Veteran technologist Mukund Kaushik joined Inspire as its new CTO

“Inspire’s previous CTO [Mike Durst] did an incredible job building the tech department from scratch,” Kaushik said. “I want to continue building upon what he’s done.”

With his exact plans still in the formative stages, Kaushik said his overarching goals are three-fold: Scale the organization by implementing new technology and practices, identify opportunities to efficiently enter new markets, and integrate modern technology like Web3 and blockchain into the department’s tech stack.

“Right now we’re shaping the roadmap of Inspire’s future,” Kaushik said. “There’s a lot of exciting technology that we can try, but it has to be right. We don’t want to break what’s working as we plan this new direction.”

The India-born, Santa Monica-based technologist has spent nearly three decades in the tech industry across a variety of functions, including building Honda’s first generation ecommerce website and establishing its global enterprise architecture practice and, later, leading the digital transformation of Kimberly-Clarke’s global marketing, sales and supply chain process. Kaushik has been twice recognized as a prominent talent in the industry, first as a recipient of the Top 100 “CIO Innovation Organization Award” for outstanding IT contributions by CIO Magazine during his tenure at Honda in 2010, and in 2017 when he was named one of Consumer Goods Technology’s top “Visionaries” for superior IT innovation and sales transformation while serving as global VP and function CIO of supply chain, sales and marketing at Kimberly-Clarke.

“We are lucky to have a talent like Mukund join our team,” said Inspire’s interim CEO and president, and chief people and legal officer, Stephanie Donner. “He is thoughtful, innovative, and cares deeply about growing and seeding talent. Our climate future is in good hands with Mukund.”

Founded in 2014, Inspire — a certified B Corp headquartered in Santa Monica and Philadelphia — provides people with access to 100% renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and low-impact hydro. Its clean energy plans provide an easy way for members to make a meaningful impact in the fight against climate change. As of 2021, the company is a subsidiary of Shell Renewables and Energy Solutions.

“I’m looking to make a meaningful impact as a technologist,” Kaushik said. “I joined Inspire because it is contributing to saving the planet. We are in the midst of a global climate crisis. We need to be asking how we can accelerate the adoption of clean energy. Inspire is doing just that.”

It is also ripe for growth — a key driver behind Kaushik’s move into the role of CTO. Excited about the opportunity to help scale the company, Kaushik is also sensitive to the challenges that can arise when growing a small organization.

“The tech department is already successful,” Kaushik said. “I just want to understand what the future looks like. I don’t want to lose local knowledge — I want to motivate my team as we pursue new technologies to increase agility and speed.”

As for what his new team can expect: “They’ll have a leader who will always listen to their ideas. I’m a technologist. This is what I love; it’s what I do.”

Learn more about tech careers at Inspire