A Chat with Vijay Karia: Award-winning AI sustainability expert; Climate tech entrepreneur; Advocate for indigenous rights; Co-Founder and CEO of OptiCloud

This week, Stephen Ibaraki has an exclusive interview with Vijay Karia.

Vijay Karia is an award-winning AI sustainability expert, climate tech entrepreneur, and advocate for indigenous rights. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of OptiCloud, a platform using artificial intelligence to reduce digital waste and optimize energy usage across cloud infrastructure.

In 2024, Vijay was awarded the AI for Climate Action Award by the United Nations at COP29 for his leadership in developing scalable technologies to lower global carbon emissions by targeting one of the fastest-growing sources of energy consumption: data centers. With roots from Uganda, Ecuador, and the United States, Vijay champions reinvestment of digital efficiencies into climate resilience, particularly for indigenous communities on the frontlines of deforestation and displacement.

He is also a former tennis player and continues to serve on the board of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Vijay is passionate about bridging emerging technologies with ancestral wisdom and art to create a more regenerative, peaceful, and equitable future for all.