Time to drive Digital Humanism in tech

March 9, 2025

Keri Gilder, CEO of Colt Technology Services

Everything from connectivity to climate change is happening faster than ever before. We’re developing and deploying new technologies at breakneck pace. As the pace of change and digital transformation continues to speed up, how might humanity benefit from slowing down?

I recently talked to the founder of an incredible environmental non-profit organisation about Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic that is warming seven times faster than the rest of the Earth.1 He explained how Svalbard is a harbinger of our warming world, where the accelerating pace of climate change is a sign of what’s to come globally – unless we act now.

This made me question what it’s going to take to get more people to feel as passionately about the environment, and compel more of us to help protect it. His message was clear: we need to reconnect with nature by removing ourselves from the hustle, taking a step back, and slowing down.

Like climate change, the pace of technological innovation is moving incredibly fast – and we need to take time out to be more thoughtful about the role we play in its evolution. As part of the tech industry, we have a massive role to play in ensuring digital technology empowers people and the planet, while keeping our values at the centre as we innovate and grow.

Driving ‘digital humanism’ in the tech industry

Harmonising humanity and technology is at the core of the digital humanism2 movement. In the tech industry, this means balancing our ethics and values with the vast opportunities presented by digital. We have the power to shape a future where technology is created and used for good, and enables humans to be more inclusive, productive and sustainable.

To enact digital humanism, we have to let go of the “move fast and break things” approach that once
fuelled our industry. It can no longer be about innovation over everything.

Research also shows that the pace of change is taking a toll on our industry’s leaders. More than half (58%) of decision makers in the UK say tech is advancing so quickly they worry about the future of their business3. The majority of IT leaders also feel stressed about increasing innovation and the pressure to keep up with technological advances.4

It is our responsibility to innovate with intention and deploy thoughtfully; this message is louder than ever. Meanwhile, 73% of business leaders agree that responsible technology use will come to be just as important as business and financial considerations5. Now is the time to be driving digital humanism in the tech industry.

It is our responsibility to innovate with intention and deploy thoughtfully; this message is louder than ever. Meanwhile, 73% of business leaders agree that responsible technology use will come to be just as important as business and financial considerations.6 Now is the time to be driving digital humanism in the tech industry.

Technology is holding a mirror to society

To shape an industry and a future that is empowered by technology, it’s important to recognise some of the challenges. I’ve found that fundamentally, many issues we face with technology are the same ones we grapple with as a society. What we are seeing with the development of artificial intelligence (AI) is a prime example.

AI reflects biases that exist in our world today. AI systems are trained to learn patterns from historical data and can inherit biases that present themselves. There are cases where real people are disadvantaged by these inherited biases, such as when AI systems used for recruitment automatically screen out some of the most- qualified female and ethnically diverse candidates as a result of gender and racial biases7. Medical underdiagnosis of historically underserved patient groups is also an even greater risk today with the introduction of AI diagnosis tools due to the fact that women, Black patients and patients of low socioeconomic status are underrepresented in general health data that makes up the AI systems’ training data sets.8

We live in an era of digital humanism where the digital world mirrors the real world, so the flaws that exist in tech are often a reflection of us as humans and the way we work as a society. When AI and other emerging technologies are deployed without considering their impact on people or the planet, the possibility of perpetuating harm is almost infinite. But it is equally in our power to perpetuate good if that becomes our focus.

Technology isn’t the problem, nor is it the solution – we are.

Developing tech for good

As tech leaders, we should feel empowered to develop and promote ‘tech for good’. This includes tech that serves humanity’s best interest, and has a net positive impact on people and the planet.

With the right approach to growth and innovation, we can use digital technology to address pressing issues like climate change, healthcare and education. I am particularly inspired by some of the use cases of AI to create better natural environments, such as detecting active wildfires,9 regenerating rainforests,10 and monitoring and restoring coral reefs and marine biodiversity.11

There are also many promising applications to promote digital inclusion, including support for people who are neurodiverse12 and bridging global divides.13

A values-driven approach

There is even more we can do to fundamentally improve the way we approach technology. First, our industry can commit to building an inclusive, values-driven culture. We can build a framework that outlines expected behaviours and policies that consider the needs of all demographics. We can champion accessibility, both physical and digital, so everyone can join our journey towards ‘tech for good’.

It is time to replace ‘minimum viable products’ with ‘minimum virtuous products’. Venture capitalist Hemant Taneja describes these as “new offerings that test for the effect on stakeholders and build in guards against potential harms”.14 It’s about realising what truly matters, and hailing that as your North Star.

I am proud to lead a company that values inclusive and sustainable growth. Colt’s values-driven culture and collective growth mindset helps us harmonise humanity and technology, for our employees, our customers and our planet. Here are just a few examples:

  • In November we announced the world’s first 1.2 terabit wavelength transmission – that’s the equivalent of 200 HD movies in one second – across the Atlantic with our partners Ciena, trialling next-generation technology which reduced power consumption by 50%;
  • We are participants in the UN Global Compact, a voluntary initiative, based on CEO commitments, to implement universal sustainability principles and to take steps to support the UN Goals;
  • We’ve been awarded a platinum rating and named in the top 1% of companies achieving EcoVadis Platinum Sustainability Rating for three consecutive years;
  • We completed an historic milestone across the telecoms industry with the removal of 130,000 legacy circuits from our network. Over 6,500 pieces of equipment, across more than 2000 sites in Europe, have been successfully decommissioned, anticipated to result in a substantial annual reduction in energy consumption of 13.2 Gigawatt hours per year;
  • As part of our commitment to Net Zero, we seamlessly migrated 2,800 business customers to more energy-efficient, sustainable digital infrastructure.

Strong ethics and values truly are the way of the future in tech. In fact, 46% of IT professionals are choosing their next companies based on whether the organisation has a human-centred AI approach,15 while nearly all Gen Zs will turn down work that doesn’t align with their values.16

Final thoughts

We need to give ourselves the time to recalibrate our relationship with technology. We have the power, and responsibility, to promote digital humanism by harnessing the extraordinary capabilities of digital technology to enhance lives and protect our planet. Let’s all slow down for a moment to realise what truly matters.

  1. https://www.arcticartsproject.org ↩︎
  2. https://themobilecentury.com/digital-humanism-harmonizing-humanity-and-technology/ ↩︎
  3. https://newsroom.bt.com/9-in-10-business- leaders-say-pace-of-tech-evolution-is-giving-them-bytemares- as-bt-warns-tech-anxiety-could-stunt-growth-by-118b/ ↩︎
  4. https://assets.asana.biz/m/164b3a3410010d05/ original/2024_State-of-IT-Leader_Final.pdf ↩︎
  5. https://assets.asana.biz/m/164b3a3410010d05/ original/2024_State-of-IT-Leader_Final.pdf ↩︎
  6. https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/02/15/1087815/ responsible-technology-use-in-the-ai-age/amp/ ↩︎
  7. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20240214- ai-recruiting-hiring-software-bias-discrimination ↩︎
  8. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01595-0 ↩︎
  9. https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/t-mobile-5g-powers-pano-ai-wildfire-detection-system ↩︎
  10. https://us.nttdata.com/en/news/press-release/2024/ january/ntt-group-partners-with-climateforce ↩︎
  11. https://www.orange-business.com/en/press/tenaka- partners-orange-business-scale-its-coral-reef-restoration-program ↩︎
  12. https://blogs.microsoft.com/accessibility/ empowering-potential-ais-role-in-disability-inclusion/ ↩︎
  13. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/07/ ai-expanding-digital-economy-bridging-divides/ ↩︎
  14. https://hbr.org/2019/01/the-era-of- move-fast-and-break-things-is-over ↩︎
  15. https://assets.asana.biz/m/164b3a3410010d05/ original/2024_State-of-IT-Leader_Final.pdf ↩︎
  16. https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/issues/ work/content/genz-millennialsurvey.html ↩︎


KERI GILDER

Keri Gilder is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Colt.

Appointed to the role in May 2020, Keri is responsible for executing Colt’s strategy which centres around putting the power of the digital universe in the hands of its customers – wherever, whenever and however they need.

Before becoming CEO, Keri was Colt’s Chief Commercial Officer, leading global teams across sales, presales and marketing, as well as working closely with the wider organisation to ensure Colt delivered for its customers.

Before joining Colt, Keri held several leadership roles at Ciena but was most recently its Vice President and General Manager EMEA, responsible for guiding Ciena’s EMEA service provider and enterprise customers, as well as partners.

Named CEO of the Year 2024 at the TMT Finance Awards; included in Management Today’s Women in Leadership Power List; named People’s Choice Woman of the Year by Network X; CEO of the year at the World Communications Awards; Outstanding Female Executive (Pacific Telecoms Council); Outstanding Contributor (Layer123 awards) and a leader that ‘has the ability to move mountains’ (Global Telecoms Women’s Network), Keri is passionate about promoting Inclusion and Diversity to ensure Colt is a business where everyone feels they can bring their true selves to work. In addition, Keri brings this passion to the wider industry as the Chair of the TM Forum’s Diversity & Inclusion Council and President of the Global Telecom Women’s Network.

Prior to Ciena, Keri worked in multiple roles for Lucent Technologies, and she has also worked for Hughes Aircraft as a Network Engineer.

Keri has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Management Information Systems (MIS) from New Mexico State University.

Keri lives in London with her husband and two children and is based at Colt’s head office in London.