Root & Branch / The people behind the work

Who We Are

Root & Branch started with two friends who met in a University computing lab in 2010. Years later one asked a simple question that changed everything.

“Have you thought about the emissions from your code?”

The more they looked, the more they found. In 2024, they started Root & Branch to bring about change. With InnovateUK funding they set about reasearching energy measurement of software and proving impact measurement can be native to the product development process.

The Root & Branch team working together around a table — Working together on the things that matter.

The founders

Humans shaping amore sustainable web.

Adam speaking about digital sustainability

Adam Newman

Co-founder & Managing Director

A Maths and Computer Science graduate, Adam spent more than a decade in R&D building mathematical models and enterprise products. He now models emissions across web, cloud and AI, contributes to the Green Software Foundation's ISO standards work (ISO/IEC 21031:2024), and is a W3C Invited Expert on the Web Sustainability Guidelines.

ISO/IEC 21031:2024
W3C Invited Expert
UK Gov GDSA Member

“I want my children to grow up in a world with opportunities. I feel responsible for helping make the web a safer, more sustainable place for them and future generations.”Adam Newman

Oli speaking at a Green Software Brighton event

Oli Winks

Co-founder & Tech Director

A software engineer with an academic background spanning AI, Computer Science, robotics and computational neuroscience. He has led engineering teams and designed AI-powered control systems for kite-generated wind power. Since 2015, he has helped start-ups with R&D, taking multiple products to market. At Root & Branch, he leads all engineering and innovation, mentors all the research behind our industry leading whitepapers and has designed the world's first and only energy measurement-native cloud platform.

Comp Sci Researcher
University Lecturer
W3C Invited Expert

“Climate change is the single biggest challenge humanity has ever faced. I happen to live at a time when something can be done about it. I have a responsibility to do whatever I can.”Oli Winks

Son Pham

Software Engineer

An enormously talented comuter scientist, Son leads the implementation of all web development and cloud engineering and built the tooling that analyses websites for energy use and environmental impact. He holds a MSc in Advanced Computer Science from the University of Sussex and has co-authored research on estimating the impact of digital products.

Measurement Research

Ashley Keeler

Commercial Partner

A technology consultant with over two decades of experience, Ashley helps make industries lighter through technology, from reducing manufacturing waste to virtual production, XR and ethical AI.

“We are facing global challenges that can only be overcome by working together, levelling the playing field, and proving that innovation and sustainability belong together.”Ashley Keeler

Research, standards & community

Working together as aglobal community.

We work with the people shaping digital sustainability, and share what we learn through open tools, standards and community.

ISO Standards

Software Carbon Intensity

Contributing to the Green Software Foundation's SCI for Web work and ISO/IEC 21031:2024.

View the standard

Web Standards

Web Sustainability Guidelines

We have contriuted as W3C Invited Experts to the Web Sustainability Guidelines and site on GDSA working group embedding digital sustainability in UK gov.

Read the guidelines

Research

Transparent methodologies

We carry out industry-leading research into measuring the energy and emissions of digital products and publish our work openly.

Explore the research

Community

ClimateAction.tech

Part of a global community of tech workers using their skills and influence to take climate action.

Visit ClimateAction.tech

Green Software Brighton members sharing ideas around a table

Grassroots / Brighton

Working together asa local community.

When Adam and Oli first embarked on this journey together, they put on an event to see if people were interested in this conversation. Green Software Brighton was born. It is now run with other like-minded technologists as a community for people who care about how our digital and natural worlds interact.

Visit Green Software Brighton