Refurbished electronics, environmental mission

Back Market's CTO Dawn Baker sees sustainability as core to the online marketplace for refurbished electronics, not an afterthought. The Paris-based company puts environmental responsibility at the heart of its technology strategy.

“We have an environmental mission at our heart.”

Optimizing compute for the planet

Baker focuses on reducing unnecessary computing power consumption. As a technology leader, she ensures Back Market doesn't use more resources than needed to operate its platform.

“looking at how we optimize our compute, because we have to make sure we're not using more than we need.”

AI's environmental cost problem

Artificial intelligence offers major opportunities but consumes enormous resources, making it environmentally unfriendly. Baker acknowledges the tension between AI's potential and its resource demands.

“It's the opposite of environmentally friendly. And yet, there are important use cases.”

Using AI smartly, not everywhere

Baker warns against deploying AI just because it's trendy. The key is identifying genuine use cases where AI creates real value rather than chasing hype.

“It's about using AI smartly and not falling for the hype by trying to use it for everything.”

AI investments focused on trust

Back Market targets AI spending on customer-facing functions like customer care, fraud detection, pricing intelligence, and quality assurance. These investments build trust in refurbished goods.

Building trust benefits the whole category

By investing in customer experiences that build confidence in refurbished goods, Back Market helps the entire category grow. Better customer trust encourages people to keep products longer instead of buying new.

“Investing in customer experiences that build trust … doesn't just benefit us; it benefits the entire category.”