In a world where technology evolves at breakneck speed, the question of sustainability in IT practices has never been more critical. How do organizations and their leaders approach the complexities of sustainable IT amidst new AI priorities and an ever-changing landscape? Read on for a recap from three of the industry’s most prominent thought leaders across Computacenter, Creative Strategies and Dell Technologies.
Key Takeaways
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- The importance of compliance with evolving regulations
- The role of governance in sustainability
- The impact of AI on sustainability goals
- The necessity of collaboration for collective success
The Regulatory Landscape
Moderated by Carolina Milanesi, President and Principal Analyst at Creative Strategies Inc. and Founder of The Heart of Tech, the panel began with asking each leader—Wendy Coticchia, sustainability champion and SVP Head of Compliance for the Americas, and APAC at Computacenter and Jamila Cowan, Director of Strategic Relationships, Sustainability and ESG at Dell Technologies—about actionable advice businesses should consider within their AI strategies.
Coticchia emphasized the need for businesses to have a plan for compliance, citing the influx of new regulations from across the world, specifically the European Union, United Kingdom and California. She highlighted the importance of internal alignment on whether to comply with the evolving regulations: “It’s about deciding, are we just looking to comply with the law, or do we want to do more because we think that gives us a competitive advantage? Or is our purpose such that we want to make meaningful change? Once you’ve got that alignment, then you really can start to prepare.”
Sustainability Beyond Environmental Factors
Milanesi pointed out that while many focus solely on the environmental aspect of sustainability, it encompasses much more, including supply chain operations and pay equity: “If we double down on sustainability, what do you think the core role of sustainability is in really safeguarding your future from a business perspective?”
The Role of Governance
Cowan stressed the significance of an end-to-end approach to sustainability and collaboration across organizations, especially in a period of increasing stakeholder demands, rising energy costs, new regulations and reporting requirements: “We’ve centralized our ESG operating model and governance. We’ve adopted a hub and spoke model that includes participation from every aspect of our business. And so, this has been a game changer for us.”
Sustainability and AI
The panelists agreed that AI had a significant role to play in sustainability, despite its energy-intensive requirements. Coticchia highlighted the need for companies to work with trusted partners who include sustainability and social responsibility in their AI solutions: “Are we utilizing renewable energy? Are we using the AI itself to make our solutions more efficient? Are we considering things like circular services so that we’re ensuring we’re recycling or reusing or repurposing those devices?”
Cowan shared insights from Dell’s Concept Luna, explaining how learnings from the project have been applied across their product portfolio: “Sustainability isn’t just the responsibility of the sustainability team.”
The Path Forward
Concluding the discussion, each leader emphasized both the urgency and importance of sustainable IT strategies in business. The panelists urged businesses to start their sustainability journey, leverage AI for positive impact and foster collaboration for faster progress. “We can go further, faster together,” Cowan said. “We have customers who are just beginning their sustainability journey, and it’s more of a conversation around how we set our goals.” The session was a reminder that sustainability is a shared responsibility. Sustainability requires transparency, trust and collective action to ensure a viable future for businesses and the planet.
Learn how you can accelerate your innovation with AI or check out Dell’s sustainability story.
To watch the full panel conversation, click the video below.
