A new path to power: Gregory Smith

Electrical components are having a moment. The rise of data centers, automation, sustainability initiatives and AI infrastructure has demanded myriad parts, from resistors and conductors to chips and sockets. At this moment, these ingredients of tomorrow’s technological marvels are in hot demand.

The more the better for Pantheon Electric, a United States mega-manufacturer of electrical components for the large-scale infrastructure, electrification and energy transition markets. An amalgamation of specialized manufacturers International Wire Group, Hussey Copper, EMS Elektro Metall Schwanenmühle and Special Corde, Pantheon Electric lives up to its name as a home for the best of the industry.

For CEO Gregory Smith, the company is the realization of a long-held vision.

"When you consider the electrification ecosystem and power generation in particular, you start at high voltage and ultimately step down to lower and lower voltages," he tells The CEO Magazine.

"My vision for Pantheon Electric is ‘To Power What's Next’ and to build a premier global electrification platform capable of helping customers solve increasingly complex power and connectivity challenges while advancing the future of electrification."

Powering the next chapter

A 40-year veteran of the manufacturing world, Smith began his career in a hands-on way: building nuclear submarines for General Dynamics before transitioning to aerospace machining.

"The second half of my career has been focused around honing my ability as a turnaround expert and a transformational leader," he reveals.

These qualities landed him a place at Atlas Holdings in 2019, where he was charged with powering up its subsidiary International Wire Group.

"It was a very different business then than it is today," he recalls. "It was trying to be everything to everyone, and one could say it had a fair amount of operating difficulties."

After a series of acquisitions, Pantheon Electric was formed in early 2026. It may look young on paper, but the company contains 175 years of industry experience.

"Copper has been used to build our infrastructure for the past 125 years and we’re very much in that space, but one would argue that the rate of change that’s happening today will, over the next 25 years, surpass any strides made in the past 125," he says.

"The idea behind Pantheon Electric is to build the scale, the capability and the geographic reach to serve our customers as an integrated electrification platform."

The word ‘platform’ is a key element of Smith’s strategy. Pantheon Electric was created as a platform, he explains.

"We’re a growth engine built to serve the needs of an evolving, rapidly changing landscape. That’s why our tagline is ‘built to power what’s next,’" he adds.

Electric vehicles, smart cities, renewable grids and data centers are among the beneficiaries of the company’s range of copper conductors, busbars, wire braids and engineered assemblies, all of which are built with the experience of the four businesses at its core.

"I think customers are shifting away from component manufacturers and toward integrated suppliers with more breadth," Smith says.

"Our ability to partner with our clients early on during engineering developments, having that breadth of scale to rapidly prototype and innovate new products into the manufacturing process and our very strong presence in the supply chain all make for a very attractive offer."

Road map for success

With a footprint that stretches from the United States to France, Germany, Italy and Poland, Pantheon Electric’s culture accommodates a multitude of backgrounds and approaches to the business. Smith believes that no matter where they’re located, its people are the company’s greatest asset.

"I know it’s a cliche, but it’s true," he says. "They’re our most valuable resource and being able to assure clients of a common vision, clarity, alignment and accountability is very important to our success."

It’s all part of the much more streamlined approach Smith introduced to the ailing International Wire Group upon his arrival.

"As I said, they were trying to be everything to everyone, but we can’t do that. We have to focus our business, so market mapping is the first step. That gives us clarity as to where we can compete and what markets are growing," he points out.

The second phase of Pantheon Electric’s operating strategy is a very disciplined data approach around the segmenting of customers and products.

"What we like to say is that we overserve the critical few instead of underserving the trivial many," he says.

"The third element of the strategy is based on the velocity at which we move products through our factory. It’s not until you determine the rate at which a product moves that you understand the ability to be profitable.

"You might make a 90 percent margin on something but only make one a year at a cost of thousands of hours or you can make 15 percent margin on a product you manufacture thousands of. I believe we’ve been able to understand that better than most."

And the proof is in the pudding, as Pantheon Electric is set for over US$1.7 billion in turnover in 2026.

"That’s the result of the Pantheon Electric business system: market mapping, segmentation and profit velocity," Smith says. "Those three together have defined our growth, and it’s a strategy I’ve developed and applied dozens of times in the past 20 years with similar results."

For Smith, building Pantheon Electric was not unlike the process of creation his clients go through every day: choosing the highest-quality components and crafting a well-oiled machine ready to usher in a brighter future.

"I’m so excited to lead a great group of people," he says. "Creating the Pantheon Electric branding and coalescing a team that can repeat the successes we’ve had has really fueled us and we’re very excited about what’s next."