AI & Sustainability – From Strategy to Scalable Impact
The workshop is conducted in-person at https://venturedock.com, Palo Alto.
Open to carpooling to save $ & CO2, and to network with others coming from near you? Sign-up here: crewz.co/r/6shqli
🎤 Featured Speakers:
Prof. Prasanna Kumar — CEO of Business Optima, Chief Entrepreneurship Officer at AI Trust Foundation, Author of AI and Finance
Marta Gajowa — Founder, Neuraffica
William Wei — Managing Partner, Wei Capital Management
Hans Sandhu — Chief Business Officer, The Agentic | Business Advisor @ KARDA
Sadia Ravendran — Founding Head @ GTM, Hammerhead | Board Member @ Women in Cleantech & Sustainability
Nikunj J Parekh — Head of AI Business & Chief AI Architect, Wipro AI & Data | CDAO Member
Dwayne Campbell — Chief Executive Officer, Medallion XLN
Harsha Saxena — Founder & CEO, IICSR, Lynera.ai
Mariane Bekker — Head of DevRel @ You.com | Agentic AI & Developer Infrastructure | Founder & Investor @ Founders Bay
Max Bukow — AI Product Specialist @ The Agentic
Christian Butzlaff — Chief Sustainability Solution Architect @ SAP | Ph.D. Physics
Danish A Mir — Co-Founder, BriskFlowAI
Jordan Friedman — Sustainable Business Strategist, Capgemini
🤝 Organised by: IICSR
🌟 Sponsored by: The Agentic
🌱 Knowledge Partners: Founders Bay | Optivide | Medallion XLN | Women in Cleantech & Sustainability
Objective
As climate pressures intensify and regulatory scrutiny tightens, organizations can no longer treat sustainability as a reporting function—it must become a data-driven, AI-enabled strategic priority.
This program is designed to urgently equip leaders with the capability to deploy AI for measurable climate impact, cost optimization, and competitive advantage, while avoiding risks such as greenwashing, inefficient investments, and regulatory non-compliance.
Audience
Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs)
Chief Technology & Data Officers (CTOs/CDOs)
ESG & Climate Leaders
AI/Analytics Professionals
Strategy & Innovation Heads
Climate-tech founders and consultants
Outcomes
Ability to identify high-impact AI use cases across sustainability functions
Development of a custom AI Sustainability Blueprint
Understanding of AI governance, ethics, and regulatory alignment
Capability to quantify ROI (cost savings + emissions reduction)
Creation of a 90-day implementation roadmap ready for deployment
Key Takeaways
AI is no longer optional—it is a core enabler of Net Zero execution
Organisations must move from ESG reporting → ESG intelligence
The biggest opportunity lies in operational AI (supply chain, energy, risk)
Poorly governed AI can create reputational and regulatory risks
Early adopters of AI in sustainability will gain high cost and market advantages
Schedule
Breakfast and networking…. 9:00 am to 9:45 am
Opening remarks and setting the tone:
Hans Sandhu, Chief Business Officer - TheAgentic
Max Bukow, AI Product Specialist - TheAgentic
Harsha Saxena, Founder and CEO - IICSR
Panel Discussion: The Intersection of AI & Sustainability (60 mins)...10:00 am to 11:00 am
The role of AI in accelerating Net Zero and ESG goals
AI across climate domains: energy, supply chain, carbon tracking
Risks: greenwashing, data bias, energy consumption of AI
Case studies of your company
Moderator: Sadia Raveendran, Board member WCS and Founding Head and GTM Hammerhead
Energy and clean-tech professional and leader with a career across regions, functions, and technologies. I previously led Industry Solutions and the Schneider Electric partnership at AutoGrid (later Uplight), selling grid flexibility solutions to global utilities. I also enabled the deployment of utility-scale solar and wind capacity through prior stints at GE Renewable Energy (now GE Vernova) and Tata Power. Now, as the Founding Head of GTM at Hammerhead, I’m tackling the power-constraint-related challenges for AI deployment.
Christian Butzlaff, Chief Sustainability Solutions Architect, SAP
Christian Butzlaff is the Chief Sustainability Solution Advisor at SAP, where he helps customers turn their sustainability goals into meaningful, lasting results by embedding them into everyday business operations. He works closely with clients and product teams to support their sustainability efforts and shape SAP’s product strategy in this critical area. In 2021, Christian was recognised with a North America regional award for his leadership in SAP’s One Billion Lives innovation initiative.
Jordan Friedman, Manager - Sustainability Business Strategy, Capgemini
Jordan Friedman is a sustainability business strategy lead at Capgemini who spends her days helping global organizations turn climate ambition into real, scalable business outcomes. With roots in journalism, environmental science, and large-scale agile transformations, she combines systems thinking and storytelling - connecting data, technology, and people to create positive environmental and social impact. She’s led global agile teams delivering digital products to tens of millions of users and worked with executives across retail, consumer products, and hospitality to design ESG strategies, business cases, and operating models that stick. In her spare time, Jordan enjoys exploring the many beautiful parks, forests, and beaches of California, and figuring out how to use all parts of fruits & vegetables.
Harsha Saxena, Founder and CEO IICSR
As Founder & CEO of IICSR, she leads a globally recognised institute dedicated to advancing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), ESG, Net Zero, sustainability, and social impact through innovative training and development programs. With over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur and consultant in the development sector, along with a background in engineering, management, and law, she is deeply committed to building scalable solutions for a sustainable future.
Case Study:
AI-driven decarbonization in global supply chains (e.g., predictive emissions tracking)
Outcome:
Participants understand where AI creates real vs perceived sustainability value
11:00 am to 11:30 am …Tea/Coffee break
AI Applications Across ESG Functions (45 mins)...11:30 am to 12:30 pm with Christian Butzlaff, Chief Sustainability Architect, SAP
AI in carbon accounting & ESG reporting (CSRD, TCFD alignment)
Climate risk modeling & predictive analytics
AI for circular economy and resource optimization
Management verticals
Impact assessment and data analysing
Case Study:
AI-enabled Reporting dashboards for enterprise
Mini Activity:
Identify 3 AI use cases within your organization
Lunch….12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
Hour 3: Workshop and assignment – Designing AI for Sustainability Use Cases (90 mins)...1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
Mariane Baker, Founder Founders Bay and Head DevRel at You.com:
She is the Head of Developer Relations at You.com, where she works with developers and teams building with AI. Her focus is helping builders turn ideas into real products and growing strong developer communities around AI tools. She is also the founder of Founders Bay, a 150K+ community of founders, investors, and operators. Through events and partnerships, we connect people building the next generation of companies.
Hans Sandhu, Chief Business Officer TheAgentic:
He is an entrepreneurial technology professional passionate about scaling start-ups, shaped by his San Francisco roots, Mountain View upbringing, and Menlo College experience in the heart of Silicon Valley. Guided by the belief that innovative technology must be matched with flawless business execution, he has held transformative roles across public and private organizations, including foundational go-to-market positions with venture-backed start-ups. He is also an angel investor and LP in 7BC VC, a fund focused on capital-efficient software and internet companies leveraging AI for transformative innovation. His career began at SLI Systems, where he rose from SDR to leading North America Account Management, contributed to the company’s acquisition by ESW Capital, set revenue records, and improved customer retention and satisfaction. At SnapLogic, he was a foundational member of the “Velocity” beta program, building a GTM strategy that opened new markets, generated millions in ARR, and secured 44 net-new logos in two years. He has also worked as an early-stage and founding GTM hire across Series A to C start-ups, helping shape revenue motions that contributed to millions in ARR. Beyond work, his interests in the Niners, music, art, fashion, cars, nature, and community reflect the diverse spirit of Silicon Valley and the drive, creativity, and balance that define his journey.
Danish Mir, Co-Founder Bris Flow AI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danish-ahmad-mir/
Danish Mir is Co-founder of briskfllow, where he is bridging the gap of structured reporting in Sustainability industry. He has an engineering background, double master’s degrees in Sustainability (UN University) and Information Management (UMD), and a decade-plus track record in ESG technology, Mir sits at the rare intersection of sustainability expertise and technical depth. He has previously worked with organizations like Nasdaq and PWC
Marta Gajowa, Founder Neuraffica:
Marta Gajowa, PhD is the CEO and co-founder of Neuraffica. She's building computers made from real brain cells that could train AI using far less energy than today's systems. Marta spent 15 years as a brain scientist, building tools to watch how neurons work. She published her research in top science journals. Then she realized: the data she collected could change how we build AI — not by copying the brain loosely, but by learning directly from it. She left her UC Berkeley position to start Neuraffica. Her goal: make AI dramatically more energy-efficient. She has a patent pending on new AI designs inspired by real brain activity. Neuraffica is building solutions for how AI learns, how it thinks, and how it trains — all using lessons from biology. When she's not chasing energy-efficient AI, Marta enjoys yoga, running, and pilates. She's fueled by matcha and coffee, and lives with her cat Spike — because even at home, she's chasing action potentials.
Group Discussion
Step-by-step framework:
Problem identification
Data mapping
AI model selection
Impact measurement
Tool Selection
Responsible AI in sustainability
AI energy footprint & sustainable AI infrastructure
Governance frameworks (OECD AI Principles, EU AI Act alignment)
Ethical AI deployment in climate tech
Balancing innovation vs regulation
Group Exercise:
Build a real AI sustainability solution (e.g., carbon reduction in operations)
Output:
Draft AI Sustainability Blueprint per team
Coffee/Tea ….2:30 pm to 3:00 pm
Climate-tech investors Discussion - 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Dwayne Campball, CEO Medallion XLN (Moderator):
He builds ecosystems where founders, investors, and innovators connect. His work is centred on creating high-value communities, strategic partnerships, and platforms that help people turn ideas into momentum. From startup events and investor matchmaking to storytelling, media, and venture-building, he is passionate about shaping spaces where innovation, culture, and capital meet.
One on One with Prof PK Prasanna Kumar, CEO, Business Optima, Multiple Board Positions, Adjunct Professor - AI & Asset Monetization
PK is a distinguished serial entrepreneur, investor, bestselling author, and C-level executive with over 25 years of leadership experience in scaling businesses, driving digital transformation, and securing strategic capital. A trusted board advisor and visionary leader, PK has pioneered Industry solutions in Applied AI & AI Safety innovations across multiple industries, including Healthcare, Insurance, Capital Markets, EdTech, Medico-Legal & Energy
One on One with William Wei, Managing Partner at Wei Capital Management
Wei Capital Management is a family office focused on strategic investments across public and private markets.
William is known for connecting founders, investors, and global capital networks, helping companies scale and access new opportunities. He also hosts a long-running Thursday gathering that brings together a curated community of innovators and investors, fostering meaningful relationships and collaboration.
Networking - 4:00 pm to 4:45 pm
Closing remarks:
Hans Sandhu, Chief Business Officer - TheAgentic
Max Bukow, AI Product Specialist - TheAgentic
Harsha Saxena, Founder and CEO - IICSR
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yPwkRdCl_qvOyckCt1DRaGc0sGkjtHpW/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=114510451953840546735&rtpof=true&sd=true