Engaging ESG with Jennifer Owens and Kati Kallins
Oct 1, 2026 · 31 min · 12 segments
Midway through a New York Climate Week panel on responsible AI, protesters burst in to confront AWS over a new gas power plant. Once security moved the speakers offstage, the protesters turned on the…
Kati KallinsHostJennifer OwensHostI've been very much focused and working with Tracera, which is about manufacturing supply chain data, how do you gather it, how do you trace it, how do you report it.
So I was at every sort of conversation about that this week, which has been very interesting.
We hosted a dinner last night where it was the manufacturers talking about the stress of having one data set and having it go to customers and go to all the frameworks, voluntary, compulsory, all of that.
'Cause, like, in previous years, I've been like, "Oh, now I'm gonna do one about REAC.
Now I'm gonna do ..." This was more of a focused version of it for me this year.
Within that focused conversation, was there anything that surprised you, expectations shifted?
Yes, because I have been very focused, and this is, uh, not an argument, but a point of view I've had is compliance, compliance, compliance.
And my CEO, my lovely CEO, Sandeep, has been talking about the power of this data for business, and I get it in certain ways, but I heard some really good arguments about it, because you do hear the sustainability leads are being brought into commercial conversations to say, "And so how does this all help our business?" And so do you get defensive about that, or do you get excited that you're at the table? And so to hear the people who are earlier in the journey with responding to those questions to more mature parts, that was very interesting.
Like, and who feels they're doing well at it, who feels they don't know how to make the jump, and so yes.
[laughs] We shall talk more about this, but you're completely right, and that's what a good CEO should be.
Not to be too much of a brown-noser, but a good CEO should be ahead and should push you to think in new directions.
Compliance is still super important, and it's still a stress point, but there is this point where these companies are being asked, or these sustainability leads are being brought into conversations and saying, "You were over there in your own corner for a long time.
I've been very much focused and working with Tracera, which is about manufacturing supply chain data, how do you gather it, how do you trace it, how do you report it.
So I was at every sort of conversation about that this week, which has been very interesting.
We hosted a dinner last night where it was the manufacturers talking about the stress of having one data set and having it go to customers and go to all the frameworks, voluntary, compulsory, all of that.
'Cause, like, in previous years, I've been like, "Oh, now I'm gonna do one about REAC.
Now I'm gonna do ..." This was more of a focused version of it for me this year.
Within that focused conversation, was there anything that surprised you, expectations shifted?
Yes, because I have been very focused, and this is, uh, not an argument, but a point of view I've had is compliance, compliance, compliance.
And my CEO, my lovely CEO, Sandeep, has been talking about the power of this data for business, and I get it in certain ways, but I heard some really good arguments about it, because you do hear the sustainability leads are being brought into commercial conversations to say, "And so how does this all help our business?" And so do you get defensive about that, or do you get excited that you're at the table? And so to hear the people who are earlier in the journey with responding to those questions to more mature parts, that was very interesting.
Like, and who feels they're doing well at it, who feels they don't know how to make the jump, and so yes.
[laughs] We shall talk more about this, but you're completely right, and that's what a good CEO should be.
Not to be too much of a brown-noser, but a good CEO should be ahead and should push you to think in new directions.
Compliance is still super important, and it's still a stress point, but there is this point where these companies are being asked, or these sustainability leads are being brought into conversations and saying, "You were over there in your own corner for a long time.
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