Sustainability Magazine August 2022 | Page 41

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Inderpal Bhandari iis IBM ' s Global

Chief Data Officer , a role in which he has leveraged his extensive experience to lead IBM ’ s data strategy to ensure it remains the number one global hybrid cloud and AI , and business service provider .

Under his leadership , the Cognitive Enterprise Blueprint was created – a

roadmap for IBM clients on their own transformation journeys .

Bhandari brings to IBM more than 20 years of experience in leadership roles at such prestigious companies as Cambia Health Solutions and Express Scripts / Medco Health Solutions .

World Economic Forum study found that leveraging data and AI digital solutions could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions 4 % by 2030 .

Dr . Anand Rao , Global AI Lead , PwC , explains that , when thinking about AI and how it can be used for good , “ the first issue is how you define sustainability .

He says “ One way is to look at how the UN has defined the sustainable development goals ( SDG ’ S ) and the way in which AI can be used to solve those . At the same time , there is more tracking of companies and how companies should be sustainable , so the emphasis is on being Net Zero . So , getting the carbon footprint down is one aspect of sustainability , but if you look at the UN ’ s SDGs , it ’ s a much broader set of goals that looks at people followed by species and the sustainability of the other species , and then also the sustainability of the planet .”

In a talk to the UK government in May 2022 – entitled ' AI & Climate Change ' – Rao explained : “ AI for sustainability has primarily received attention for its application in helping achieve sustainability across all 17 SDGs created by the UN , exhibited through efforts such as the ' AI for Good ' initiative , with a study finding that AI can enable 79 % of targets across the goals .”

INDERPAL BHANDARI GLOBAL CHIEF DATA OFFICER , IBM