Executive summary:
Bates Marshall
I was trained in computer science at the College of Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara and started my professional career in product management. I came up through the ranks in marketing and sales, and had the great fortune of working all over the world with some of the largest and most influential companies in semiconductor, electronics, and solar PV. While I have worked mainly in large, publicly-traded firms, I have also held key positions at startups along the way. I am proud to say that Ambient Photonics is the first company I’ve founded.
What is your field of expertise?
As an entrepreneur focused on building great products and great teams, my expertise spans the electronics ecosystem, from the chip stage through the supply chain through market development. This background has given me valuable insight into how businesses operate, how they think and overcome complexities, what their product development cycles look like, and what makes their products better over time.
I am also a passionate communicator and a growth champion – focused on transforming ambitious never-before-imagined ideas into market-transforming products at scale.
Describe your journey to where you are today.
I spent the early part of my career working in the semiconductor industry before moving into solar PV technology in 2004. I was in the right place at the right time in Silicon Valley in the early 2000’s and just simply fell in love with solar.
The solar industry was – and still has – the right combination of technological innovation, public policy, sustainability, and large-scale finance to truly transform how we live our lives for the better. That’s why I’ve been working in solar ever since.
What does your company do, for whom, and how does it fit into the bigger picture of solving global issues with clean tech?
Ambient Photonics helps our customers, including the world’s largest connected device manufacturers, build IoT products that stay powered forever with our breakthrough low-light energy harvesting solar technology. Additionally, customers that power their devices using Ambient’s technology are able to reduce the carbon footprint of their products by up to 80%.
More broadly, the work we do focuses on the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, which is the most widely-used international accounting tool for carbon emissions. Our energy harvesting technology helps our customers reduce their value chain carbon footprint by eliminating disposable batteries and reducing dependence on rechargeable batteries.
What do you think is the most important thing we can be doing in terms of clean tech solutions?
Ambient is on a mission to decarbonize the IoT and electronics ecosystem, bringing attention to an underserved area of clean technology. All of us should demand more from the manufacturers of the electronic products that we use every day and hold them accountable to providing solutions that are more sustainable, with lower toxicity and lower carbon footprints. It’s about time that we stopped giving these industries a pass.
LinkedIn: Bates Marshall