Episode 16. Carlos Villalpando on Working at the Intersection of Data, Business, and Sustainability

Hi friends, I have an exciting new episode of the Sustainability Skill Set podcast to share with you today.

Our guest is Carlos Villalpando, a technology leader, sustainability advocate, and enterprise architect who’s helping some of the world’s biggest companies make sense of their carbon data.

Carlos is a Director at Salesforce, where he works on the Net Zero Cloud team guiding organizations on their path to credible climate action through better data, smarter systems, and long-term strategy.

His journey into sustainability wasn’t planned. With a background in IT and customer success, Carlos spent years leading tech teams, mentoring architects, and building enterprise solutions across higher education and philanthropy. But after an internal realignment at Salesforce brought him into the Net Zero Cloud space, he discovered a new purpose.

Carlos stayed, and he has been learning, building, and advocating ever since. Not just for better sustainability software, but for better collaboration between sustainability and tech teams.

In this episode, we explore what it means to be an enterprise architect in the world of sustainability, why Scope 3 emissions are such a beast to tackle, and how sustainability professionals can level up their data strategy to unlock real impact, not just reporting.

Carlos also shares how his background in IT helps him bridge the gap between business goals and sustainability needs, and why the best sustainability work often starts with asking the right questions, not just taking orders.

Whether you are working in sustainability, data, or somewhere in between, this episode is packed with insights on how to build smarter systems and stronger careers.

Here are the key takeaways from our conversation:

1. Enterprise architects act as translators between worlds.

Carlos explained that enterprise architects are uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between deeply technical IT teams and business leaders who need to make strategic decisions. In the context of sustainability, this means translating complex sustainability data and technical requirements into terms that executives can understand and act on. It also means helping executives weigh the business implications of sustainability initiatives so they see how these efforts connect to revenue, risk, and long-term value.

2. The sustainability field needs its own architects.

Many sustainability teams today are still relying on spreadsheets to manage critical data like Scope 3 emissions. This creates inefficiency and slows down progress. Just as sales teams 20 years ago had to evolve from Rolodexes and Excel into more sophisticated CRM platforms, sustainability teams now need better tools and data systems. Enterprise architects who understand both technology and sustainability can help design and implement those tools, ensuring that sustainability data integrates with the rest of the business and can be used to make a strong business case for climate action.

3. Good architects play chess, not checkers.

One of the most important contributions of an enterprise architect is foresight. Rather than creating quick fixes that only solve the immediate problem and later result in costly “tech debt,” architects design systems that anticipate the next two or three challenges. For sustainability teams, this might mean building data systems that not only fulfill today’s reporting requirements but are also flexible enough to handle tomorrow’s regulations, new stakeholder demands, and shifting business priorities. By planning ahead, architects help organizations avoid waste and set themselves up for long-term success.

4. Progress in sustainability follows a hierarchy of needs.

Carlos emphasized that sustainability efforts build like a pyramid: before organizations can innovate and make bold progress, they need a strong foundation of reliable and well-structured data. Without that, sustainability teams end up spending most of their time wrestling with reporting requirements instead of implementing projects that reduce emissions or drive impact. Once the foundation is in place, companies can move faster, applying new technologies like AI, connecting sustainability data to financial outcomes, and scaling solutions across the enterprise. This shift from “data wrangling” to “data-driven action” is what will ultimately accelerate sustainability progress across industries.

If this conversation resonates, listen to the full episode and share it with a colleague who is building at the intersection of data, business, and sustainability. Your support helps more people discover the show.

Thank you for being part of the Sustainability Skill Set community!

Wishing you the best,

Louis DeMaso

P.S. Feel free to hit that reply button anytime. I would love to hear from you.