Meet Kirsten Steen - our Junior Commercial Associate in London!

I’m delighted to welcome Kirsten Steen to Gridcog’s growing London team!

As Gridcog continues to grow across the UK and Europe, we’re happy to have Kirsten on the team to help accelerate our commercial expansion in the region. With a background in commercial operations in a startup environment and her studies in STEM, Kirsten brings enthusiasm, commitment to building robust commercial processes and customer empathy to our team. She has already joined calls with our clients and is helping out with our commercial operations and processes.

Read on to learn more about Kirsten!

What were you doing before Gridcog and what got you into the energy space?

Before Gridcog I was managing operations for a US tech start up. Their focus was on reducing the large amounts of carbon being emitted by unoptimised cloud service subscriptions, and, coming from a biochemical background, that was really my first foray into the world of energy and ESG. I learnt a ton about the stress data centres put on the environment, but also the issues companies are facing actually getting hold of the granular data they need in order to build out their sustainable strategies. Working in a role where I can help bridge that information gap, and benefit the environment along the way, really interests me.

What interests and excites you most about the energy sector?

How quickly it’s evolving. Over the past century we’ve established this energy system that’s really made a mess of the planet and we’re now at a pivotal point where industrial companies, investors and governing bodies all need to come together to turn the system completely on its head if we want to get ourselves off this climate change train. Being such a monumental task, I used to be pretty cynical about the energy transition as a whole. However, seeing the big leaps being made, from growing tech to new green government rulings, my mindset has definitely changed - just 10 years ago, the UK was generating less than 15% of its electricity from renewable sources. Today, that number has almost quadrupled!

What is your role at Gridcog?

Gridcog’s expansion into the UK and Europe has taken off, and I’ve joined as a Junior Commercial Associate to support it.

‍What attracted you to working with Gridcog?

Gridcog’s culture drew me in immediately - it’s not often you see a team openly singing out about how nerdy they are! It was really clear how genuinely excited everyone is about what they do, and how deeply they care about their mission.

What do you like to do outside of work?‍

I love resistance training and try to get myself to the gym most days. I’m also hoping I’ll catch the running bug, but that’s still a work in progress. All things in perfect balance though, and I love a glass of red wine and a cheeseboard.

What technology could you not live without?

I’m sorry to say it’s probably my Xbox. I grew up playing games and it’s still my absolute favourite way to destress after a long day.