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Over the last two months, a first-of-a-kind project has taken shape at an industrial site in Nevada: the worlds largest microgrid built with used EV batteries, designed to power an adjacent data center.Its the first of a series of microgrids planned by Redwood Materials, the battery recycling company now valued at more than $5 billion. The company is taking in a quickly-growing volume of used EV batteriestens of thousands over the last year, and perhaps hundreds of thousands over the next 12 months. Most of those batteries still have enough capacity to have a second life before the materials are recycled. And they could help deal with a major energy challenge: how new data centers can come online quickly and cheaply without straining the grid and significantly adding to climate emissions.The amount of batteries coming back that have usable life and that are relatively more cost-efficient to deploy has ramped up dramatically in just the last year or two, says JB Straubel, CEO of Redwood Materials. The company announced its new energy business arm at an event on June 26.[Photo: Redwood Energy]Straubel, one of Teslas cofounders, left the automaker in 2019 to help build a new U.S. supply chain of critical battery materials using the growing pile of battery waste. Last year, the company started commercial production of cathode active material, one key component in batteries, from recycled materials. Its recycling business is already profitable; it generated $200 million in revenue last year. But it also recognized the huge opportunity to put some batteries to work again. [Image: Redwood Materials]How EV batteries can find a second lifeWhen a battery is in a car or a truck, its a pretty demanding application, Straubel says. You need a lot of power capability. You really want to charge quickly, usually, so you can go to fast charge stations. And you also need a pretty high percent of your overall initial range that you purchased in the car. But even when a battery has lost so much capacity that it no longer makes sense for driving, it can still be used to store energy. In that application, charging and discharging can happen slowly. A battery might only have half of its original capacity, but can still reliably support the grid or a microgrid. In some cases, it could be used for years before its eventually recycled.In the new microgrid, on Redwoods campus near Reno, more than 800 used EV batteries are connected to 20 acres of solar panels. It has enough power to run a new AI data center on the site, built by Crusoe, a company that designs and deploys low-carbon compute infrastructure.The data center operates fully off the grid, without an external backup. We still expect [the microgrid] to be very, very reliable, Straubel says. In some cases, it might be more reliable, because we have less failure points. To make it possible to avoid the grid completely, the team built a relatively large amount of solar power and large battery capacity. In other cases, the company will build microgrids that do have a grid connection, but allow data centers to run on their own renewable energy most of the time. Some projects could also be built with backup from gas generators. But there are advantages to off-grid renewable projects.[Photo: Redwood Energy]Why companies want to go off the gridOff-grid projects are faster than other alternatives. Right now, the wait time for a new gas turbine can be as long as seven years. Connecting large new renewable energy projects to the grid also takes years because of long delays in the permitting process. A self-contained microgrid can avoid waiting in the interconnection queue. And if its fully renewable, like the project from Redwood and Crusoe, it can also avoid the long process to get air quality permits. All that a project needs is simple construction permits. The process to build can also happen quickly. (Crusoes own data center infrastructure, which uses modular, self-contained small units, is also fast to deploy. The new data center is already running in test mode and will be available for Crusoes cloud customers to use in the coming weeks.)Because renewable energy is cheap, and Redwoods battery system is also affordable, the microgrids can compete head to head with fossil fuels. Were seeing prices now that I think are below what you can do with the gas microgrid, says Straubel. All of this means that even if a tech company doesnt have sustainability as its first priority when it builds a new data center, the microgrid can still be a compelling choice. It seems that in this moment, speed and power availability is the number-one topic, Straubel says. Maybe number two would be overall economics. Number three is sustainability. Not to say that people dont care about thatI feel that most of our customers care quite deeply about it. But theres a lot of pressure for everyone to grow fast and balance all these other constraints while doing it.[Photo: Redwood Energy]The potential for scaleData center providers that want to use solar power need to find land in the right location. But one recent analysis found that there was more than enough available land in the U.S. to support the massive energy demand from new data centersfar more than even high-end projections that say that we may need a staggering 300 gigawatts of new energy by 2030 to cover growth. That analysis looked at the feasibility of microgrids that were 90% renewable and 10% gas-powered. But it mapped out potential sites in detail, and points to areas that could also potentially be used for 100% renewable projects.Redwood is already working on other microgrids for other data centers. And over time, as more used EV batteries become available, they can play a greater role for the grid overall. The volumes in the automotive and transportation sector are so much higher than in the grid sector, Straubel says. Over the long term, I believe that EV batteriestrucks, cars, robotaxis, all of itwill have an extremely significant role to play in really all bulk energy storage.It can help the cost of energy storage come down, which is key to helping renewables fully scale up. Renewables are our cheapest source of generation today, he says. And I think thats only going to expand. But theyre intermittent. We have to find a cost-efficient way to deliver firm, reliable, renewable energy if we have a hope of scaling it. And to me, that is really the long-term main application.
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E-Commerce
The AI landscape is evolving rapidly and its important to keep up. No one can afford to stay out of the loop on AI, so here are five new books to fill you in on the latest updates, concerns, and uses of this world-changing technology. AI First: The Playbook for a Future-Proof Business and Brand By Adam Brotman & Andy Sack In AI First, youll hear from a whos who of tech visionaries who spoke with the authors, including Sam Altman himself, Bill Gates, and Reid Hoffman, sharing how theyre thinking of the transition to the new reality. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by authors Adam Brotman and Andy Sack, or view on Amazon. The AI Con: How to Fight Big Techs Hype and Create the Future We Want By Emily Bender & Alex Hanna A smart, incisive look at the technologies sold as artificial intelligence, the drawbacks and pitfalls of technology sold under this banner, and why its crucial to recognize the many ways in which AI hype covers for a small set of power-hungry actors at work and in the world. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by authors Emily Bender and Alex Hanna, or view on Amazon. More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valleys Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity By Adam Becker How Silicon Valleys heartless, baseless, and foolish obsessionswith escaping death, emergent AI tyrants, and limitless growthpervert public discourse and distract us from real social problems. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Adam Becker, or view on Amazon. AI Valley: Microsoft, Google, and the Trillion-Dollar Race to Cash In on Artificial Intelligence By Gary Rivlin A veteran Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist shadows the top thinkers in the field of Artificial Intelligence, introducing the breakthroughs and developments that will change the way we live and work. Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by author Gary Rivlin, or view on Amazon. More Human: How the Power of AI Can Transform the Way You Lead By Rasmus Hougaard & Jacqueline Carter AI has the potential to transform leadership and the human experience of workor to lead us into an automated and uninspiring work reality. Which one will it be? Listen to the Book Bite summary, read by coauthor Rasmus Hougaard, or view on Amazon. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
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E-Commerce
Employees are in a burnout crisis. A 2023 Mercer report found that 82% of workers were at risk of burnout. Overworked employees say they need time off, work-life balance, and flexibility. But the same report noted only 32% of leaders thought reducing employee burnout was important. Still, some companies are getting wildly innovative with their well-being perks. Last week, Deloitte made headlines for a new approach: offering its staffers $1,000 to purchase Legos and puzzles. While some employees might argue they’d prefer time off, or a raise, Deloitte isn’t the only company to try a quirky new approach to improving employee well-being. Here are five offbeat benefits companies are offering. 1. Pawternity leave Bringing home a new human is a whirlwind of joy, excitement, and pure exhaustion, and companies are well-versed in granting leave (paid and unpaid) to employees who have had a baby. On the other hand, providing time off for bringing home a new pet is pretty atypical. Still, some companies, who clearly value pets, have offered time off for adopting a new fur baby. New York-based data company mParticle offers PTO to employees who adopt a rescue dog. It also allows employees to bring their pups to work. Likewise, Minneapolis marketing firm Collective Measures allows pet owners to work from home for the first week after bringing home a new cat or dog. While pawternity leave might be new, many companies have become more pet-friendly, including Amazon. The company’s Seattle headquarters allows dogs and caters to pups with an entire floor designed for them. The workplace also built a dog park (open to the public) on company grounds. 2. All-expenses-paid vacations Burned-out employees say they could use more time off. How about having a vacation paid in full by your company? If you work for Airbnb, this desirable benefit can be yours. The vacation rental platform helps staff take vacations by giving them travel stipends. And those stipends aren’t piddly either. Airbnb employees receive $2,000 per year ($500 per quarter) to spend on travel bookings. “Our benefits are centered around our Live and Work Anywhere policy, prioritizing flexibility to meet individual needs,” Airbnb’s career page reads. “Employees receive quarterly travel credits, an annual educational stipend, and a quarterly Live and Work Anywhere allowance, empowering them to enhance their lives professionally and personally as desired.” BambooHR, a human resources company, offers the same perk with its “Paid Paid Vacation” policy. Employees receive $2,000 that can be used to pay for hotels and airfare. 3. Home-cleaning services Keeping your home clean takes time and energy. And if you spend a lot of time at the office (or on work-related tasks), housecleaning can easily fall by the wayside. But California-based staffing company Akraya offers a perk designed to help keep employees’ homes spotless, and the stress at bay. Akraya offers professional housecleaning services to all employeesand not just once in a while. Every two weeks we have a cleaning service that goes to our employees homes. . . . I dont know of any other company that has [that benefit], cofounder and CEO Amar Panchal told Staffing Industry Analysts. Panchal got the idea after talking with an employee who was tired from spending the weekend keeping up with housework. 4. Snow(boarding) days Many of us enjoyed snow days as school-age children. But most companies don’t provide time off when the white stuff comes down. Burlington, Vermont-based Burton isnt most companies. The snowboard maker offers “snow days” for its employeeswith one rule: They have to hit the slopes. Per Entrepreneur, whenever there’s a big storm, Burtons offices close and employees are encouraged to get out and snowboard, which is, after all, what the brand is all about. In addition to snow days, employees get majorly discounted lift tickets, season passes, demo gear, and more. 5. Unlimited ice cream Ben & Jerry’s, the Vermont-based ice cream company known for its lovable flavors and outspoken founders, is a pretty sweet place to work. Not only is the atmosphere casual, dog-friendly, and seemingly full of joy, it also offers employees virtually unlimited ice cream. Employees say they’re allowed to take home three pints each and every day, though when new flavors roll in, they have to hustle. “Even though we get three pints a day as a sweet work perk, its always a mad rush to the freezers when a new flavor comes in,” the company website reads. “And camping out overnight to be first in line is, well, frowned upon.” With all the ice cream offerings, it’s no wonder Ben & Jerry’s was ranked Vermont’s Most Coveted Employer this year.
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When people think about artificial intelligence, they often picture sleek start-ups or futuristic labs. But what happens when AI meets a company that has been innovating for over 100 years? Unilever is one of the worlds largest consumer goods companies, home to brands like Dove, Hellmanns and Vaseline, with products used by 3.4 billion people every day. And behind those everyday items is a deep and evolving commitment to science. From soap and margarine in the early 20th century to todays breakthroughs in sustainable packaging and personalized skincare, Research and Development (R&D) has always been our engine of progress. But now, that engine is being transformed by AI. AI is not just a new tool in our labs, it is a new way of thinking. And for a company with a centurys worth of scientific data, that is a game-changer. AI is reshaping every industry, but the companies that will be the most successful are the ones that know how to adapt, learn, and build on what they already know. While many legacy companies are exploring how to modernize through AI, the real opportunity lies in how they harness their institutional memory: the decades of research, product development, and consumer insights that can often sit untapped. This requires deep domain expertise, robust data stewardship, and a culture that values learning as much as legacy. When those elements align, AI can become a catalyst for transformation, by revealing the full potential of what has come before. Unilever was born in the Victorian era, shaped by the industrial and scientific revolutions. Over the decades, we have evolved by responding to cultural shifts; from the transformation of domestic life in the mid-20th century to todays shifting expectations around skin health, beauty, and wellbeing to the growing urgency of sustainability. When new materials like Formica and stainless steel became common in mid-century kitchens, our scientists developed products tailored to these surfaces. This was not just chemistry, it was a scientific response to a changing way of life. That same mindsetscience in service of real lifestill drives us today. But the questions were asking have become more complex: How do we support the skins natural microbiome? How do we clean homes without disrupting the ecosystems that live on our surfaces? How do we design products that are both effective and sustainable? These are not simple problems, and they require new ways of doing science. Thats where AI comes in. With machine learning, we can uncover patterns that would take human researchers hundreds of years to detect. We are using AI to understand how microbes interact with our products, how skin responds to environmental stressors, and how we can personalize formulations for different needs and regions. But here is what makes our approach uniquewe are not starting from scratch. Like many legacy companies our R&D archives stretch back over 100 years. We have records of every formulation, every trial, and every consumer insight. This historical depth gives our AI models something incredibly rare: context. While many companies are just beginning to build their data sets, established companies like ours are standing on a foundation that has been carefully constructed for generations. Our scientists can unlock proprietary knowledge that was once siloed, scattered across teams, or locked in an archive. A century of skincare expertise is now structured, searchable, and ready to be applied. We are using AI to connect the dots across decades of research, accelerating discovery in new materials while simultaneously optimising formulations for specific needs, like different skin types. Were moving from research and discovery to formulation design and refinement in a single, integrated process, helping us respond faster and more precisely to peoples needs around the world. This is not about replacing scientists with algorithms. It is about creating the conditions where human talent can thrive. Agentic AI systems give our teams the ability to ask better questions, explore more possibilities, and unlock insights from our data. By amplifying human creativity and empathy not automating it, were enabling our scientists to focus on what they do best: imagining, experimenting, and designing products that meet real human needs. So why should this matter to anyone outside Unilever? Because it shows what is possible when legacy meets learning. In an era where AI is reshaping every industry, the companies that thrive will not just be the newest or the loudest, they will be the ones that know how to adapt, how to learn, and how to build on what they already know. AI rewards data maturity. It rewards curiosity. And it rewards companies that see technology not as a threat to tradition, but as a way to reimagine it. We do not have all the answers. But we have learned that staying curious, being a learn-it-all not a know-it-all, is what keeps a company relevant for a century. AI is helping us stay curious at scale. We believe the next 100 years of innovation will be driven by companies that embrace the partnership between human talent and agentic AI: hybrid systems that augment creativity, empathy, and scientific intuition. This is not just a story about technology. It is a story about legacy, learning, and the enduring power of science to shape the everydayonly now with a little help from artificial intelligence. Alberto Prado is global head digital & partnerships at Unilever.
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E-Commerce
In a world where leadership is often mistakenly understood as a position of control, Ive found that true impact comes from serviceleading not from above, but alongside your team to achieve success. This point was driven home about 15 years ago, when I made a resolution to read more books. Since starting this journey, one book stood out and shaped my leadership style more than any other: The Way of The Sheperd. It resonated with me so much that I even named my youngest son, Shep, after it. This book takes readers through core principles of servant leadership and outlines a leadership plan that showcases how true influence comes not from authority, but from trust, empathy, and a genuine devotion to the growth and well-being of your team. I reread this book once a year to remind myself that the most effective leaders are ones who lead with compassion, understand what motivates each team member, and empower everyone to hold themselves accountable. It underscores how a leader cant manage what they dont know, and how too many well-intentioned leaders focus solely on performance rather than their people. These lessons have influenced the way I lead, inspiring me to prioritize building trust and authentic connections with our team. At Kendra Scott, I make it a point to ensure everyone has direct access to memy email is always openand I encourage team members to reach out or schedule time to discuss anything on their minds. Company connections Weve also established a tradition of celebrating the meaningful connections within our company. For the past 9 years, weve passed down the shepherds staff. The tradition involves the current holder receiving the staff and keeping it for a set period of time before nominating someone else at the next family meeting. They share how this person has impacted them, add a meaningful token to the staff, and pass it on to the new nominee. The cycle continues from there. This simple yet powerful practice has reinforced our culture and the importance of the connections we share with one another. However, this modern leadership philosophy wasnt one that always came naturally to me. Growing up, my life was all about sports, which helped me become the first in my family to go to college. The competitive mindset required for sports can sometimes be too focused on the individual. But the real lesson I took away, doing whatever it takes with your team to win, shaped my early approach to leadership. 3 things I know As I moved into the business world and started working with founders like Ralph Lauren and Kendra Scott, I began to see how personal their connection to their companies was. That shifted my approach to leadership, and I started to focus more on building trust and creating a more supportive, nurturing environment for my team. Here are three things I know now: Fostering a sense of purpose leads to stronger performance Investing in your team and infusing every position with importance helps to instill passion and purpose in your employees. Every employee should be empowered to feel as if they represent a brands vision. This authentic connection fuels productivity and drives success. Making mistakes can be your biggest asset You learn the most through your mistakes. In those moments, the best lessons come from acknowledgement and accountability. As a leader, being transparent and vulnerable about your own missteps can set a tone that not only enhance company culture, but also make employees feel secure in taking risks. The importance of leading with a learners heart Great leaders are great learners. No one has all of the answers, regardless of their position in an organization. Thats why its important to maintain a culture of continuous learning and collaboration. The more you learn, the more tools and opportunities you have. In the end, leaders cant be successful without their team, and leadership isnt about control, power, or having all the answers. Its about showing up for your people, creating space for them to grow, and demonstrating humility through it all. Whether its by reading a book about servant leadership or establishing supportive methods, Ive learned that true leaders are those who cultivate intentional connections with their employees. There is still much to learn, and my journey is still unfolding, but one thing I know to be true is that leading with trust and empathy is the type of legacy worth leaving. Tom Nolan is CEO of Kendra Scott.
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E-Commerce
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