{"id":15425,"date":"2019-06-24T18:56:14","date_gmt":"2019-06-24T18:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/climate-change-ai-and-ethical-leadership-in-big-tech-with-amazon-principal-ux-design-lead-maren-costa.html"},"modified":"2019-06-24T18:56:14","modified_gmt":"2019-06-24T18:56:14","slug":"climate-change-ai-and-ethical-leadership-in-big-tech-with-amazon-principal-ux-design-lead-maren-costa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/climate-change-ai-and-ethical-leadership-in-big-tech-with-amazon-principal-ux-design-lead-maren-costa.html","title":{"rendered":"Climate change, AI and ethical leadership in \u2018big tech\u2019, with Amazon principal UX design lead Maren Costa"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI just want<\/span> to be proud of the company that I work for,\u201d Maren Costa told me recently.<\/p>\n

Costa is a Principal UX Design Lead at Amazon, <\/a> for which she has worked since 2002. I was referred to her because of her leadership in the Amazon Employees for Climate Justice group I covered earlier this week<\/a> for my series on the ethics of technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Like many of her peers at Amazon, <\/a> Costa has been experiencing a tension between work she loves and a company culture and community she in many ways admires deeply, and what she sees as the company\u2019s dangerous failings, or \u201cblind spots,\u201d regarding critical ethical issues such as climate change and AI.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Indeed, her concerns are increasingly typical of employees not only at Amazon, but throughout big tech and beyond, which seems worth noting particularly because hers is not the typical image many call to mind when thinking of giant tech companies.<\/p>\n

A Gen-X poet and former Women\u2019s Studies major, Costa drops casual references to neoliberal capitalism running amok into discussions of multiple topics. She has a self-deprecating sense of humor and worries about the impact of her work on women, people of color, and the Earth.<\/p>\n

If such sentiments strike you as too idealistic to take seriously, it seems Glass Lewis and ISS, <\/a> two of the world\u2019s largest and most influential firms advising investors in such companies, would disagree. Both firms recently advised Amazon shareholders to vote in support of a resolution put forward by Amazon Employees for Climate Justice and its supporters, calling on Amazon to dramatically change its approach to climate issues.<\/p>\n

Glass Lewis\u2019s statement urged Amazon to \u201cprovide reassurance\u201d about its climate policies to employees like Ms. Costa, as \u201cthe Company\u2019s apparent inaction on issues of climate change can present human capital risks, which have the potential to lead to the Company having problems attracting and retaining talented employees.\u201d And in its similar report, ISS highlighted research reporting that 64 percent of millennials would be reluctant to work for a company \u201cwhose corporate social responsibility record does not align with their values.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amazon\u2019s top leadership and shareholders ultimately voted down the measure, but the work of the Climate Justice Employees group continues unabated. And if you read the interview below, you might well join me in believing we\u2019ll see many similar groups crop up at peer companies in the coming years, on a variety of issues. All of those groups will require many leaders \u2014 perhaps including you. After all, as Costa said, \u201c<\/b>leadership comes from everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maren Costa<\/strong>: (Apologizes for coughing as interview was about to start)<\/i><\/p>\n

Greg Epstein<\/strong>: \u2026 Well, you could say the Earth is choking too.<\/p>\n

Costa<\/strong>: Segue.<\/p>\n

Epstein<\/strong>: Exactly. Thank you so much for taking the time, Maren. You are something of an insider at your company.<\/p>\n

Costa<\/strong>: Yeah, I took two years off, so I\u2019ve actually worked here for 15 years but started 17 years ago. I actually came back to Amazon, which is surprising to me.<\/p>\n

Epstein<\/strong>: You\u2019ve really seen the company evolve.<\/p>\n

Costa<\/strong>: Yes.<\/p>\n

Epstein<\/strong>: And, in fact, you\u2019ve helped it to evolve \u2014 I wouldn\u2019t call myself a big Amazon customer, but based on your online portfolio, you\u2019ve even worked on projects I personally have used. Though find it hard to believe anyone can find jeans that actually fit them on Amazon, I must say.<\/p>\n

Costa<\/strong>: [My work is actually] on every page. You can\u2019t use Amazon without using the global navigation, and that was my main project for years, in addition to a lot of the apparel and sort of the softer side of Amazon. Because when I started, it was very super male-dominated.<\/p>\n

I mean, still is, but much more so. Jeff literally thought by putting a search box that you could type in Boolean queries was a great homepage, you know? He didn\u2019t have any need for sort of pictures and colors.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Photo: Lisa Werner\/Moment Mobile\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Epstein<\/strong>: My previous interview [for this TechCrunch series on tech ethics] was with Jessica Powell, <\/a> who used to be PR director of Google and has written a satirical novel about Google <\/a>. One of the huge themes in her work is the culture at these companies that are heavily male-dominated and engineer-dominated, where maybe there are blind spots or things that the-<\/p>\n

Costa<\/strong>: Totally.<\/p>\n

Epstein<\/strong>: \u2026 kinds of people who\u2019ve been good at founding these companies don\u2019t tend to see. It sounds like that\u2019s something you\u2019ve been aware of and you\u2019ve worked on over the years.<\/p>\n

Costa<\/strong>: Absolutely, yes. It was actually a great opportunity, because it made my job pretty easy.<\/p>\n

\n

Article source: https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2019\/06\/24\/climate-change-ai-and-ethical-leadership-in-big-tech-with-amazon-principal-ux-design-lead-maren-costa\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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