Our Industry Person of the Week is Ainhoa Lete. Ainhoa is a Digital Water Entrepreneur & Executive President of BuntPlanet.
Q: How did you get started working in your field?
Ainhoa: As CEO and cofounder of BuntPlanet, I work at the intersection between water and digitalization. I started my career as an engineer for Siemens, in Munich, working on digitalization projects in other industry sectors. Later, after we had established BuntPlanet, we realized that the water sector was facing tough challenges that digitalization and artificial intelligence technology could help to address – and the idea behind BuntBrain was born.
Q: What do you love the most about your job? What are you most proud of?
Ainhoa: I have always loved the challenge of solving a problems. At BuntPlanet, we have pioneered ‘virtual DMA’ technology, which provides a way to pinpoint the locations of leaks in large network areas with a high degree of accuracy. We also have developed a solution to improve sustainability in the water utilities industry by indicating which water meters are not functioning optimally and should be replaced. Innovation is embedded within the DNA of BuntPlanet and that is something I am extremely proud of.
Q: What advice would you give to someone considering this line of work or new to the field?
Ainhoa: I would advise young people entering the field to be curious, to try think differently, to think outside the box.
Q: Can you talk about a project you recently worked on?
Ainhoa: One of the most interesting projects we implemented recently was in the city of Malaga, in Spain, where we rolled out WaterMeters, our water meter management software. The standard function of the WaterMeters tool is to detect anomalies in water consumption levels. However, Malaga has adapted it for another unique purpose: to send an alert to the family of a dependent person, or the social services, if that individual has not consumed any water within a given period of time.
Q: Anything else you would like to add?
Ainhoa: Investing in digitalization of the water sector is a very worthwhile mission. It has not only a very positive economic impact, but also a valuable social impact and potentially a valuable environmental impact.
Connect with Ainhoa on LinkedIn.
THANK YOU, AINHOA! WE LOOK FORWARD TO KEEPING UP WITH YOU THROUGH THE #PUMPTALK COMMUNITY!
KNOW AN AMAZING PERSON WHO IS MAKING VALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS WITHIN INDUSTRY? NOMINATE THEM TO BE AN “INDUSTRY PERSON OF THE WEEK”!
