September 2024: April Gibson-Fulton
April, describe Red Ventures and your personal role with the company.
Red Ventures is a digital media company specializing in creating and managing content across various industries, including technology, health, finance, travel, and more. RV owns and operates a portfolio of well-known brands such as Save on Energy, The Points Guy, Bankrate, and Lonely Planet. We focus on creating and managing content that helps people make informed decisions about various aspects of their lives. Additionally, RV operates a robust client service business that helps its clients grow their voice share and optimize audience reach via enhanced personalized customer journeys.
I work in the Energy sector at Red Ventures, where we have built a platform that includes a comprehensive set of products to help consumers across the energy ecosystem. We help consumers choose the best energy plans, save money, save the environment, and protect against uncertainty. More specifically, I lead our technical teams that work collaboratively to deliver robust technical solutions.
At Florida’s Women in Energy Leadership Forum, we use this platform among others to bring attention to the many rewarding opportunities in energy by promoting stem-related careers. What do you personally do to continue to encourage women to pursue stem-related careers?
I encourage women to pursue stem-related careers by mentoring and coaching others, fostering an inclusive environment, and volunteering to speak at panels and conferences. Additionally, I coach a girls’ travel basketball team and share my journey and experiences in a STEM career with them. I believe that providing early exposure and access to role models is an essential element in bringing more women into this field.
How does your company encourage students to pursue engineering, technology, or other stem-related fields?
Red Ventures has a nonprofit program, Road-to-Hire (https://www.roadtohire.org/), that supports underrepresented high school students, college students, and young professionals on their way to strong, sustainable tech careers. Women are one demographic that this program caters to. Participants learn technical skills, have access to mentors, and prepare for job interviews.
Thank you for agreeing to participate in this year’s Florida’s Women in Energy Leadership Forum! As you know, the theme is The Power of Collaboration and you are on the panel addressing artificial intelligence (AI). Give us a quick preview of the role of AI in energy and how that relates to Red Ventures.
AI is transforming our technology and partner-facing offerings, starting with AI co-pilots deployed across our digital journeys. More specific to the Energy sector, our Compass AI application enables the delivery of personalized experiences through both digital and voice, responsibly driving efficiency and effectiveness in high-cost environments, such as sales centers.
As we consider tomorrow’s workforce talent pipeline, why should they find technology, engineering, and artificial intelligence platforms, exciting and how can all of this impact their career potential?
Technology and engineering have always been exciting fields because of rapid advances and the opportunity for continuous learning. Artificial intelligence has added to this excitement by creating new job categories and transforming existing jobs. For example, AI assistant programming tools such as Github Copilot have modified many engineering jobs. AI can automate repetitive tasks and enhance decision-making responsibilities within many jobs.