Paving the Path to a Sustainable Future

Salesforce's ESG journey has made an impact beyond the company. SUNYA NORMAN, SVP of ESG Strategy and Engagement at Salesforce, shares more on how the tech giant integrates sustainability into its core operations, supporting global goals while empowering employees

- Noor Fathima Warsia

Salesforce has been a prominent player in cloud-based software. How did the company’s journey into ESG and sustainability begin?

When Salesforce was founded in 1999, Mark Benioff and others envisioned a company model beyond software. They wanted a business with purpose, and that is where our 1-1-1 model, where 1 per cent of equity, 1 per cent of product and 1 per cent of employee time go back to communities, came in. From there, environmental sustainability was a natural next step, starting with greenhouse gas accounting. When I joined in 2013, we had only three people dedicated to sustainability, focusing on data centre efficiency, transitioning to renewable energy and operational sustainability. We are pushing the envelope with ESG integration across our workforce and policy advocacy.

How does Salesforce maintain this ESG focus across global offices, especially in regions like India?