“What we’re seeing is, as the new carbon Economy moves forward – and this is critical to businesses to operate in the future, in the next five, 10 years – it’s colliding with the digital transformation and financial transformation. And so, I think one of the essential things our customers are asking is. ‘how do we bring together the Chief Sustainability Officer, the CIO and the CFO and the new market, digital and carbon economy as we go forward?’ Because you need all three lenses to make a holistic decision for both the Growth and resiliency of your company.” Mandi McReynolds on Electric Ladies Podcast

Artificial Intelligence, A.I., is transforming sustainability work, from data collection to analysis to reporting. It’s a tool to help assess risks and see opportunities, but humans bring the superpower. How?

Listen to Mandi McReynolds, Chief Sustainability Officer at Workiva in this fascinating conversation with Electric Ladies Podcast host Joan Michelson.

You’ll hear about:

●        How Workiva is leveraging A.I. to serve its clients across the board – from assessing materiality, to financial reporting and sustainability reporting,

●        How to use A.I. to minimize boring work and free up people to be more strategic and creative – in a few unique ways.

●        How to ensure the integrity of the data you’re accessing with A.I. – and how to reduce the risk of your data being contaminated by A.I. hallucinations, etc.

●        Plus, career advice, such as:

 “Your job isn’t to know the answer. Your job is to ask all the right questions of where the business is going and think about your lens is adding value because you’re going to ask a different question….Don’t be afraid….(Align) with people who could see the possibility of (your) experience. And… take that stretch job and just remember you’re in the room to ask different questions, and that’s perfectly fine. So, take the stretch and then lean into your experience that allows you to have a different lens and a different perspective.” Mandi McReynolds on Electric Ladies Podcast

Read Joan’s Forbes articles here.

You’ll also like:

·       Business Leaders Bridging The Gap – Women business leaders from The Earth Day Women’s Summit on the unique role of business in addressing the climate crisis.

·       The Power Of Buildings – with Katie McGinty, VP and Chief Sustainability and External Affairs Officer at Johnson Controls.

·       How GM Is Going All Electric – with General Motors Chief Sustainability Officer Kristen Siemen.

·       Reducing IT’s Carbon Footprint – with HPE Chief Sustainability Officer Monica Batchelder.

·       How Businesses Unlock Value With Sustainability – with Kristen Sullivan, Audit Partner and head of Deloitte’s Sustainability practice

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Joan Michelson Electric Ladies Podcast - Innovation, Energy, Climate, Careers

Joan Michelson, MBA is a highly accomplished business leader and award-winning strategic social impact and ESG – environment, social, governance – leader, who drove breakthrough results at Chrysler (in EVs), American Express and Deloitte, small businesses, and government agencies. She is an instructor on ESG issues to professionals, leaders and board members across industries. Her specialties include leveraging ESG solutions and partnerships strategically for maximum benefit, helping organizations recruit innovative, diverse women, and helping these women thrive in their careers. She is based in the Washington D.C. area.

Joan is also an accomplished journalist who has worked with top media organizations and hosts and produces the acclaimed Electric Ladies podcast (formerly known as Green Connections Radio), about innovation and leadership in energy-, climate- and sustainability-related issues across industries, featuring women experts.

She writes regularly for Forbes on these issues and has also been in the Harvard Business Review, HuffPost, TheAtlantic.com, Greenbiz, The New Economy magazine (distributed at the World Economic Forum), New Thinking magazine, regional business journals; and various other media. She coproduced segments with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” ABC News, and “The Crusaders,” and television specials on NBC.

Joan has spent her career working in energy-sustainability-climate-ESG issues and in marketing communications, including as head of communications and co-leader of the sales and marketing team of Chrysler’s Global Electric Motorcars (GEM), driving “best year ever” growth and significantly accelerated the adoption of electric vehicles. Prior to GEM, she led marketing communications efforts to high-net-worth and high-visibility clients in management consulting-financial services companies Deloitte and American Express. She's a native of NYC and has a BA from UCLA, an MBA from Baruch College at City University of NY, and post-graduate studies at Harvard Business School, The New School and The Aspen Institute, among others. She has a Sustainability and ESG certification from Competent Boards.