Accelerating sustainability action with technology
Sustainabil-IT is a purpose-driven consultancy co-founded by Mark and Ana Kane. Mark is a seasoned sustainability and technology expert and one of our faculty members. The company helps organisations accelerate their sustainability goals using technology.
Working across six core pillars – from strategy, data acquisition and carbon management to compliance, education and certification – Sustainabil-IT enables companies to move faster, smarter and more equitably on their sustainability journey through carefully selected SaaS 2.0 platforms and expert-driven partnerships.
A values-led career pivot
Mark Kane’s professional story is one of deep transformation. After decades in tech, including stints implementing ERP systems for oil companies, Mark felt a growing disconnect between his work and personal values. “Back in my 20s, I worked where I was told to go,” he says. “But I always had this passion for sustainability and working for a purpose-led organisation.”
That passion became a purpose in 2008 when he joined the start-up Mainstream Renewable Power, founded by renewable energy pioneer Dr Eddie O’Connor. For 13 years, Mark worked on the intersection of sustainability and technology until a corporate acquisition provided a natural segway. “I had realised in my 40s what I should’ve done in my 20s – I wanted to focus solely on work that made a positive difference”, he says.
Sustainabil-IT is born
With that clarity, Sustainabil-IT emerged. Inspired by the Japanese concept of ikigai (doing work that you are good at and that you love, that the world needs and that pays you), Mark established Sustainabil-IT to help organisations apply digital transformation principles to sustainability challenges. The mission? Accelerate sustainability through technology.
Partnering with forward-thinking SaaS 2.0 providers Digitopia, CarbonFit, PulseMarkets, Cognition, GreenTally and Ecovadis to offer solutions that embed expert guidance into software aka “Saas 2.0”, helping organisations save money, avoid waste, achieve competitive advantage and meet compliance requirements, while greatly minimising expensive consulting fees. “Our chosen partners are not only best-in-class, they have an ethos that fits our own. As my late father told me: ‘In business, there are a lot of sharks, so swim with the dolphins’. I also refer to our ‘dolphin partners’ affectionately as the “rebel alliance”.
Mark is especially passionate about helping to level the playing field. “Large companies can afford the Big Four consultancies, SMEs can’t. We want sustainability initiatives and outcomes to be accessible, affordable and actionable for everyone,” he says.
This commitment to SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities is woven into the company’s ethos, through fractional CSO services in partnership with Agile Executives, the leading experts at securing grant funding for organisations to accelerate their green and digital journeys.
Sustainabil-IT is focused on making high-quality sustainability expertise available to businesses of all sizes, not just those with the deepest pockets.
The levels of sustainable digital transformation and living the values
Mark breaks down sustainable digital transformation into three levels:
- Bronze: Initial Strategy, automating data collection, calculations and reporting to deliver real-time visibility – essentially, the cockpit view of sustainability performance.
- Silver: Implementing operational shifts to drive real impact (optimisation).
- Gold: Using technology for good to directly benefit society and the planet.
And underpinning it all is a firm belief: “We don’t need to ‘wait for Godot’ with technologies like carbon capture. We already have all the technologies we need to make meaningful change – we just need to deploy them intelligently and equitably.”
Mark’s leadership philosophy is simple: stay rooted to your values. Whether it’s refusing to work with unethical companies or switching web hosts for environmental reasons, Sustainabil-IT walks the talk.
“I learned from the late Eddie O’Connor that where values are truly lived, they act as your compass in challenging times. If you’re unsure of what direction to take, they will guide you”, he says.
Advice for those starting out with sustainability and what’s next for Sustainabil-IT
For those starting out, Mark offers this: “You don’t need to know it all. The ISS diploma gives you a full 360° of the landscape – once you know what excites you most, follow it. Remember, so many of the best ideas come from the frontlines of the organisation – from employees, suppliers and customers. Stay curious, stay humble, and celebrate the wins along the way.”
Looking ahead, Sustainabil-IT is focused on deepening its impact and expanding its reach. The company is working towards B Corp certification in 2025, a milestone that will further solidify its commitment to transparency, purpose, and ethical business practices. It also plans to expand partnerships with agile development firms an AI and app development, enabling more secure and scalable technology deployments for clients.
Mark also dreams of more storytelling: “Ideally, I want to be on stage quoting movie lines while talking about sustainability. If we can help organisations to embrace sustainable transformation while having fun along the way – then I’ve done my job.”
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