Q&A with AI decarbonisation firm Net0. CSN talks to Dmitry Aksenov and Sofia Fominova, Co-Founders of Net0.
What is the problem that your company is solving and why is it important to do so?
Net0 is fundamentally transforming how businesses address climate change by harnessing the power of advanced AI. In a time when the UAE Government is driving a rapid shift towards a sustainable economy and the adoption of Artificial Intelligence in the region is skyrocketing, there is an unprecedented market opportunity. Sustainability, while unlocking more profitable business models, demands a deep transformation that many find challenging to justify without clear ROI. The extensive data requirements to quantify emissions and build accurate climate models further complicate this process.
This transformation has never been done before, which necessitates innovative, outside-the-box strategies. Executives are under immense pressure to meet ambitious sustainability targets within a limited timeframe, requiring precise, actionable insights and robust planning. Net0’s AI-first platform is designed to address these challenges comprehensively. We provide businesses with the tools needed to navigate the complex data landscape, demonstrate clear ROI, and support executives in meeting their sustainability commitments.
Our AI solutions go beyond mere carbon management. We are redefining how businesses approach sustainability by integrating AI to solve broader climate challenges. This holistic approach not only facilitates the transition to greener operations but also opens up new avenues for profitability and growth. Net0 is at the forefront of leveraging AI to drive sustainable change, ensuring that businesses can achieve their climate goals efficiently and effectively.
Dmitry Aksenov and Sofia Fominova, Co-Founders of Net0.
What technology/innovation are you bringing to this field?
At Net0, we are solving the climate change crisis with AI, positioning ourselves as a leader in AI for sustainability. Our comprehensive suite of solutions includes off-the-shelf products such as our AI-first carbon management platform, an advanced sustainability reporting tool, and a range of IoT devices.
Additionally, we provide bespoke solutions tailored to the unique needs of large organizations and governments.
Our AI-powered automated data collection system streamlines the gathering of extensive environmental data, ensuring accuracy and efficiency. With over 10,000 integrations available off the shelf and the capability to build unique integrations, we manage to process and organize more than 1.5 million invoices every month, alongside other data sources.
This system feeds into our live sustainability AI platform, which forms the foundation of our solutions. On top of this platform, we have developed an ecosystem of industrial applications, with over 50 unique apps live, supporting a wide range of custom solutions.
Once the data is collected, cleaned, organized, and analyzed, Net0 provides clients with accurate carbon emissions measurements for all three scopes of emissions, including emissions from suppliers for those looking to go further. Following this, we offer a suite of profitable decarbonization tools: from simulators and action cards to engage employees, to MACC curves and an AI-first initiative finder that helps businesses choose the right initiatives and deliver positive ROI on them.
For sustainability and ESG reporting, we assist with all existing frameworks and utilize AI to simplify the process and enhance efficiency. By integrating advanced AI technology across all our products, we simplify the complex data landscape, provide clear ROI, and support executives in achieving their sustainability goals. Our proprietary AI models, including four large language models (LLMs), underpin these solutions, ensuring they are robust and scalable.
What stage of commercialization are you at? Who are your backers?
Net0 has reached an advanced stage of commercialization, with our solutions being utilized by several governments and enterprises worldwide. Our technology is trusted by public companies in the US, large businesses in the UK, Europe, and New Zealand, as well as private organizations in the MENA region. This widespread adoption underscores the robustness and effectiveness of our AI-driven sustainability solutions.
We are proud to be a profitable and self-sufficient company.
What is the potential of your product/service to cut emissions?
Net0’s potential to significantly cut emissions is immense. Given our work with some of the largest businesses and governmental bodies around the world, our reach and impact are substantial.
By partnering with major enterprises and public institutions, we can influence vast supply chains and operational frameworks, creating a significant snowballing effect.
We are already helping our clients save millions of tonnes of CO2 annually. Our technology frees up 90% of time for sustainability teams, allowing them to shift focus on planning for profitable decarbonisation instead of spending months in excel trying to reconcile emissions.
What are the key challenges that you face?
One of the primary challenges we face at Net0 is the adoption of AI by businesses and the lack of understanding of effective and cost-optimized AI roadmaps. Many organizations are still hesitant to fully embrace AI due to misconceptions about its complexity, cost, and implementation processes. This hesitation can slow down the integration of our advanced solutions, despite their proven benefits in sustainability and emissions management.
Another significant challenge is the data collection process. Many businesses rely on manual data collection methods, which are time-consuming and prone to errors. This not only creates gaps in the data but also affects the accuracy and reliability of the information gathered. These issues can impede the effectiveness of our AI-driven solutions, as accurate and comprehensive data is crucial for precise emissions measurements and analyses. Overcoming this challenge requires helping organizations transition to automated data collection systems, which can significantly improve data quality and overall efficiency.
Last but definitely not least, sustainability is often seen as a cost center. Regardless of the state of the economy, there was always a pressure to keep the sustainability departments lean.
What do you need to overcome them?
To overcome the challenge of AI adoption by businesses, we need to collaborate closely with governments and companies to help them create unique and effective AI implementation roadmaps. Each organization’s journey towards AI adoption is different, and the strategies must be customized to fit their specific needs and goals. By providing tailored guidance and support, we can demystify AI, highlight its tangible benefits, and facilitate smoother integration into existing systems.
For the challenge of manual data collection, we focus on automating the process and leveraging AI. Automated data collection not only reduces the time and effort required but also minimizes errors and gaps in the data. By using AI, we ensure that the data is processed and analyzed efficiently, leading to more accurate and reliable emissions measurements and insights. This automation is crucial for improving data quality and enabling businesses to make informed decisions on their sustainability initiatives.
Beyond decarbonisation, we are assisting our clients – both private companies and government entities – in developing new revenue streams with sustainability and AI in mind, making sustainability departments an important profit center.
