Spotlight on... Adeayo Sangowawa, energy specialist and future industry innovator

Our energy specialist Ayo talks about what’s at stake in being part of the renewables sector, and the importance of understanding customer experience when creating innovative products.

Why did you join Octopus?

My background is in engineering, with a focus on renewables and sustainability. My interest in the renewables sector grew throughout undergrad – the industry is massively expanding, for one, and the lives of my children, and my children’s children, will come to really rely on green energy.

Octopus has been an opportunity to see the other side of energy. I completed my Masters in Sustainable Engineering and Entrepreneurship at the University of Nottingham. Coming from such a technical background you can get bogged down easily in data and mechanical processes. But it’s so important to see things from the customer’s perspective. So I’m working at Octopus to understand both sides of the business and how to relate to customers, so that I can always keep that in mind in my future endeavours...

And what might those be?

I’m really excited about the potential smart meters have to change the way consumers use energy. Eventually I'd love to think of ways for Octopus to innovate with energy assessment – analysing data we get from smart meters to learn more about customers’ habits and eventually provide personalised recommendations to help them get energy efficient!

What do you do at Octopus?

I am an energy specialist and part of an incredible operations team in Leicester. I also currently supervise new recruits in my team, providing all the support I can as they learn the ropes.

What are you working on at the moment?

Right now, I’m focused on resolving fiddly industry problems. Octopus is growing massively and we’ve started doing most processes in-house, rather than relying on outdated industry systems. I’m sorting out complicated switchover processes to make sure customers can transition smoothly, and their experience with Octopus is awesome before we’re even their supplier.

What's the most challenging part of your job?

The energy industry, notoriously, isn’t great. Especially when it comes to being transparent and owning up to mistakes. At Octopus we try to put this opacity to bed, but explaining industry processes to customers isn't always easy because a lot of them are either really technical or are kept in the dark.

So the difficulty arises when trying to explain to a customer what the holdup is without writing screeds about ‘D86s’ and ‘flows’ and ‘cross-metering’.

What's the best part of your job?

Hearing the truly lovely feedback from our customers and working with an inspiring team.

Any message for people thinking of switching?

You should absolutely switch. There are a lot of benefits that come from switching that you can only experience when you take the plunge.

Any message for people who've already switched?

The energy industry is changing. The innovation from challenger suppliers is incredibly exciting to see. I’m glad you’re embracing this change by joining Octopus – but we need your feedback and contribution to take these new ideas even further!