The Intersection of Technology and Sustainability

Tech & AI LIVE London brought together the industry’s brightest minds for discussions on key topics facing the industry right now — with sustainability being at the forefront. The Sustainable Technology Forum showcased how organisations can reduce their environmental impact while driving innovation by utilising sustainable technology.

Here, we share some of the highlights from the session at Tech & AI LIVE London 2025.

Question 1: Can you give us a trend that excites you and a trend that concerns you?

Mark: “The things that excite me around sustainability are the journey that we all have capacity to go on, first of all. In particular, when I think about the technology that is available today that’s not being utilised, that really excites me because I see the opportunity that presents itself looking outwards. I also believe strongly that the evolution of AI is going to be critical to help us solve some of these challenges as well. While we’re also thinking about how we build for AI, I think it’s the use case that I'm really excited about. Schneider Electric is investing heavily into this space to help customers work out how to do this better, faster, and more effectively. 

“What concerns me is maybe our adoption and the pace at which we’re changing. I’ve seen it from a data centre perspective, a buildings perspective, in manufacturing and from our power and grid teams as well. Does it frustrate me? Not really. I just see opportunity and I think with the evolution of AI, our products and how they can help and solve some of these challenges, I think everything is set out in front of us.”

Elhannah: “I agree with Mark in terms of the intersection between AI and climate technology — we’re seeing AI used in creating energy efficiency, we're seeing it used to more accurately predict environmental risks. We’re also seeing it in material science.

“However, from a cybersecurity perspective, it is a scary place. The attack surface is growing. We’re also seeing that in a lot of sustainable technology, part of the components of the service are outsourced. So we need to also be looking at our third-party risk management. What does that look like? How are we vetting our vendors? We also need to look at understanding how human interactions and teams are working together. Are our sustainability teams working well with IT teams, or are they bypassing them because of sustainability goals and creating shadow IT risks as well?”

Petrina: “The thing that really excites me is the creativity that is now coming about because of AI — looking at people that are looking at sustainability and have a future-first strategy. They look at what it is that we can do. Heat export strategy is one of the things that Equinix is looking at. With all of the AI and the compute that is now there and accelerating at a phenomenal rate, what can we do with all this heat that’s being produced? We looked into providing that heat back into local communities in some way. We used the excess heat to heat up the Olympic pools. The creativity side is one element that’s really exciting for me — the way people are thinking about how to be more sustainable, how to be more green.”

Question 2: Let’s talk about adoption. Which industries are making the greatest strides in adoption?

Elhannah: “In the financial sector and financial services, we’re seeing ESG data and climate risk modelling being used as guides to investment decisions. We’re also seeing companies like Apple and Intel really having a push towards circular IT and how products are designed, which I think is very important in terms of adoption. We are seeing that sustainability is very much top of mind for every sector, but I think particularly the technology sector and the financial sector, we are seeing that integrated at much greater length at the moment.”

Petrina: “Similar to Elhannah's response, I think we’re seeing adoption across the board. For data centre providers, there’s a very scrutinised lens on how much power is being consumed by that industry. Yes, big tech is an area that has focus, and we ourselves are very open about our energy consumption and we have very strong objectives to reduce water PUE as well as power PUE.

“I would say financial customers are definitely looking at that, and mainly the technology sector and those who are heavily dependent on large-scale compute.”

Mark: “Looking at the industries we could learn from might be another way of looking at this. Oil and gas has done a pretty good job. When you think about the output, there are more challenges there, but it has been thinking about how to optimise for quite some time. A number of industries like life science and food and beverage I feel are ahead of the curve when it comes to thinking about how to drive out operational waste.

“There are lots of areas and sectors that are almost ahead of the curve, but actually I think there’s lots of learning to do. Digital twin is something that I’m seeing more and more of, in particular in data centres. We’ll see that grow at pace, we’re all learning how to utilise this technology. If I think about sectors we could all learn from, there’s a lot to be gained by thinking about this as cross-pollination of different sectors.”

Question 3: How can we balance collaboration — like sharing sustainability information — with maintaining a business advantage?

Petrina: “Sustainability is now front of mind for many of us, that’s why we publicly disclose so many figures and we’re driving everything that we do from a data centre perspective. We have 270-odd data centres around the world so, for us, it’s all about how we can get to clean energy and make our data centres more efficient. How can we be better for our customers and consumption levels? We’re always looking at ways to innovate. 

We're also now part of a consortium of industries that come together and lay out best practices, asking whether we should put more regulatory framework around what is the best standard for data centre PUE and things like that. There's a lot of sharing for the greater good, not so much from a competitive nature. I think it's more to do with that than anything else.”

Mark: “A lot has been done at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium through the use of our technology that allowed them to drive out cost and carbon from their facility. We took 20% of their energy bill away from them. It’s important so that customers can see how you can adopt and adapt technology to drive out cost and waste. Similar to Equinix, we're doing the same ourselves. So we make our goals public and known, as well as the way that we are driving that ESG topic and story. We were voted the number one most sustainable company in the world, and I think we have a lot to stand up for both in our communities that we work in and also the customers that we work alongside.

“We not only see ourselves as a technology provider, but we see ourselves as a collaboration fulcrum, if you like, to bring people together.”​​​​​​​
Elhannah: “I also think the socialisation of standards or what businesses are doing in the sustainability space builds trust with customers. For most of us now, sustainability is top of mind. People are looking for companies that are ethical, they want to use products that are ethical, that are sustainable, because we care about our planet. This is also bringing in customers.”

Question 4: What are the barriers that are stopping organisations from moving away from legacy tech?​​​​​​​

Mark: “I think we've got an opportunity to think about getting 80% of the way there fast rather than 100% of perfection. That’s what our mantra is within Schneider Electric —  let's get there fast and then we’ll tweak when we get there. Let's not go for perfection from day one because that really does inhibit us. We’ve got a roadmap that says education is key. We sit in the middle of that because I’m very fortunate to sit in a technology company where our offer changes, almost on what feels like on a daily basis. I’m very fortunate to see what’s coming down the road, but I think we have an ownership and a right to educate the market and our customers much better. There is more that we can do as a technology provider to help and guide people just on that whole education piece.

“I was really delighted to see we added the arts into STEM, making it STEAM, because the most creative people will sit in that. Especially around the topic of sustainability, we need creative minds to help us think how we can best use AI to solve some of these challenges.

Elhannah: “Cost — money — is something that everyone is concerned about and it’s very important that we are financially afloat. Sometimes solutions provide long-term value, but not short-term value. I find that people may struggle with the explanation and justification of that shift. When you have companies that are global, we’re finding that sustainability practices and standards differ from country to country, so you’re working out the cost, trying to prove the value both in the short term and the long term, all while working with different standards. It adds an extra layer of complexity. This creates barriers as well when people are trying to move away from legacy systems that aren't built with sustainability in mind.”​​​​​​​
Petrina: “For me, it’s really about transformation. There are going to be companies that know that they need to transform, they need to start to move on to newer systems, they need to look at how they adopt AI, how they really get the use cases and the benefits from that. I’d say that digital transformation is going to be a huge challenge for many. The first part is those who want to do it, you have to transform. The second part is if you don’t want to transform and you want to focus on your core business, then work with providers who will do that for you.”

Question 5: What role does cost play as a barrier for individuals and companies in adopting sustainable technology? How can we overcome these obstacles?

Elhannah: “Firstly, I think the narrative needs to shift from cost to value. Companies need to also use risk-adjusted ROIs to determine whether an investment is worth the time and worth the money. I also think that people need to start small but think big, picking low-hanging fruit that we know that you can have quick wins on, but they still make a significant impact. That way, you are managing your costs, but it is still bringing some form of impact. I think you need to change your mindset first, start with the small wins that will bring a major impact as well.”

Petrina: “We have to invest in this future-first strategy and the reason for that is that technology is coming. For us, it’s not even about the cost. It’s an investment for being able to satisfy that. For others, it’s about going back to that mindset of working with people who have gone through it. I don't mean to undermine it, but it’s not difficult to look at ways to reduce your Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. Ask yourself, say, how can I go to a supplier that is greener, that has cleaner energy?”​​​​​​​
Mark: “We’ve got to take cost off the balance sheet. Ultimately, that’s where we need to get to. We do acknowledge there is a cost, but if we strip it right the way back to the beginning, the things you're getting free are the data that helps you solve. I really like the idea of starting small, but being able to scale at pace to recognise in some instances exponential savings. There is a cost associated, let’s be absolutely clear, but I think it needs a mindset shift. Of course, the cheapest power is the power you don’t use. That's the mentality and the mantra that we‘ve seen across multiple industries now that helps us really start to picture what the future could look like for this. There is a cost, let’s not hide away from it, but if we really want to change the narrative and really want to bend the energy curve — which is what we’ve been advocating for quite some time now — we have to know what the data is telling us and we have to react to it.”

To read the full article in the magazine, click HERE.