Heroes of Net Zero: Leise Sandeman, Co-Founder of Pathways

Beaumont Bailey’s new Heroes of Net Zero series, will spotlight the trailblazers rethinking how we build – pioneering new technologies, materials, and processes to drive true net zero cement and concrete. In this first instalment, we speak with Leise Sandeman, Co-Founder of Pathways, about how data-driven solutions are transforming sustainable manufacturing and unlocking new pathways to decarbonisation.

Emma Callahan (EC): Leise, thank you for joining us. To start, could you introduce yourself and tell us the origin story of Pathways? How did you and your co-founder, Alex, come up with the idea?

Leise Sandeman (LS): Absolutely. I’m Leise Sandeman, Co-Founder of Pathways. At Pathways, we’re building the data layer for sustainable manufacturing. If you look around the room you’re sitting in – the steel beams, the glass, the door, the cement blocks – anyone who makes those materials is a potential customer of ours.

We’ve been in operation for a little over a year and a half, primarily working with manufacturers in heavy industries like steel, cement, and concrete. Today, we’re focusing on cement and concrete because that’s where we’ve driven the most innovation.

Alex and I met within the Harvard-MIT ecosystem while completing our graduate studies. He comes from a startup background, having worked at multiple ventures from seed stage to Series B, starting his career at Uber in big data. I come from a sustainability and commercial background, beginning my career at McKinsey when the Paris Agreement was the dominant climate framework.

We both saw the massive challenge of embodied carbon in the built environment – the emissions associated with materials used in construction and infrastructure. We started by speaking with real estate developers and architects, who all told us the same thing: they were missing critical data. That led us to manufacturers, who also lacked structured ways to calculate and communicate their environmental impact. That realization became the foundation for Pathways.

EC: That’s a fascinating journey. Could you break down how your technology works in simple terms? What happens from initial engagement to onboarding, and how does the data get processed?

LS: Of course. Let me illustrate this with a customer example. Imagine a ready-mix concrete plant. To create an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for a specific mix, they need to gather data on their suppliers, transport logistics, and manufacturing processes.

Right now, that process is painfully manual. I spoke with a plant manager who spent 40 hours just calculating transport distances for suppliers. Pathways automates this. We integrate directly with their existing data systems, extracting key information using AI to generate life cycle assessments (LCAs) and EPDs.

For larger customers, we offer live data integrations, which might sound intimidating, but it essentially means they can pass invoices and supplier data directly into our system. For smaller manufacturers, they can simply export and upload CSV files – kind of a low-tech version of an API. The biggest value-add is that once set up, this process runs continuously, providing an always-updated footprint without manual recalculations.

EC: You’ve touched on EPDs already. Could you also explain LCAs and their significance in your industry?

LS: Absolutely. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is essentially the engine behind an EPD. It tracks three key data points: input materials (A1), transportation (A2), and manufacturing processes (A3). Some customers also track downstream impacts, like transportation to their own customers.

Think of an LCA as a digital environmental mirror of a production process – it’s all about math, multiplying quantities by their environmental intensities. My lead engineer jokes that it’s just one big matrix! An EPD, on the other hand, is simply a PDF summary of an LCA, third-party verified for credibility and compliance. This verification is critical for regulatory and competitive purposes.

EC: One of Pathways’ big selling points is the time and cost savings. How does your solution compare to traditional methods?

LS: Historically, generating an EPD could take months, even years. We’ve cut that down to weeks. Our biggest differentiation is how we streamline data collection. LCAs can feel like rocket science, but by making data extraction seamless, we eliminate the need for external consultants.

Another key differentiator is who uses our platform. Traditionally, EPDs were handled by compliance teams, but we’re seeing sustainability data becoming a sales and marketing tool. Pathways translates complex metrics into accessible terms, allowing commercial teams to communicate the impact of their products effectively.

EC: Looking at the broader market, how do regulations in the US and Europe influence your growth?

LS: What’s exciting about EPDs is that they’re becoming the backbone of product carbon footprinting and sustainability reporting. The methodologies are fairly consistent across the US and Europe, which makes scaling much easier.

Most regulations governing construction and manufacturing emissions happen at the state and city level in the US, meaning the movement toward stricter sustainability reporting is already well underway. In Europe, we’re seeing strong regulations, but with variations by country. Generally, Europe is ahead in terms of compliance requirements, but the US is catching up fast.

EC: Finally, what’s next for Pathways? Any exciting partnerships or expansion plans?

LS: We’re laser-focused on the cement and concrete sector. Concrete alone accounts for 8% of global emissions, making it a critical area for decarbonisation.

While we’re not the silver bullet, we like to say that Pathways helps manufacturers catch slivers of silver throughout their supply chain. A great example is our partnership with Command Alkon, a technology provider in the ready-mix concrete space. Instead of forcing manufacturers to manually enter data, we integrate with existing platforms to extract the information automatically. Whether it’s a multinational corporation or a small, family-run plant in Long Island, our approach ensures access to accurate sustainability data at scale.

EC: Leise, this has been a fantastic discussion. Thank you for sharing your insights, and we look forward to seeing how Pathways continues to shape sustainable manufacturing.

LS: Always a pleasure, Emma. Thank you!

Interview conducted by Emma Callahan.

If you would like to discuss any of the topics raised in this piece or if you need support with your leadership resourcing strategy, please get in touch with Cobi Busst on: cobi.busst@beaumontbailey.com.