Siemens USA CEO describes ‘the most remarkable thing’ about the infrastructure bill

Siemens USA CEO Barbara Humpton joins Yahoo Finance Live from the 2022 Milken conference to discuss the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on businesses, supply chain issues, capital expenditures, investments, and the outlook for the U.S. infrastructure bill.

Video Transcript

- Welcome back to "Yahoo Finance Live," everyone. The Milken Institute Global Conference is happening now in Los Angeles, California. And standing by at the conference we've got "Yahoo Finance's" editor-in-chief Andy Serwer. Andy, the screen, the floor is yours. Take it away.

ANDY SERWER: Thanks a lot, Brad. I'm here with Barbara Humpton, who is the CEO of Siemens US. Great to see you, Barbara.

BARBARA HUMPTON: Andy, great to be with you again.

ANDY SERWER: So you're in kind of a singular position, in that you are running a subsidiary of a German-based company. And I'm wondering, with everything going on in Ukraine and Russia, what is the impact effect? What's going on with Siemens in Germany right now?

BARBARA HUMPTON: Yeah, well, Siemens was one of the first actually to halt all new business and investments in Russia. And we have been strongly opposing the war. But I would share with you that probably the most striking thing has been the impact on us as people. You know, we are very, very close to the conflict. And so to see employees step up and be engaged, helping resettle refugees, raising funds that have donated incredible financial aid into the region, I'm very proud of what we as a corporation are doing.

ANDY SERWER: I know you guys are in the quiet period right now. I'm wondering how the business is going, what you're seeing in terms of supply chain, inflation. What's the environment like here for Siemens in the United States?

BARBARA HUMPTON: Yeah, well, you know that what everyone is experiencing, we are experiencing too. We're a company that serves in the backbone of the economy. So name the sector, we are actually supplying to or customers of that sector. But the great news is that we're providing technology that can actually enable the resilience of the supply chain. Whether it's helping the semiconductor industry become more productive, establish operations in the US, whether it's making sure we get electrical infrastructure that's standing up data centers, the team here in the US has been rising to the challenge.

ANDY SERWER: And specifically about inflation and supply chain, how is that impacting your business here? And what do you take on that-- what's your take on that going forward?

BARBARA HUMPTON: Yeah, I think all of us are experiencing the changes. We understand the volatility that's in the marketplace right now. it's a moment when our supply chain colleagues have become absolutely essential to the business. And I will tell you that we're seeing really bright moves on the part of leaders in our businesses all across the US.

ANDY SERWER: What's going on with regard to your business and the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package that was coming out-- has come out of Washington?

BARBARA HUMPTON: Well, we were thrilled to see that signed. I was so pleased to be on the lawn on the day that bill was signed into law. And what we see is that this is a true investment in the future leadership of the US and the growth of our economy for the next decade. So whether it's-- I would say the most remarkable thing is going beyond just roads and bridges and really understanding that the future is more connected and autonomous. So one of the key things we've featured is the work we'll be doing on electric vehicle infrastructure.

ANDY SERWER: Charging stations, is that part of what you're doing? What specifically--

BARBARA HUMPTON: That's exactly right

ANDY SERWER: --are you doing?

BARBARA HUMPTON: That's it. Well, two things. One is the charging infrastructure itself. So we make chargers, and we've made the commitment to build a million chargers in the next four years. That means adding manufacturing capacity here in the US. That means creating jobs.

We've started an apprenticeship program in North Carolina to prepare young people for a career in this space. So proud of all that. But in addition to that, what a lot of people don't think about is what's the technology that gets electricity from the grid out into those charging stations. And so we've got folks in medium- and low-voltage distribution. In fact, right here in Pomona, California, I'll be visiting with one of our teams this week.

ANDY SERWER: We're going to be talking to Mary Barra in just a few minutes. And so I think I'm curious as to how the charging stations work with regard to different manufacturers' vehicles. Everyone will be able to use all the different charging stations?

BARBARA HUMPTON: . Uh-huh We have been loud proponents of a non-proprietary, open standard for charging. And we've been very clear and open with that. So excited to see this being picked up because people want to be able to move from region to region, city to city without having to load new apps or install new technology.

ANDY SERWER: Just like gas stations, you'd go to any one. I want to ask you, speaking of being here in California, high-speed rail and the big project that you're working on here. It seems to be going slowly, probably not your fault. But why is it-- why are there such delays here? And what's the status of that?

BARBARA HUMPTON: Well, we know there have long been challenges to high-speed rail, I mean, right? The first thing is right away, where are you going to go? The second thing is, who will shoulder the cost of actually building the rail? But we're in there, working with the team that's pushing it forward. And Andy, I'm very excited because I believe that in the next couple of years, we're going to be cutting the ribbon on the first high-speed rail here.

ANDY SERWER: Well, that's great to hear, driving around all the traffic here in Los Angeles. What about decarbonizing the economy? I know that's something you're keen on as well, Barbara?

BARBARA HUMPTON: Well, this is part of Siemens strategy overall-- climate change, urbanization, aging demographics of people everywhere, and globalization, the idea that the supply chain can be more local. We've been working on all of those things. And every single one of them depends on and is important to decarbonization. So whether you're talking about new electrical infrastructure, more energy-efficient building technologies, upgrading factory operations, we have technology for all of that. And back to rail, this is why rail is so important because decarbonizing the transportation sector is vital to be able to hit our goals.

ANDY SERWER: It's important work. Barbara Humpton, CEO of Siemens US, thanks so much for your time. Brad, back to you.