Social Impact Tech: David Totman of Autodesk 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 David Totman.

As a member of the Innovyze Executive Leadership Team, David Totman provides Thought Leadership Strategy in infrastructure systems management across the entire Autodesk portfolio. He has been in the water industry for nearly 40 years. He is a member of both AWWA and ASCE. As an officer in the ASCE he represents them on the US TAG to ISO 55000.

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 backstory and how you got interested in technology?

I graduated from Arizona State University with an engineering degree and spent just under a decade in the Arizona state government service as a groundwater hydrologist doing water quality, and then quantity, while in water rights adjudications. I spent half my day in boots in the field, then the other half at a keyboard banging on code. Technology was only a tool to help do my job, just like a groundwater pump, or pH meter.

Later I transitioned as a scientist for Lockheed doing remote sensing, then pure IT consulting for a decade: utilities, oil and gas, transportation and retail. I even built websites in the late ’90s and early 2000s.

Later I went back into infrastructure engineering dedicated to municipal utility service for another decade-plus, then worked at Esri, and finally landed at Innovyze, which is now Autodesk.

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

Every job I had was a mini-career preparing me for what I do now, but one particular story that comes to mind was when I was in my mid-twenties sampling groundwater in Southeastern Arizona. I had been sent out on an assignment to sample water from a well for a woman’s ranch when all of a sudden I had rifles pointed at me. There were two Jeeps with three men each, armed, making sure I wasn’t doing anything to this woman’s water. Even though they had requested for me to come, back in that day, in those parts, they weren’t too trusting of the government and even though I didn’t fear for my life, it was at that moment that I realized just how important water really is. This was the water that they fed their livestock with, that they drank, cooked with, bathed in, and the passion they exemplified over making sure it was protected cemented that understanding in me forever- water is life, and death. It is linked to our very human existence. It needs to be protected at all costs.

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

Jim Anspach, former VP of Cardno Engineering, one of the “founding fathers” of subsurface utility engineering. He’s not just an American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) mentor, but also a close friend.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”?

Whisky is for drinking; water is for fighting over! — Mark Twain

Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Affirms how intense, how passionate, how vital water is for survival in our human existence.

You are a thought leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

1. I’ve always been curious as to how things work. As a child, I pulled my bicycle apart and put it back together. I preferred screwdrivers and wrenches to toys.
2. A giving nature. Knowledge is a gift to be shared, not hoarded. Although I’m very proud of building the Asset Management program at Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU), I groomed and prepared my staff for my departure. The foundation of what I built is still running CSU to this day. Granted, my successors have added their own expertise and made it even better.
3. Hard work and dedication- make every job count. Make it be what you want and need it to be and use your knowledge gained to prepare for the next chapter. My career path has equipped me to be talking to you today. I have been in the water industry for over 40 years in both public and private sectors and have picked up invaluable skills along the way.

The main part of our discussion is 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?

Our mission is to provide for a sustainable future. That means our ultimate end goal is to effectively manage every drop of precious water- from cloud to sea. We do this through a myriad of ways, ranging from reducing water loss and preserving water in droughts to safely routing water in a flood to protect people and property, as well as optimizing utility resources for full water infrastructure life cycle management, both natural and built.

How do you think your technology can address this?

We model, manage, and monitor both water quantity and quality. We provide prescriptive asset management founded on water engineering best practices, so not only do we tell you when and where a pipe may break (what) and we tell you why it’s not working optimally. The who is optional.

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

When I was working at Colorado Springs Utilities, a water operations manager was set in his ways, and I had been brought in to roll out an asset management program and make sure the infrastructure was sound. You know, I did the math and I said, we need a hundred and fifty million dollars to fix this cast iron problem and our CFO said, well you have $8 million, so I had no choice but to make it work. So at that time I was doing the math and science called asset management and I predicted exactly where the next water main break would be and when, and of course, the operations manager didn’t listen. But within three weeks of when we said this, the water main broke exactly where we predicted it was going to. So to the manager, I was a magician. After that, he put his full support behind me and helped roll out the program. I always trusted science, but being able to convert someone was beyond inspiring. I always knew asset management was a journey of asking questions and solving business problems for a better tomorrow.

How do you think this might change the world?

This technology is the unsung hero of managing water, both in quality and quantity. When everything is working fine, that’s great. But where we shine is when there are problems or the potential for problems. Whether it be with aging infrastructure, or extreme weather conditions, both storms and drought, or with water scarcity and water equity affecting disadvantaged communities. If every town, city, county, and country across the world had this technology, they could help mitigate flooding that is catastrophic for people, and save billions of dollars in leaked water which we need, especially in areas that are already experiencing a lack of this precious resource, as well as help the world navigate climate change which is shifting weather and storm patterns globally. So many municipalities have water infrastructure that isn’t fixed until it absolutely has to be- because something has gone awry. If we could get ahead of that and predict where the problems might be before they happen, we could save taxpayers money and ensure that residents have access to clean, running water.

Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?

It’s important for us to remind ourselves that AI is yet another tool in our toolbox to provide better insight into the human operator. These advancements are complementary to the human-led workforce. We must remain thoughtful when implementing new technology and continue to ask ourselves, does this make sense for a better tomorrow?

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.)

1. Make the mission personal, but not the work. Maintain the proverbial work/life balance as life and family drive the spirit. The work pays the bills.

2. Do the math! Understand the science. Where, What, and When are nice to know, but Why justifies the action. People can handle both yes and no if they understand why.

3. One size never fits all. Allow configuration to adapt to local norms.

4. When coding, ask “does this make for a better tomorrow for everybody?”, not just a select few.

5. Truly embrace the global society, the cliché of “Think globally, act locally”.

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?

Never underestimate the power of any idea. Do not shut it down. Do not deny it the courtesy of being introduced to another mind. Innovation truly comes from diversity of thought.

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?

The actor Tom Hanks. The plethora of his roles must have honed his mind into an unimaginable state of understanding of human behavior.

How can our readers further follow the impact this technology is having on our world?

Autodesk’s One Water Blog, where we constantly follow the impact technology makes on water infrastructure, which can be accessed here: https://blogs.autodesk.com/innovyze/.

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