This entry of Machine Readable is a conversation between Nat Bullard, Chief Strategy Officer, Halcyon, and Vicky Homan, GTM Lead, Halcyon. Among the many hats she wears, Vicky is an integral part of Halcyon’s customer-facing team and is also our record-holder for most queries submitted via Halcyon’s platform. As our first power-user, Vicky has unique perspective about how to translate customer business needs into actionable product output. 

[Nat] Hi Vicky – tell me about yourself.

[Vicky] I started my career at Google in 2007, and spent the next fifteen years building, marketing, and optimizing ad products. While I enjoyed the intellectual challenge of the space, I knew I eventually wanted to pivot towards more emerging technology, and better align my personal interests with my work pursuits. As a longtime Colorado resident, I not only love the outdoors, but also deeply appreciate the need to accelerate progress towards decarbonization.

We’re currently in a special moment where rapid technological advancement across several sectors is translating into an enormous greenfield. It reminds me of the early days of working on mobile ads after the iPhone release – while the foundation for online advertising was well laid, mobile’s more personal and always-with-you form factor meant we’d leave opportunity on the table if we did not collectively push beyond the current paradigm.

What efforts are you driving for Halcyon?

Product testing and experimentation to inform development needs and product-market fit understanding. Our goal is to stay laser-focused on the requirements our design partners have communicated by continuously stress-testing the system with customer feedback loops.

And how do you do that, exactly?

Dogfooding! In this case, that means working closely with customers to understand the challenges they face finding relevant information to inform decision making. When building new products “from scratch,” you need to focus on who specifically you are building for - and the best way to do that is to put yourself in their shoes, actively research and learn what’s valuable to them, and translate that insight into new product features/functionality. This feedback loop also deepens our understanding of the various roles and responsibilities that exist in the broader decarbonization information ecosystem, creating a virtuous cycle of learning and iteration. 

The primary mechanism of this process is using the platform to discover and navigate information across a variety of use cases. As a relative newcomer to the climate space, this is particularly fun for me because I get a crash course on a new topic, and come away with a deeper understanding of the challenges we are collectively tackling.

Tell us what this looks like step-by-step?

I start with an initial hypothesis or problem statement based on a customer conversation or change of state. Initially, I will do lightweight research to orient myself on relevant themes or hot topics; I describe this stage as “getting enough information to be dangerous.” My goal is to develop a set of starter queries that enables me to get the ball rolling on further research.

Recent example: Exploring the impact of sustainable aviation fuel regulation in the EU

After running this initial query list through the Halcyon platform, I review the draft workspace with a couple of goals in mind. First, I parse citations to determine our current data coverage quality on a given topic and ensure we have the latest information available. If needed, we’ll ingest new information. Second, I source inputs into more detailed or specific queries based on the initial response set. 

This iterative process allows me to learn more about a topic as I research, while also enabling the discovery of new sub-topics or themes that may be missed without a more expansive initial approach. I spend the most time in the final stages of information reconciliation, ensuring that what I have discovered is meaningful in context of what I set out to learn. Much of the information we work with is point-in-time, and therefore has specific meaning on its own. Where we add value is in connecting this point-in-time information in a way that makes it possible for a business or individual to make timely decisions instead of wading through endless data.

What’s a good example of this connection process in practice?

Look at the impact of sustainable aviation fuel regulation in the EU (ReFuelEU). Finding the new EU requirements is relatively simple, but for that to become an indicator of future economic behavior change, we need to understand the current baselines around trade behavior for different types of fuels, and how shifts in eligibility requirements could impact supply chains and the needs of fuel producers.

My initial draft workspace set out to understand the changes, the timelines for implementation, and the nuance of qualification in terms of what is now considered “sustainable.” This line of inquiry could inform a variety of secondary research paths depending on how a given business or organization needs to respond to the regulation.  

You’ve basically become an energy analyst! What is one piece of advice you’d have for someone who is learning how to use Halcyon?

The whole point of software like Halcyon is to transform your junior analysts into senior analysts by saving them time so they can focus on discovering new information sources and answering increasingly complex questions faster. It’s not a magic wand, but rather an amplifier for your team’s existing subject-matter expertise. 

Comments or questions? We’d love to hear from you - sayhi@halcyon.eco, or find us on LinkedIn and Twitter.