The Business of AI
AI is our Business. Looking at how businesses are using AI to build services and tools, transforming organisations and delighting consumers. We explore the different types of businesses that are emerging and find out how they are using AI technology. UKAI is the trade association for AI businesses in the UK. The show is hosted Tim Flagg, AI entrepreneur and chief executive of UKAI. Featuring business leaders, policymakers, authors, politicians and entrepreneurs. Join us to learn how to build your AI business.
The Business of AI
57. Why Sustainability and AI Are About to Collide (Hard): Alex Smith
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What does real sustainability look like when AI enters the room—loud, power-hungry, and ethically ambiguous?
In this episode of the UKAI Women in AI Podcast, we’re joined by Alex Smith, CEO of Future Plus, to talk candidly about non-linear careers, leadership under pressure, and why sustainability must move from glossy reports into everyday business decisions.
Alex shares her journey—from hospitality and professional sailing to building a guided SaaS platform that helps businesses embed sustainability across climate, social impact, governance, and economic resilience. Along the way, we explore:
Why sustainability and AI are fundamentally governance problems
The myth of “perfect” sustainability (and why progress matters more)
AI’s impact on net-zero pledges, workforce trust, and bias
Lessons from working parents, single motherhood, and executive leadership
How AI is being used to reduce food waste through projects like Bridge AI, in collaboration with Innovate UK, Google, and Nestlé
This is not sustainability as virtue-signalling. It’s sustainability as discipline: measured, managed, and embedded—especially as AI accelerates faster than our moral reflexes.
📌 Key theme: Just because we can, should we?
🔗 Learn more about Alex’s work: https://www.futureplus.co.uk
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AI is our Business.
UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co