What’s the most exciting bit of technology you are working on at the moment and why?
At Social Energy, we’re using AI trading to flip the energy industry on its head. We let every home with our technology trade their electrical energy on the wholesale markets, with complete automation. It’s kind of like putting a little energy stockbroker in the homes of our customers.
What’s exciting about this tech is how it facilitates the future of a decentralised, digitised grid. For years there have been operators pressing buttons, manually switching on power stations to meet grid frequency requirements. With Social Energy AI, our network of homes automatically sense frequency fluctuations and supply or store energy to meet the needs of the grid.
Right now, we’re the first and only company globally to be able to meet the requirements for National Grid domestic frequency balancing services.
What technology, piece of kit or process advancement has excited you most in your working life and why?
It has to be EVs; the consumer vehicle market is so exciting right now! Cars haven’t changed much in how they’re powered since the first internal combustion engine cars, so it feels like we’re at the beginning of a whole new era of driving.
Now with vehicle-to-grid tech developing, something that our team at Social Energy are testing, there’s so much potential beyond just driving. The thought that you’d be able to drive to work, charge your car on cheap daytime energy and then come home and use that excess energy to power your home or trade with the grid, well that’s undeniably an exciting shift in what a car is.
How do you communicate?
I like the old-school methods of picking up the phone and speaking face to face with someone. When I was at First Direct, I had my desk right in the middle of the call centre. There is nothing more valuable than having direct access to each other, effectively removing barriers and avoiding miscommunication.
What bit of tech couldn’t you be without at work?
Slack works well for me. As I said, face-to-face communication is my preference, and I really don’t like email, but sometimes when you are not in the same location, technology can come into its own – but only if it’s simple and intuitive to use.
We use Slack at Vallum, because some of the team are down in London and I am in Yorkshire; Slack allows us to communicate on a business and personal level in real time, so we can avoid email ping-pong and a large inbox.
At home?
My Sonos multi-room music system is my love. I was a very early adopter of Sonos and have influenced many friends to purchase one. Why? They have a quality product, it’s simple and easy to use, they are innovators who don’t stand still, and they have amazing customer service as well.
I am lucky enough to be an official beta tester for Sonos, so I get to influence their new product development and play with them before they come to market.
If money was no object?
A flight on Virgin Galactic to see the earth from space. Failing that, a Porsche 911 EV whenever they come to market.
Most admired entrepreneur or business leader?
Richard Branson, for his simplicity and passion to screw it, just do it; Sam Walton, for his belief that to achieve great things you should swim upstream, go the other way and ignore conventional wisdom; and Steve Jobs for his relentless pursuit of perfection.
Is there a book that has inspired you?
I love reading, and I have a whole list of books I could recommend. The Maverick by Ricardo Semler was one of my first inspirations. Lately it has been Shoe Dog by Phil Knight and Legacy by James Kerr. What all these books have in common, like any great story, is the struggle they face by challenging the status quo, not giving up, believing it was the right path and having the grit to push through it all to achieve success.
Technology can never replace…
Emotion, empathy, passion and wisdom. I am sure artificial intelligence will have a go at replicating this in the future, but to build relationships in business or at home requires human interaction.
Jason Sharpe is a director at Social Energy, a new disrupter in the energy market, and a founding partner at the utility recruitment business Vallum.
He was previously managing director of Ovo Energy, growing the business from 80,000 customers to 450,000 in 14 months. Before that, he was a director at First Direct and Vodafone.
This interview first appeared in Flex, issue 3. Read the full issue of Flex here