Meet Annette Adams

Annette Adams’ career journey mirrors the ingenuity of the digital solutions she enables each day. As our General Manager Technology for Energy Solutions and Data, she continually questions, pivots and reimagines to help us energise a better future, one customer at a time. At the heart of Annette’s drive to succeed? Collaborating with a team that genuinely cares about sustainability, innovation, and each other.

Energising a better future

Sustainability has long been close to Annette’s heart. It drives her people-focused leadership as she leads her teams to deliver innovative tech products that help our customers reduce their carbon footprints. Annette’s journey to become Shell Energy’s General Manager Technology – Energy Solutions & Data all began in a university lecture theatre.

“I had a lecturer in marketing, who introduced me to sustainable business,” Annette said. “He was really passionate about sustainability and marketing for the good of the environment. He told us how he would walk the Bibbulmun Track (a 1,000km hiking trail in Western Australia) to conduct market surveys with hikers. It was a moment of recognition that I could have a career and combine it with a love of nature.”

At the core of sustainability for Annette is the health and wellbeing of families, communities and nations.
“We can’t achieve a significant reduction in emissions unless we have a scalable business on our side. I’m proud to be part of Shell Energy because I can see it is making that difference, and I’m excited to see what that means for Australia.”

Making the difference count

Annette has shaped her career with the same agility, ownership and innovation she brings to her role as General Manager Technology – Energy Solutions & Data. Since completing her Bachelor of Arts and Commerce in 2003, Annette has honed and combined her tech, consulting, customer service, and business improvement skills in various roles – from IT generalist in the mining sector to climate change adviser for businesses and local governments.

Since joining Shell Energy in 2014, Annette has risen through the ranks from customer support and digital services manager to General Manager Technology – Energy Solutions & Data. Annette has seized every opportunity to develop her leadership and the business, actively helping us tackle the world’s biggest challenge of reaching net zero.

“I want to be able to make change as an individual, and that’s achievable at Shell,” Annette says. “If I see a process that could be improved, I can work with others to improve it. I have ownership and autonomy in my work, and I thrive on that. Shell Energy is growing so much that there are opportunities to effect change across the whole organisation.”

Annette leads four software development teams to create programs and products that solve customers’ energy challenges. It’s challenging work, yet Annette never loses focus on what matters to her most: people, and the strong, collaborative relationships she nurtures.

“We value diversity in this business, so part of my leadership role is to be a sounding board and create the space for people to ask questions and come up with meaningful solutions. We all have a role to play in Shell Energy’s mission, so it’s important I help my teams connect with our vision and see that what we do day to day is important.”

Big challenges, incredible opportunities

Living and working in Brisbane means Annette and her family have plenty of choices when it comes to weekend getaways. Annette loves camping in Queensland’s great outdoors, spending quality time with her husband and two children. These moments help Annette reconnect with the environment and the ultimate purpose of her role: to help Shell Energy lead the change to a better, cleaner future.

And if you’re inspired by Annette’s contribution to a net-zero world? Here are her top tips for a successful career at Shell Energy.

1. “Embrace opportunities. A lot of my career journey has been about seizing the next opportunity and saying to myself, ‘What have I got to lose?’. We recognise and support internal talent, and the more we grow, the more leaders we’ll need going forward and the more opportunities will arise.”
2. “You need to care. Care is one of our strongest values and it extends beyond the work to each other. If a colleague is grappling with a challenge, be it professionally or personally, we care enough to help. We have a very strong culture of solving problems as one team.”
3. “Remember to step back and take stock of what you’re working towards. Sometimes, it’s easy to lose focus in the day-to-day tasks, so it’s nice to stop, reflect on what we’re doing, and re-engage with our purpose.”