Social Impact Tech: Dr Ruby Pillai of iWarranty on How Their Technology will make an Important Positive Impact

In recent years, Big Tech has gotten a bad rep. But of course many tech companies are doing important work making monumental positive changes to society, health, and the environment. To highlight these, we started a new interview series about “Technology Making An Important Positive Social Impact”. We are interviewing leaders of tech companies who are creating or have created a tech product that is helping to make a positive change in people’s lives or the environment. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Ruby Pillai, founder and CEO of iWarranty.

Dr. Ruby Pillai is the founder and CEO of iWarranty, a new eco-sustainability-focused platform that makes warranty and repair management accessible, affordable and easy for both consumers and manufacturers that helps to extend the lifespan and use of electronics and cut down on e-waste. iWarranty’s vision is to create a sustainable warranty ecosystem that benefits consumers, manufacturers and our planet.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory and how you grew up?

Thank you very much for this opportunity. I am more than happy to share a bit about my childhood. I have to say, I did not have a glamorous childhood. I was born and raised in India; I am from the South — a fusion of two humble states, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. My parents came from these states and had a very ordinary upbringing.

Some of my favourite childhood memories are those made spending time with my Grandmum in Kerala, where we didn’t have electricity or proper tap water. We could see fireflies at night time and a galaxy of twinkling stars. We drew water from a well (groundwater) and had no television, phone or any of the modern technologies. But, we were happy — spending our time together reading great books and writing stories of Indian gods and goddesses. It was a humble childhood but something I cherish.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

My legal career started as a student advocate in a community legal centre in Australia, where I represented disadvantaged communities in local courts and provided free legal services. When I started law school, I wanted to change the world, improve access to justice, women’s rights, human rights, and so on. One of the most interesting parts of my early career was working as an associate to Hon. Sir Laurence Street, a former Supreme Court Justice. Sir Laurence’s mentoring and guidance influenced me a great deal and encouraged me to embark on a career as a finance lawyer with one of the big global law firms. This was not at all in my plans at that point in time!

Three years ago, I left my well-established career as a lawyer to embark on my journey as an entrepreneur. My career so far has been a real adventure!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?

I totally agree with you on this. I would say that many people helped me to get to where I am today. I have several people in my life I am grateful for. I have been lucky to have a supportive family, wonderful friends, several academics and supportive bosses.

During my university days in Australia, there were two professors who contributed significantly to who I am today:

Firstly, Dr Thomas Hickey, my Sports Law professor who is also a criminal barrister at the Supreme Court of New South Wales (Sydney). His passion for fighting for aboriginal rights and representing disadvantaged communities gave me an incredible perspective about the world around me.

Secondly, Professor Brendan Edgeworth, my Property Law professor, instilled some great values about continuous education and was my inspiration to do Ph.D.

During my work life I had two wonderful mentors as bosses, Maurice Allen and Shawna Miller. They are incredible leaders and trailblazers of their time and big supporters of everything I have accomplished above and beyond a traditional legal career.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I have two favorite quotes:

“Never Give In” My favourite quote is the motto from my school in India, which is “Never Give In”. It has been relevant to me throughout my life because I don’t give in or give up on things easily. I believe that perseverance, focus and determination are fundamental ingredients that will help you navigate life’s ups and downs. Success and failures are inevitable parts of life, having the right mindset fuelled with positivity and optimism is very important.

My second favourite quote came from His Highness Dalai Lama: “ The world doesn’t belong to leaders, the world belongs to all Humanity”. I am a big admirer and believer of the Dalai Lama’s principles and approach to life. This quote is relevant to every leader. As a leader you are responsible for providing service to society at large, to all humanity, to all animals, and being kind to our planet. Good leaders serve a higher purpose, protecting our planet and looking after the future of the planet for the next generation. I believe that leadership is a service to humanity.

Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success?

– Confidence. I believe that confidence is one of the essentials of success. Whether at work, or in public and private life, having confidence in your own capacity to make a difference is essential to your ability to succeed. You need confidence to trust your own judgment, to take risks and to negotiate on your own terms; and you need confidence to believe that your own experience, ambition matters.

As a woman, I felt I needed a huge dose of confidence to achieve success. One of the best ways to achieve confidence is through preparation, at least for me 🙂 Following the facts, thinking and talking over the strategies and planning. I believe, most victories are won not by geniuses, but by those who work meticulously and single-mindedly on their objectives.

If you prepare well, including getting support from others, you have the confidence to engage in the debate on your own terms and the confidence to insist on shaping the future. Having a purpose turns your engine on 🙂

– Resilience. I believe resilience is another important quality. Reminding ourselves that we are human, that we will make mistakes, and we will fail sometimes is so important. A genuinely powerful woman can bounce back from adverse events or mistakes, and keep going. She is resilient. Resilience means coping, making sense of things, practising forgiveness and keeping hope alive.

– Sense of humour. This may sound a bit crazy, but I truly believe it’s also essential to keep your sense of humour! No matter how serious a situation, there’s always something silly and ridiculous in our life to lighten the mood. Have a big belly laugh — you need to be able to laugh at yourself and also to laugh at inevitable failures.

Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the tech tools that you are helping to create that can make a positive social impact on our society. To begin, what problems are you aiming to solve?

We are solving the problem of the electronic waste crisis. Electronic waste is one of the biggest causes of environmental damage, affecting humans, land, animals and our planet.

60 million tonnes of e-waste is disposed of globally every year, 63% of which could have been repaired and reused.

This isn’t just an environmental crisis — it’s a crisis for consumers, too. It means that here in the UK alone, we consumers waste £423 million every year replacing items which could have been repaired under product warranties, instead.

What is the underlying problem here? Why is this happening?

Existing warranty processes are manual (paper-based/email) and hard to navigate, which is both time-consuming and frustrating for consumers.

Repairing an item can also be expensive, complicated, not easily accessible and have long waiting periods, which means people mostly prefer to just replace the item.

The existing warranty management system is also expensive and inefficient for manufacturers, which is why it is difficult and often costly for consumers to access.

We are aiming to solve the electronic waste problem by helping consumers to access their warranty rights easily, and bringing an affordable repair network to their fingertips and simplify the ins and outs of warranty product care/repair services.

A recent report by the European Environmental Bureau states that if the lifespan of home appliances is extended by just one year, it has the carbon emissions equivalency of taking two million cars off the road in the EU alone! Imagine how much Co2 can be reduced if we repair and reuse more household appliances and electronics.

How do you think your technology can address this?

Our solution rethinks and transforms product lifecycle management for consumers and manufacturers, with an emphasis on eco-sustainability.

iWarranty has the potential to expand the lifespan of products by connecting product owners, repairers and manufacturers in the most convenient way for accessible and affordable repairs.

Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?

iWarranty was born out of my personal frustration around missing out on a warranty claim for a product that I ended up replacing. I was frustrated and furious with the manufacturer, which made me dig deeper and understand more about the whole warranty process, and found the facts and figures of it to be disturbing. In particular, I was horrified at the environmental impact of e-waste — a very compelling and powerful way to understand the climate crisis that is unfolding around us. I felt a great sense of urgency to do something about this, so I quit my job as a lawyer to influence change and I am excited!

How do you think this might change the world?

It will change legacy systems of an age-old manufacturing sector, where paper warranties and hours on phone calls make warranty claims a lengthy, time-consuming and expensive process. iWarranty’s AI-driven platform eliminates lag time, seamlessly integrating consumers, manufacturers and repair networks so that warranty claims can be made any time, from anywhere, extending the lifespan of products in a few easy steps.

iWarranty’s warranty uses AI and machine learning to gather real-time data about product performance throughout the entire product lifecycle. More accurate data on product performance will lead to a decrease in warranty claims in the long term, creating efficiency and cost savings for manufacturers.

When it comes to climate action, every little thing matters! iWarranty’s mission is to reduce electronic waste. Especially consumer-produced e-waste. Today, many companies and countries lack the capacity to monitor e-waste quantities or to identify where they are located. As a result of our intelligent data gathering, iWarranty will be able to accurately quantify consumer-produced e-waste, providing a clear picture of how much waste will be generated within a household and an economy and what percentage can be recycled or repurposed. This will be a game-changer for the global e-waste crisis.

This might change the world since people will actually keep track of their warranties and consumer rights.

Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, can you please share “Five things you need to know to successfully create technology that can make a positive social impact”? (Please share a story or an example, for each.)

We are still a young startup — observing and learning from other successful companies. My humble view is that, more than the actual technology, founders of successful social impact organizations need to have a strong vision for change. Technology is a tool that converts their vision into reality.

So I would say:

1. Have purpose. Purpose-driven founders are critical for success of social impact startups

2. Systems thinking. Understanding the current practices and processes of the problem you are trying to solve.

3. Speak to your customers. This is the most important part — understanding their pain points and standing in the shoes of your customers/users. Get out and speak to as many users/customers as possible. Communication is so valuable!

4. Design your solution. use design thinking methodologies to build a prototype and test with your customers

5. Be part of an entrepreneurial community. Community gives perspective -some of the best ideas come from constructive feedback.

If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?

Climate change is a global crisis for every living thing on this planet. Young people are the future, and this planet belongs to them. They have a chance to change everything, a chance to act now. It is time to fight for a better future for all. Everyone can take little action each day to make a difference! Take yours today!

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

Absolutely! I would love to have lunch with Bill Gates, because he is a fellow entrepreneur who has made significant contributions to humanity on a global scale. I would be interested to hear his ideas on reducing carbon emissions and ask about how we could collaborate to reduce e-waste globally. As I mentioned earlier, e-waste affects humans, soil, water, animals and our planet. A Gates Foundation mandate on reducing e-waste would have an undeniably powerful impact in developing countries, where people and their environment are feeling the adverse effects of pollution and climate change.

I very much look forward to meeting him in person one day!

How can our readers further follow your work online?

I am a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to Facebook/Instagram, but I use LinkedIn (on a daily basis) and Twitter occasionally.

My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-ruby-pillai-68895872/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/drrubypillai

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success in your important work.

By: Jilea Hemmings | 7 Feb 2022 | 10 min read

Published in Authority Magazine

For more information on iWarranty or to arrange an interview with founder Dr. Ruby Pillai,

please contact Savi Pannu at savi@emergence-creative.com or at 1-647-896-8078.