Medtronic Hires Raman Venkatesh as Chief Sustainability Officer: 4 Things to Know

Medtronic has hired Raman Venkatesh (pictured above) as VP and chief sustainability officer (CSO). Senior VP Ken Washington disclosed the news via LinkedIn.

Here are four things to know about Venkatesh's experience and expertise, and Medtronic's sustainability strategy.

1. Business Scope and Scale: Medtronic, founded in 1949, is a global medical device company with 95,000 employees across 150 countries. The company's operational and executive headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The corporate headquarters is in Ireland because of an acquisition based there in 2015.

2. Sustainability Goals: Medtronic is pursuing 100% carbon neutral global operations by fiscal year 2030, and net-zero carbon emissions by fiscal year 2045. The company's annual ESG reports are here.

3. Raman Venkatesh's Experience: Venkatesh is an "executive leader (and eternal student) with over 25 years of experience leading profitable business growth, innovation, and strategic investments in sustainability-focused industries and industry-leading organizations," according to his LinkedIn bio.

Prior to Medtronic, Venkatesh was executive VP of Aquaporin, a sustainability company. Earlier, he was executive VP and chief operating officer (COO) at SAE International, a global association for engineering professionals.

In addition, Venkatesh is a strategic advisor to Tau Ventures -- which runs an early stage, AI-first venture fund.

4. Executive Perspectives: In a LinkedIn statement about Venkatesh, Medtronic Senior VP Ken Washington wrote: "In this newly created role, Raman will be responsible for leading the development and execution of Medtronic’s Environmental Sustainability strategy. I am excited to see Raman and his team drive Medtronic forward on our sustainability journey. I am confident that together we will shape and unlock new innovative solutions that serve our patients and our planet.

Chief Sustainability Officer: Why Technology Partners Should Care

By 2027, 25% of Global 2000 companies will have assigned a chief sustainability officer (CSO) responsible for meeting their organization’s ESG goals and making ESG-related IT purchasing decisions, according to IDC.

The bottom line: Technology partners need to extend their sales, marketing, engagement and support strategies to successfully fulfill those CSO customer needs, Sustainable Tech Partner believes.