The Wavemakers Podcast

From Race Cars to Decarbonised Ports: Piotr Konopka’s Journey into Maritime

• BetterSea • Season 2 • Episode 9

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In this episode of The Wavemakers Podcast, we meet Piotr Konopka, Vice President at DP World, who took an unexpected yet inspiring journey from designing motorsport vehicles to leading global decarbonization efforts in maritime logistics.

🎯 From automotive engineering and hybrid race cars at Toyota's Motorsport Division, to now helping a company that moves 10% of the world's cargo decarbonize, Piotr’s story is one of curiosity, agility, and global impact.

We talk about:

What sparked his shift from speed to sustainability
The parallels between building a decarbonization strategy and launching a startup
Why his ultimate goal is to make his job in sustainability obsolete by 2050
The importance of regulation, resilience, and rapid decisions
How his entrepreneurial experience shaped his corporate innovation mindset
His personal reflections on balance, networking, and saying no with clarity
And of course:
🛳️ If Piotr were a vessel, which would he be? You’ll hear his answer (and it’s a good one).

Whether you're in shipping, energy, innovation, or simply love hearing about how meaningful careers are shaped, this episode will leave you inspired.

🎧 Listen now and don’t forget to like and share if this conversation moved you.

Subscribe to our channel and be the first to join future coffee conversations with the maritime change makers!

🔗 Related Resources and Links:
• Follow Gordana Ilic on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordanailicphd/
• Follow us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BetterSea

📩 Have questions or comments? Feel free to reach out via email at gordana.ilic@bettersea.tech

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Wavemakers podcast where we focus on the stories of the people leading the change at the intersection of maritime decarbonization and digital transformation My guest today started from the automotive industry as a mechanical engineer then switched to driving sustainability through consulting and is now a vice president at DP World Piotr Konapka Thank you Gordana Pleasure to be here I'm I'm very excited for this conversation because usually when I do these talks or media engagements it's much more about my work rather than a personal journey So I think it would be a very interesting opportunity to to just reflect back on this this sustainability at maritime journey Yes And my first question is actually behind all these titles how would you describe yourself who is Potter who is Potter difficult question Um so I'm a Polish citizen but also very much a citizen of the world Um I spent less than half of my life in Poland majority of this was on in other countries on on other continents Uh I'm also married uh to to a Korean So so you know my recently born child is is half and half So uh I'm I'm I'm very proud of this international upbringing but also kind of the my my Polish background um as well I was born at 354 ppm Uh this is a common slightly nerdy greeting of of professionals working in the decarbonization and climate change space It basically means that in the year that I was born the CO2 concentration and particles per per million in the atmosphere was at 354 That's you know often people translate it to the year that they they were born in And then if you compare it to where we are in you know as of 2024 we were at over 420 So just in my lifetime that concentration has grown over 20% Professor that's personally I would say um professionally you almost said it all but I'm more than happy to dive into into the details Um I didn't think initially that I will end up in the sustainability and especially the the the maritime field So I did study mechanical engineering I I specialized in in automotive um engineering back at university in the in the UK and I've during the course of my studies I I spent six months uh working in Germany for the the motorsport division of Toyota which is interesting because you know motorsport is not generally seen as the most sustainable uh industry and this was an absolutely fascinating uh time for me because back then I was around 21 21 uh years old and I actually got to design a system that was put on a race car in the middle of a race season and actually used for testing in a wind tunnel So absolutely fascinating time But um the main learning I I got from that experience is that the the the factory or the place where these you know very high performance uh cars were being produced used to be the home of Toyota's Formula 1 team So they they they were a Formula 1 team for for for a number of years and then they decided to make a switch to different type of racing to what do you call the the world endurance racing which allowed them to enter a car that was powered by a hybrid uh powertrain and the the main reason for this is that around that time it was around 20 2009 2020 2010 when that happened that's when they started promoting Toyota Prius So that that really got me thinking is that the future of the industry you know running a Formula 1 team especially winding down a Formula 1 team is is is not a cheap uh a cheap endeavor right so if Toyota was willing to make that shift for the sake of promote effectively promoting sustainability promoting hybrid drivetrains that you know they are worldclass manufacturers in today I thought that maybe there's something in it So that sparked the interest in sustainability which led me to do my masters in in sustainable energy futures Then consulting on sustainability and energy transition and then and then ultimately ending up leading the the the energy and decarbonization programs at at DP World which is which has been also a fascinating almost four years now especially that DP World is a company that moves around 10% of all of global's cargo So the the impact is just something I I wouldn't imagine you know 15 years ago back back when I was a student I was thinking to myself that must have been such a cool first project to work on right yes It's like a dream for many many young people actually And now reflecting back to joining uh Maritime and DP World how is that for you how was that shift yeah look maybe another slightly personal story Like I was always attracted to water Like since since I was a young child I've had a dream of living in a place where I can see water outside of my window Uh which Dubai actually kind of gave to me I live just across the street from here over overlooking the the the sea I also always wanted to get married on a beach and again that's something that I managed to get So I was there was always something there about about water but the way I ended up at DP road was was absolute pure luck because um after working in consulting in London for for a number of years I've with the same company that I worked for there I've transferred to Dubai and the first project I did uh in Dubai was to develop DP world's uh decarbonization strategy as a consultant So we've worked on that for about 12 months and then after that was approved I I was very happy to to get an offer from DP World to to to lead that uh program and you know so it's been 2019 about about five years now that that we are into this journey and it's been an absolutely fascinating journey you know being able to see how it worked all the way from setting the initial targets to seeing the first proofs of concepts and and and successes Also seeing the development of the company itself ultimately to the point where where we are now where it's much less of a you know kind of a strategic you can call it a 

desire or target setting but we are in full-blown implementation mode today Absolutely fascinating I think there is so much more uh ahead of us that that that we'll see there also reflecting to similar time when I joined mask it was also that zero to one building phase and I did find many parallels between that type of like strategy setting for decarbonization in the environment where there's so many unknowns to actually building a startup uh and it's a bit different risk level because you're associated to a corporate but the nature of it is very similar and now it sounds like you're in the one to 100 zone Yeah it feels like a like a fair comment You know sustainability even though it's it's been there for a number of years and and decarbonization it's still fairly new I think it's still finding its place especially in the in the corporate world And to me the the the proof of that is where the sustainability department or these different functions usually sit because if you look at any company in the world you would have the seauite you would have the finance department HR department maybe strategy department health and safety department usually you would find these departments in its own in their own kind of fixed places within the organizational structure But if you if you look at many organizations in the world and you ask where is the sustainability team where is the decarbonization team you will find all sorts of different answers Sometimes it's strategic advisory to the CEO sometimes it's the strategy department sometimes it's reporting to the CFO sometimes like in our case it's part of the health safety and and and environment division So I think it's it's still looking for its place And I guess for the right reason but these are the the teething problems of of indeed being a almost a startup um you know a a startup topic for for a lot of the organizations out there One of the clients that we work with uh for them is under HR So the the yes the head of sustainability is sharing the role with the head of HR and I think it depends of which of the ESG elements are strongest So if it's more socially driven then it's under HR if it's uh that's how they somehow put the reporting scheme But you're right And uh now when I think about your current role uh how does the previous experience built into it i think everything I've done in the past has kind of built into it I think the the beauty of starting your career in consulting is that it gives you 10 years of experience in the five years you're there just because of the magnitude of different projects you work on You know if you work on a different project every 3 to six months sometimes it almost feels like you're you're joining a different company because you need to learn how the organization works what are their objectives who are the key people the whole kind of networking aspect So you know even though for five for was it seven years I've worked in consulting at only two companies it just felt like many many more many many more companies which I think really helped me in the current role that I have to have that sort of a different perspective and the academic background uh that I I got from well first of all mechanical engineering and that that that is crucial to understand the technology be behind it but also the the the the master's course I did in in sustainable energy futures at at Imperial It's it's a beautifully crafted interdisciplinary course between the schools of natural science engineering and and policy So you know all of that brought together really I think builds a good decarbonization professional because when you work in decarbonization it's not only just about technology or about policy or about reporting or stakeholder management It's it's literally all of these things uh combined together What do you think is your superpower with that regard i think I would like my superpower uh and I hope that it is uh it's it's effectiveness I I'm a strong believer that uh perfectionism is is the enemy of of of good enough to be honest and just with the with the amount of uncertainty we have in this space of decarbonization I think you need to make quick decisions almost fail fast right i think that's the that's that's the startup uh startup term Um be a you know a quick good advisor to the to the management um around that space So you need to be extremely good at time management stakeholder management and and and being effective and you know not being not being steered away if someone tells you that something cannot be done Um I think that's a very important one here Yeah that is an important one to have that pillar in you Yeah To ground you and you are the fastest reply to emails ever I think Thank you I'm amazed I don't know how you achieve it but See I I hope that's that's the superpower Not the email part but the the speed part Yeah the speed and the quick decision making Yes And if you were a vessel which vessel would you be and why i would probably be a one of the new container vessels because I I' I'd like to believe that my work and my work ethic is structured around being predictable dependable on time um effective right always there kind of ready ready ready for service But the reason I say new one is that I I would hope to be one of these these new ones that are uh methanol ready Mhm So there is that element of being of of of of dependency u dependency being um being effective being on time being yeah dependable uh but also at this spark of innovation that might be the solution to decarbonizing the the the global industry And if we look towards the future and if you had a magic wand so like strip everything that is kind of uh okay to say or not okay so this is just p regardless of any company association How would you paint 2050 it might be a slightly longer answer because I think I need to go back to to how the sustainability industry has and especially decarbonization industry has has shaped uh it itself I think that there's been a lot of mistakes made I mean starting with the narrative around climate change you know back in the days 10 20 years ago we used to call it global warming which is technically correct but kind of society very misleading because it does lead to you know statements like I don't mind if my winter is two or three even five degrees warmer maybe it would be actually nicer right but that's very misleading because that's just a nice almost externality of the of of the really bad climate change impacts that uh are ahead of us I was about to say I believe are ahead of us but it's really not about believing anymore especially in the light of the of the latest of the latest science So number one when it comes to the 2050 vision to me is at least a global appreciation of the of the challenge and and no misleading narratives around uh around the topic of of climate change and and uh decarbonization But overall in by 2050 I honestly hope that my job will become obsolete I really hope that the industry especially will not need VPs of decarbonization because the success in decarbonization depends on on the business decision which means that if all of the say port equipment that is being procured is electric If whenever you build a new port the electricity supplied to that port is is is renewable If you need to use any fuels you actually just by default use bofuels and you know maybe compensate for the embedded carbon If the way you build a port based on your standards and guidelines are being built in a in a sustainable way I mean I'm using a port example but you can actually transpose this to a to any other industry This means that my job becomes obsolete which which is something that I would really really like to see Look in the in the maritime space specifically it's it's mainly a question about about fuels And I cannot see a world where we're going to move from what is it over 90 95 or 99% of all the vessels around the world being being fueled by by bunker fuel to some other magical type of fuel in in 2050 with all these transition fuels in between I think in that since 2050 if you think about it as a graph it's going to be a rainbow You're going to have methyl green methanol you're going to have green ammonia hopefully bio LNG bofuels maybe still a little bit of of LNG that you might have to compensate for I'm very hopeful for the nuclear um nuclear technology I think if if the modular nuclear nuclear reactors uh manage to be developed to a place where society especially will be comfortable with with vessels with with power generation based based on that fuel that might be a gamecher but 2050 will look completely different than today in terms of in terms of propulsion that that I'm certain about And what are some of the challenges today that you face uh more also internally how you process it and how you approach it perhaps as uh a suggestion to others Sure So you know I I talked about the the narrative around decarbonization and and and climate change I think a very similar argument could be made about how corporates or industries approach decarbonization And you know we've gone through this especially here in the Middle East we've gone through this phase of developing a lot of strategies setting a lot of targets right the general hype which really culminated in fantastic by the way COP 28 uh in Dubai at the end of 2023 but I feel like after all the targets were set and after all the strategies uh were developed and we entered that phase of hard implementation very hard implementation That's really when it kind of hit everyone how difficult it is and how costly it is for a business to to to decarbonize And I don't think that full appreciation existed before So the the the the crucial thing for for decarbonization today is to bring value to the business It's no more about evangelism talking about targets It's much more about how do we develop solutions that our customers actually want to to buy right how do we stay ahead of the regulations and the risk that regulations bring how do we work with investors or innovative financing mechanisms maybe even incentives in in in some countries to help fund that transition so to me that's kind of the new reality of of the work that that I do And you know if you ask me for advice to to people working in decarbonization departments that will be it What is the value of the business to sorry value of your work to the business besides a target that's sciencebased aligned you also had some of your own entrepreneurial experience as well Did does that affect how you work today as well uh especially when you perhaps deploy innovative technologies and understand what they are going through the suppliers of these new technologies I think so So I think it was around 2017 where I took a little bit of a break from consulting to uh co-ound a a business which since then I've I've I've exited but I know it's actually done fantastically uh fantastically well It's still a very active business headquartered in in London And I think there are two main things that I've learned uh from that uh from that entrepreneurial journey First one personal and the second one uh a little bit more more technical Maybe I'll start with the with the personal one because I think that was when it really solidified in my head that I want to work in in the sustainability field So this startup I I worked in was not related to energy or not related to to to to um sustainability But I will never forget this one time well after after we raised money and we're accepted to an accelerator in New York and we're going through a set of um a set of coaching sessions right mentor sessions like you usually do in in the accelerator I remember I was called well called I was I had a meeting scheduled with with one of the one of the mentors and you know I walked into the room and uh he he asked me a very simple question right he asked me who are you and that's a question that seriously threw me off because in these sessions I was more used to talking about my consulting experience how well I'm prepared to run a business or like this this is what the business does um but you know he asked me who am I and I said I I basically you know restated my uh recited my uh my CV and then he said "No but like if you were to throw away your CV who is it that that that you you really are?" And back then I I really had no answer to that question But it really helped me think about what is it that I I want to do I've realized that I'm not necessarily passionate about that field but I went back to exactly the story that I told at the beginning right my experience in in motorsport in sustainability in consulting on on energy transition and that's how I kind of steered my my career uh onwards technically running a startup has really taught me a lot about cash flow I think it's I did not appreciate how important cash flow is you know when you're left with not a big amount of money but but bills to pay or your own salaries uh to pay and even a delay of someone paying you a few weeks weeks later can really turn the whole business upside down Commitment to it I think the level of commitment that you need to have to the cause while working at a startup is a whole different level than you know if if you're a a salaried employee And finally the agility You need to make decisions quickly You need to fail fast You need to experiment and and continue innovating to find the the the solution that will propel propel your business or your cause forward It is that thin line between being open and receptive to feedback people's opinions because many have opinions right and as you mentioned before having that inner stability not to be easily swayed but then to be agile enough to recognize the right moment to pivot with media Exactly I couldn't agree more What has your startup journey taught you in that sense similar there are many decisions that we were so stubborn on and today we are like thank god we were stubborn on these things and we didn't allow others But this is where I think the knowledge comes from like when you have knowledge about certain topic that fortifies your belief and also at the right moment to pivot when needed in terms of how we position our product ourselves uh to be patient which is not my forte at all but this is something that I'm learning uh but it's again I think that that many entrepreneurs don't have the patience and that's one of the reasons why we we become entrepreneurs but at the same time it is like to be patient to see results uh to be consistent in repeating the things and kind of correcting the course but patient to wait for it uh and I think it's been the best self-arning journey because it pushes all the buttons that you're weak on and maybe you don't even understand uh every fear here it comes from something that you haven't processed within and then you get to see it play out Yeah that's fascinating Look I I always admire entrepreneurs but also I think the term is intrep when when people are able to do this within the organization Yeah And that's that's one thing that also fascinates me about DP role There there's so many people within the company with with such great ideas and often times the company does give them space to uh to at least try the idea and then then see what happens And we've we've seen some fantastic projects out of this For example Box Bay or the the highbay storage system that we have the proof of concept here in terminal 4 in in in Jabali which totally reimagines how port operations would look like and that's exactly the the example of that of of solid culture of entrepreneurship Yeah The magic happens when you have entrepreneurs right internally well driven to make change and are familiar with what works what doesn't and when that meets the layer that knows how to do community engagement sometimes very rarely it's the same person but it's very difficult on them but when these two layers combine I think that is when the organizational culture changes yeah and with regards adds to the who am I question you reminded me in high school our we had a switch of a teacher like of Serbian language and literature and he gave us as one of the tests to write an essay about who am I that was the topic and I remember like half of us were just staring at this paper like what is very difficult and I ended up writing a poem but also by trying to understand kind of like what resonates with me what makes me happy and here too I mentioned water and nature and like how leaf moves and same as you said in the beginning I too realized that I was always navigating towards water to find rest and peace and after exams and that was always something that recharges me and then I guess career also So yeah took it back to it Yeah Look I think it's an extremely interesting question that I would encourage everyone to to to ask themselves right if if you were to be stripped from your CV from your accolades maybe even from your wealth right who are you deep inside and what what what is it that you're willing to to to fight for yeah Well in that scenario uh what do you enjoy doing what recharges you i mean it's it's it's going to sound very cliche but I I I really like my job I think I'm very lucky to have a job with a mission um in a way So I I enjoy what I do every day Uh think I have a fantastic team helping us um achieve our goals and achieve our targets Uh well right now my life is flipped completely upside down and I had to put both sports hobbies activities to the side with a with a two-eek old baby uh at home But before this crazy time uh I've I've been quite an active person So uh I I love playing squash Uh that's that's been my hobby ever since I I I came to Dubai It's it's one of not many sports that you can actually play I play all year round So that's something that I was I was looking for and I really got into So most of the people coming to Dubai have to start playing golf So I I'm really not good at golf but I really enjoyed the uh I really enjoy uh playing try trying to get get better Hopefully I also get into that after we sort everything out uh sort everything out at home And I'm also active in in a lot of kind of extracurricular uh organizations So one of them is the energy institute So I I've been involved with the energy institute for about 10 years now Um I'm a chartered environmentalist and a fellow of that organization I started in London back in 2015 running the young professionals network And then I moved to Dubai and I continue being involved building the the network of young professionals working with in the in the energy industry energy industry which is which is great for networking It's also very energizing I'd say A lot of the friends I made in London were were through through the energy institute and I think it's given me a lot of professional growth uh as well I'm also a board member now of the sustainability action society uh at the Capital Club Dubai where about every month we we organize uh events for for professionals and the interesting thing there is it's for all of the capital club members private club in Dubai not just involved in sustainability I think that one of the challenges that we have with among sustainability professionals is that the places we go to the conversations we having the the conferences we attend is also with sustainability people which doesn't help spread the message So I think that the the the capital club engagement is is very refreshing because you have people from so many industries joining to to to learn about about all things uh sustainability Do they ask you for advice to the young professionals a lot I mean you know most of the questions I get is "Do you have any openings at DP World?" Like "How do I get a job?" That's that's that's the most uh that's the most common uh question But I really enjoy uh interacting with you know bright minds and bright students who actually come to these meetings to like genuinely learn and and develop their develop their skills I I I have this truly amazing story of someone who found on LinkedIn that I'm going to speak at at at some event He traveled I think like two hours on like public transportation just to get there without any sort of guarantee that he will meet me And then he found me and it's somewhere in the crowd and he pitched to me an an idea for a project he wanted to do at DP World Mhm Next thing we know we we managed to to to I managed to supervise his his uh final uh final year thesis on that exact topic and then he did an internship with us He did fantastic with with DP World and I think he's well set for for a great career in sustainability So you know these are very energizing uh stories from from these engagements And how do you manage expectations also because you get a lot of requests right you get regards for jobs for the pilots for collaborations for partnerships and how do you manage uh setting the expectations i try to do as much as I can you know especially back in the days you know before I was married and especially before before I had a family I would just literally say yes to everything Like that was my that was my uh mantra that you know I should say yes and then figure out if if I can actually actually do this That was that I think that led to a lot of great opportunities but it was very straining So over time I did have to learn how to manage the time and and how to how to manage the the energy Um first of all I I you know I want to put family and kind of my my hobbies first So you know I need to spend enough time at home and I need to get at least back then it was four to five hours of of training So kind of five five days a week I want to do some sort of uh some sort of a sport because I guess also as as you age you realize the the impact that you know lack of sport has on your on your body and on your energy levels and also the the mental uh fitness So so that's number one and everything else like unless it's you know goes against my morals or the the the company line I generally say yes to to be honest with you I struggled with setting the boundaries because I also would say yes to everything and it gives you very broad perspective often times you get many opportunities and I too felt at times that I'm strateging myself too thin and also I'm learning how to balance it but I would also feel a lot of expectations uh many self-imposed and this is something that I found common in the area of sustainability ility and impact also with other startups and people in NOS's that they feel that the world is on your on their shoulders and that they don't have the rights to rest Yeah And this is something that um I've learned I think to manage better I think what's very important is to try everything but if you feel it doesn't work quit fast and be very honest about it you know without ghosting people just I I think you know whenever I run an organization I very much appreciate it when someone joins tries and then they say oh actually I'm sorry like it doesn't it doesn't work for me because I have other priorities and I I I fully appreciate this Um so I think that's important You know do not not try just because you think you wouldn't have time for it but if after trying you realize that it it doesn't work for you for one reason or another just just you know be honest about it and and and move on to something else In general I'm coming across many people who have a hard time saying no but it actually opens up opportunities for the one that you say no to At least it's clear in their mind and maybe it's also one way to break that stigma Like it's great to reject say no to with a nice explanation perfect shake hands Who knows where the future holds I agree I agree I mean your your network is your net worth right um I think I've realized that maybe a little bit too late uh in life But that's that's another thing I often say to students that I would trade a really good grade for a really good network I think the reason you well the the opportunity you have especially when you get into a really good university is the people you're surrounded with right and sometimes it's okay to trade that distinction and get a merit if it means that you build good meaningful connections with your colleagues that you know you never know like right when you're at university they just feel like like your friends when you go out with but most likely if you go to a very good university you know you manage to get into a a a competitive degree fast forward 20 years this guy's going to be a CEO there this well this guy's going to be a millionaire founder there and it's it's just really good to invest in these relationships I think Mhm This is what we don't think about when we are so young Exactly Yes Also I mean people that I was in a program with in 2010 are now also all very successful and 30 40 of us share that experience that changed us So even now how many 15 years later that bond is still there and we would always like call up each other and we are still very close friends but at that time no one thought about it It's like ah this would be so fun Yeah And they are your support system afterwards I also have this group of friends where we kind of pledge to each other that we're going to respond to an email from each other within 24 hours no matter where and when we are in life and what happens and that really helps especially you know as you become busy people Yeah Yeah Well I will slow down the conversation here and also allow you to ask anything if you have I have a technical question for you Given given the the the work that you do especially around fuel EU and and a lot of the regulations especially in Europe do you believe that regulations are the key to decarbonizing the maritime industry yes they give the acceleration and dictate the pace And with regards to fuel you I wish it was stricter from the beginning Okay And I've seen companies who otherwise wouldn't do anything about it Right they are shifting and making decisions to go for biouels test bofuels sooner than they expected Uh think about their orders a little bit differently So I am at this point where I believe that the regulations are the first ones to dictate everything from top down Mhm Because otherwise it's a very slow process uh to go from bottom up approach and I just I wish that it spreads from Europe everywhere else I mean here I'm biased as well It would be good for business too But I wouldn't be in this business if I didn't believe in the purpose of it like 15 20 years back when I started studying environmental chemistry and sustainability and waiting for this moment in time where it's so close I just don't like that geopolitical events somehow like you know move you a little bit away from the goal just when you're there But yeah maybe a personal question Do you see yourself ever going back to the corporate world after running a startup i wonder that every single day

I don't know only if I would have a similar level of freedom to execute on things I think it's very difficult once you feel this uh freedom of just driving things how you like them to go back to a corporate setup And I don't think I've ever I I think I've always worked very much Uh even from when I was studying I'm just a workaholic because I got carried away with work like you just get lost in it and there's always more and more Um so I I work a lot as an entrepreneur It's difficult to balance uh all the roles that you do as opposed to being in a corporate But it's just different right today I can decide that I'm the head of marketing and tomorrow I can be head of strategy and and that gives me also the time needed to sometimes recharge if I feel like I've gave given myself too much in one area and that is wearing me out then it's a matter of just like switching one to two days to get back that energy for this and I don't think I have that in a corporate setting but who knows Excellent Thank you for sharing Thank you And thank you for being my guest and for sharing your story And I'm looking forward to the future It was my pleasure Thank you

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