#47b - The Microsoft Azure dilemma with Holly and William Alpine - When enabled emissions “offset” sustainability claims

They both went to this job interview to hone their skills, and got a dream job at Microsoft! In its fast-growing and AI-pioneered Azure division. With a romance on top of it…Yet several years later, they decided to both resign. Why? On sustainability ground, and more specifically for the lack of support on “enabled emissions” issues. Holly and Will Alpine are now the Bonnie & Clyde of Azure and give us insider perspectives, in a nuanced and well-documented way, on this “elephant in the room” about sustainability claims in all big tech companies.
In the final part of this 2-part episode, great insights were shared on : 🤯 What is enabled carbon and why it offsets by far all Microsoft achievements 😈 Devil is in the details from tailored solutions to “carbon-neutral” oil company not following standard definitions of “net-zero” ✨ Can responsible AI principles really not mention anything about the environment? ⚖️ Why regulation will ultimately be needed ♀️✊ And … the Pussy Riot!
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Learn more about our guest and connect: 

• Holly Alpine’s LinkedIn 
• William Alpine’s LinkedIn
• Green IO website 
• Gaël Duez's website 
  
  

📧 You can also send us an email at greenio@duez.com to share your feedback and suggest future guests or topics.

Holly and Will's sources and other references mentioned in this episode:

• Quarterly Revenues from Microsoft and its cloud division 
• Microsoft latest Sustainability Report
• The carbon aware SDK from the Green Web Foundation
• “Carbon-aware computing: Measuring and reducing the carbon footprint associated with software in execution” 
• “How a Hackathon Is Slowly Changing The World” 
• Measuring the Carbon Intensity of AI in Cloud Instances
• Data center jobs scam by Gerry Mc Govern
• Frac to the Future; Oil’s Digital Rebirth (Barclays)
• Heeding the digital call to action in oil and gas
• “Microsoft’s Hypocrisy on AI” (The Atlantic) 
• “I loved my job at Microsoft, but I had to resign on principle. Here’s why” (Fortune)