Esther O'Callaghan OBE: Delighted to welcome, uh, my friend and colleague, um, Russ Shaw to, um, CareerCon, not for the first time, actually. Uh, so, um, but for the benefit of, uh, of the audience, um, watching, um, would love. To, um, hear from you and a little introduction about you, um, and Global Tech Advocates, uh, the organisation that you set up Sure. Way to go now.

Russ Shaw CBE: I know, I know it's, it's, it's been around for a while. Um, wonderful to see you, Esther. Great to be part of Career Con. Um, I'm the founder of Global Tech Advocates, which we set up. About 10 years ago, uh, to create, uh, communities of tech leaders, all coming together as volunteers to promote and support startups and scale ups wherever they are in the world. Um, we started with Tech London Advocates back in 2013. Um, we now have 35 groups spanning UK and Europe, Asia Pacific. India, Middle East and Africa and the Americas with a few more groups launching this year as well. So it's, it's a, it's a busy time for me, but I'm really pleased that Global Tech Advocates can embrace what's going on in the net zero space and sustainability. So delighted to be here to talk about that.

Esther O'Callaghan OBE: Great, um, which was a nice segue into, of course, um, one of the big things that, um, uh, Global Tech Advocates and hundo have been working on, um, is with the support from Coldplay, um, is the Tech for Net Zero, um, campaign, and obviously because this is Climate CareerCon, uh, this month, um, wanted to kind of focus in on that, um, so obviously if we can first of all talk a little bit about the campaign itself, some of the highlights, You know, purpose, um, and then we'll dive more into kind of skills and that side of it.

Russ Shaw CBE: Yeah, sure. So we, we launched our tech for net zero resource hub a few years ago, I believe it was after or in the run up to COP26, that's the right one, uh, which was held in, in, in Scotland. Um, and I felt, and we also did a big event around tech at that time. And I just felt it was really critical for us to get our whole community, which now we estimate numbers at least 30, 000 around the world to really better understand why this is so critical, What does the tech sector need to do to really up its game to drive net zero and sustainability strategies and also to put the spotlight on the emerging startups and scale ups that are doing phenomenal work in this space. So the hub has a series of. You know, explanations about what companies can do to embrace net zero. There's also a startup and investor showcase and we certainly welcome more to be featured in that where we can put the spotlight on so many great companies that are doing outstanding work in this space.

Obviously, we show the work that we're doing the and our associated organisation relationship with the band Coldplay, which has been fantastic. And, um, you know, we, we want to feature what they're doing with their Music of the Spheres World Tour. So it's a place where we can kind of pull together different strands of what's happening in net zero. But what we've also done is that we've each asked, we have asked each of our Global Tech Advocates groups To put their own space on their own website and link it back to our resource hub. So if you're in tech spain advocates or tech bay area advocates or tech india advocates You're linking through to our resource hub And that's something that we're really proud about

Esther O'Callaghan OBE: Awesome. So I wanted to talk a little bit, um, you've obviously been, um, in the tech industry, uh, for some time. Um, so been there, done it, seen it, um, and I guess , , um, I guess, um, from, um, from, from my side, you know, uh, I wanna look at. Um, you know, the second part of our chat around the kind of intersection of, um, you know, kind of net zero, you know, tech and just the skills, you know, kind of what you're seeing, you know, obviously as part of the community in terms of some of the challenges, opportunities, shortages, uh, gaps, etc.

Russ Shaw CBE: Yeah, I think, I think first and foremost, what is encouraging to see is I see many tech startups, scale ups and larger tech corporates all wanting to embrace net zero and sustainability. I think for some of them, the challenge is, okay, I want to do this. What do I need to do? And how do I hire the talent that's going to help me to do that? So I think Part of what we've tried to do through our tech for net zero resource hub is to give them some practical steps for how you can embrace this. What can you as a tech startup do? Um, I think more broadly, the issue then comes to the question around talent, which is why you and I are working so closely together.

There has been over the years a shortage of skill talent for the technology sector. We clearly need to do much more. To bring more diverse communities into the tech sector, which I think will solve part of that challenge. But even still, many, many tech startups and scale ups, even in the current climate, um, are struggling to, to recruit, uh, good skilled, diverse talent into their organisations. And. That's a broad theme, but I think also more specifically as we look at sustainability, net zero and green skills, it's even more pronounced there. So, um, I think the good news is there's a desire and there's a wanting of, we must do something. And then they kind of say, okay, we're ready to go. Who can help us? Who do we turn to? Who do we recruit to, to fill those gaps? And that's, that's an ongoing challenge that I see in many places around the world.

Esther O'Callaghan OBE: Yeah, no, it's interesting. And I think I was talking with, um, You know, another colleague, um, you know, on, on one of our previous, um, conversations and it actually one of the, the kind of more staggering statistics that came out of it was, um, the sustainability industry, um, is second from the bottom, uh, in terms of its diversity, which is, you know, so it's kind of like, and it's always that tension, isn't it? It's kind of going like, you can't have it. You can't talk about sustainability in the context of climate whilst, um, the people most affected by climate disruption, um, don't have access to the skills and the industry. Um, and I guess, I guess tech is a little bit like that as well. I

Russ Shaw CBE: mean, let's, let's face it. It's, it's, it's, it's driven by white men. And we have worked so incredibly hard to try and move the needle through our women in tech, our black women in tech, our tech for disability. groups who do phenomenal work at a grassroots level. And that's kind of who we are as an organisation. We're a grassroots organisation, but the needle is moving ever so slowly. And so how do we look at really accelerating this, the desire to fill this need exponentially, which is why, you know, I look to you and organisations like hundo who are coming to the table. With really, um, interesting solutions, but this has been a problem in tech for a long time. It's now a problem, a significant problem in climate tech. And to your point, some of the people are going to be most dramatically impacted by climate change are the ones who are not represented in our industry.

If there's good signals coming out of this and the parallels I see to the broader tech sector, if you look at the investment levels into climate tech. At least from a UK perspective, it's now the number one tech vertical, so it's surpassed AI. It has surpassed FinTech in some of the most recent, um, evaluations of money coming into the sector. So that's a good sign. And what that means is that money, a lot of that money is going to be spent on talent recruitment. So how do we pump some of that money to programs like hundo and others to say, okay, You need the talent. You've got the money to grow and expand and scale your businesses. Here's where you need to spend it to make sure you're bringing in that diverse talent into your organisation.

Esther O'Callaghan OBE: No, it's, um, no, it's interesting. And thank you. I, um, I wanted to actually, um, go slightly off piste. Um, you are also a parent. And, um, and I think one of the, you know, in terms of our audience, we do have a lot of parents, you know, kind of who are entering this brave new world across both things, you know, across, you know, we're finding now, as you're probably aware, it's like, it's the generations. It's the younger generations who are actually making the change, um, because in many ways it's like it's our generations that cause the problems, you know, so it's sort of like, you know, so it's quite interesting. It's an interesting generational shift, um, you know, that I'm seeing, but I just wondered from your own personal perspective, um, you know, as a parent. Um, you know, what is it like sort of like in this brave new world? Yeah, I'm one as well. You know, and it's like, what, what, what do you tell you? I mean, appreciate our kids are a bit older now, but it's like, yeah, like what was some of the challenges in terms of like, yeah, what do you do with your future? Like, what does it look like?

Russ Shaw CBE: Yeah, it's, I mean, let's face it. I mean, last year I just marveled, you know, it was like the hottest year on the planet. And you just think this. It's just going to have a massive impact on on my kids and maybe one day my grandkids and, you know, that is something that we, as the older generation need to really step up and say, look, we don't want to leave this legacy to our kids and our grandkids. I mean, I certainly don't. So it is. It is a significant problem. And that said, I think, um, You know, I look at my three sons and they all have a lot of ideas and ways in which they are trying to deal with these, you know, with these issues in terms of their behaviors and the skills that they're trying to, to adopt and build.

You know, I look at my youngest son who is just, you know, hooray, he's, he's completed a coding bootcamp and, you know, wants to get started as a junior full stack developer. But he's also very pessimistic about where the planet, planet is headed over the next 20 to 30 years. And, you know, you just look at that and it kind of breaks my heart because I, in general, I'm an, I'm an optimist and think, you know, and this is why I embrace the technology sector, because I think technology is, Is going to be an incredibly important part of how we address climate change, um, you know, whether it's around evolving towards hydrogen or, or carbon capture solutions, or just some of the basic software that we need to develop. Through AI to deal with these issues. So it is is such a balancing act where I think we have to listen more specifically to the younger folks, because this is what they're inheriting from us. And this is the world that they're going to have to live in and to maybe work with them in terms of. Whatever collective wisdom and experience we can bring to the table that says, you know, you're dealing with these issues and problems.

Here are some ideas where we can try and help you to move more quickly, because this is over to you now. Um, and for us, it's also speaking out and making our voices heard across all generations to say, we've got to fix the planet. You know, I'm thrilled that the U. S. has adopted, uh, and approved the most substantial climate change. Legislation that anybody has put through, but it's not enough. Um, you know, we're seeing other countries deploy really good things, but I'm also looking at the fossil fuel industry and saying that's not changing as much as we need to do. We're still pumping out record levels of oil and gas. And you look at that and say, well, that's just going to continue to heat up the planet. So young people, yeah. Whether it's your, you know, your son, my kids, whomever, I've got to play a critical role here and we have to help them with the right skill set.

Esther O'Callaghan OBE: Yeah. And I think the, so I think obviously, you know, that hundo's bit, you know, is the, how do we get, you know, a kind of a next gen upskilled workforce who are also informed accurately, correctly, and in a rapidly changing environment from the, from the global tech advocate side in terms of advocacy. Um, you know, appreciate, you know, kind of nonpartisan, you know, sort of, you know, like politically, you know, not affiliate, you know, not affiliated. It's kind of new, that new, it's like, how do you balance that? The, yeah. That kind of, yeah, it's a neutral voice, but one that can lobby and affect, um, change as we're, you know, we're kind of doing like the, how do we get young people ready and skilled? And then there's almost like downstream, you're kind of going like, how do we actually make this effective in practice?

Russ Shaw CBE: Yes, well, it's, look, we, we are in a political organisation, so we will talk to all main political parties and here in the UK, obviously, I speak to the UK government a lot. And my message to them is around. The biggest priority has got to be around skills. I'm also speaking to the Labour Party. We're probably going to have a general election here later this year. And my message to them has been the same one, which is if there's one thing that you can do, whether you're government or party in opposition, it's to address the skills, gap how do we equip. Not only the British workforce, but to governments around the world, how do we equip our workforces with the skills that we so desperately need, digital skills, AI skills, green skills, all form part of that mix and my message to them. And I spoke to the, both the secretary of state for science, innovation, technology recently, and the minister for tech and innovation to say, look, The government doesn't have to go deep into its coffers to fund this stuff because I know the money's not there.

Um, many governments because of post COVID don't have deep financial resources. However, the private sector does. The governments can Play that convening role to bring organisations together to put pressure on the Microsoft's, the Google's, the BT's to say, you help fund this because you will benefit by upskilling and retraining your workforces and the workforces that you're going to recruit. And what I also say to them, Esther, is Don't recreate the wheel because that's time consuming and expensive work with organisations like hundo and others who know how to do this. There are so many great organisations that I meet who are doing this. And one of their biggest barriers is if they had more funding. From others to help them. We can roll this out more and touch many more people. So that has been my message to government is look, I always say to government, I don't expect you to write big checks or big payments, but convene, bring the right people in the room. That is your critical role to play and then help us to get on with it. Help us to encourage others to put the funding behind this. The money is there. It's matching the supply and the demand. To make this happen and speed is of the essence. The clock is ticking, the planet's burning. So we can't spend the next 10 years moving at just the slow incremental pace. We have to move exponentially to tackle this problem.

Esther O'Callaghan OBE: No, I think it's um, I think it's, I think it's, yeah, the point you make is like super serious, you know, and I think for me, it's, I, I like you, I'm optimistic, you know, relentlessly so, um, but it is, I think it's like, you can only be relentlessly optimistic if you are, if you can see that there is the speed and the exponential growth, like you said, in, in reskilling, upskilling, you know, I think for the first time in my career, certainly, you know, I've looked at youth and employment youth issues for, you know, a couple of decades and more now. Um, but I actually think it's an interesting, um, curve coming, which is because of the advent of things like AI, um, particularly, um, the threat to jobs right across the piece, you know, intergenerally, intergenerationally now is kind of like, I never thought I'd be sitting, you know, at hundo thinking that we're probably going to need to start to think about People, you know, like 40 plus, you know, as well as, you know, 14, you know, plus in terms of, and I think that's the, certainly for me in my, in my lifetime, I haven't seen this before.

Russ Shaw CBE: No, and it is happening at a very fast pace, and I think we're seeing, and as I travel around the world, I see two sides to this, and we were together in Davos for the World Economic Forum, which was great, and everybody was talking about AI as a productivity tool, and I continue to hear that, and so part of my message is, look, a lot of this, we need to upskill our workforces so that these new tools can make people more productive. And companies more productive. That's a really positive aspect of this, but the flip side is certain jobs are going to disappear, and we're going to see an exponential increase and probably in the area. What I would see where I see is more of the middle management area. So, you know, those top jobs, those C suites. You're not going to see that happen overnight. There's going to be a need for younger people in particular to come in with those new emerging skill sets. But I think it's going to be those middle management layers that are going to be really hit hard in a variety of professions, in accountancy, in the legal profession. And that's going to drive greater fear for people. And, you know, when we see people being fearful. we see strange things happen politically.

You just have to look at what's going on in the US at the moment to say, why is this happening? Well, a lot of it's driven by fear and uncertainty and people watching how this technology is changing things. Um, and they're nervous about it because their livelihoods could potentially change. If those same people see that the private sector and the public sector are working together to say, look, We know this change is happening. You can't put the genie back in the bottle. But here's what we can do to help you be skilled and equipped for how this emerging world is going to change. And in parallel, let's fix the planet. With the technology that's there. That, to me, is The upside to this but every day that we don't work on this It's it it's putting us in more and more danger. That's the this is the good news But this is the bad news equation that I see.

Esther O'Callaghan OBE: Yeah. No, I think yeah No, I think I think it's a balanced look. I think it's a balanced view We live in you know, we live in a we live in an extreme time So so it is interesting. Um, I think for me russ, um, what I did want to say, um in in wrapping up was um, Obviously You know, thank you for being such an advocate, um, of, um, young people and skills as well. Um, you know, with, with hundo and as part of Global Tech Advocates. Um, but also, you know, what, what, um, one of our other colleagues described, uh, Jeanette, which I thought was lovely, was an actual true advocate for diversity and inclusion. Um, you know, the, the, you know, it's like, I always laugh when you sit there going like, it's, you know, it's full of white men as a white man. But, you know, for me, it's like, we need everybody, uh, to, uh, to be working together to tackle this. So, um, thank you as always. And, uh, great to talk to you.

Russ Shaw CBE: Likewise, Esther. And keep doing the great work that you're doing. We need hundo. We need people like you to drive this agenda. You're going to save all of us.

Esther O'Callaghan OBE: No pressure.

Russ Shaw CBE: No pressure. Thank you.