long-lasting relationships.” In his role at Johnson Controls, Paripally, as Global Vice President of Engineering and Technology is responsible for research and development. “We have teams distributed between Belfast, UK; Montreal, Canada, here in Boston, Indianapolis, and then a few sites in India – Hyderabad, Delhi, and Bangalore,” he explains. “We work on building innovative security solutions with AI in cameras, Edge HW and Software & cloud, making the people, facilities, and assets safe. We look at everything, from protecting someone in the workplace to somebody on the pavement at an airport.” “For example, how do we detect that you’re physically, emotionally, and mentally healthy? Are you carrying a gun or a harmful chemical? We need to look at all those aspects as we research and start building the product. We connect the dots using various sensors and bring them together using AI solutions to facilitate actions and decisions through predictive, preventive, real-time and forensic knowledge to human operators.” That wide-ranging and all-encompassing attitude is part of what makes Johnson Controls a world leader in the world of building management and workplace safety. “If you look at any building management solution,” explains Paripally, “you will have something that controls the humidity, the vibration, from HVAC solution. Then, there are things to look at such as having fire detection or fire suppression. How do you look at the people in the building? How do you control the airflow?”
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Manufacturing Feature
Johnson Controls
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Sustainability is part of what we do... it’s in our vision and our values.
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Johnson Controls staff member at work
“There are four pillars,” he continues. “HVAC is the first pillar, the second is fire detection and prevention systems, number three includes controls such as occupancy, air quality, and air velocity. The final pillar, which our security products organization is responsible, is to provide safety through access control and video solutions”. “Then we build applications including energy management, threat identification, and then predictive maintenance. We build digital solutions to make the buildings smarter, safer, and more comfortable and, most importantly, sustainable.” Sustainability, while commonplace in today’s business parlance, has been at the heart of Johnson Controls since the business’s very beginning. In 1883, founder Warren Johnson patented
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the electric thermostat to help preserve fuel for heating buildings and, in the process, change the way billions of people live to this day. “Sustainability is part of what we do,” say Paripally, “it’s in our vision and our values. As global leaders in healthy and sustainable buildings, we have ambitious goals for environmental, social, and governance committees.” “Sustainability is a critical pillar of building managed solutions that will support our mission in driving safe and secure buildings,” he continues. “You might wonder, for example, how it relates to security? Security solutions can deliver spatial insights in relation to people, spaces, and assets so airflow and lighting can be adjusted accordingly to cleaning schedules.”
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Johnson Controls
Manufacturing Feature Of course, for a company in the building safety space, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Johnson Controls has had a hard time during the pandemic. However, according to Paripally, that wasn’t quite the case. “COVID did not directly impact us in terms of our deliverables because we are a digital solutions organization and people work from anywhere at any time,” he explains. “If they do need to use office space, they will come in and use it.” “As far as the actual business is going, things are looking great. There are some challenges with supply chains and what not, but we are working to deliver NEW innovative solutions that solve customer problems.” However, one thing that has changed is the working environment.
“People used to work eight to five in a cubicle,” says Paripally. “Those things are changing to Hybrid” Those changes have spurred on Paripally to become an even better leader in the business.
Johnson Controls’ Building Efficiency headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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“It [the pandemic] helped me become more empathetic because it’s no longer eight to five. You need to have empathy for people – whether it’s reduced hours, their physical location, health concerns, childcare. So, we need to have empathy as leaders and let employees figure out a way to integrate work and life.”
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Manufacturing Feature For Paripally, however, these changes come naturally thanks to his adherence to the servant leadership style.
I believe in methodical planning and making datadriven decisions to build a strategic plan.
Johnson Controls’ corporate headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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Johnson Controls
“There are five ways that I like to lead. The first is with radical candour – I care deeply but challenge directly. The second is planning. I believe in methodical planning and making data-driven decisions to build a strategic plan.” “The third,” continues Paripally, “is energy. You need to show energy and passion in what you do. The fourth is learning and listening. If you cannot learn and adapt, it will be hard to succeed. You need to listen to understand and make sure you are available on a one-on-one level. The last is relationships – they have to be 360-degrees so that people at all levels build trust and transparency.” Paripally might have seen a lot of change in his career and move from India to the United States, but it’s clear that the lessons he learned from his past life including the ones from Johnson Controls are driving both him and Johnson Controls forward. www.johnsoncontrols.com
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Johnson Controls www.johnsoncontrols.com
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