Raiford Smith

Raiford Smith is currently Global  Director, Power & Energy, at Google Cloud.

Raiford is a recognized innovator, leader, and technologist in the energy domain. He helped develop sustainable solutions in tech, energy efficiency, and renewables and worked with and led teams on new products and business models that contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to the bottom line, holding multiple patents for various electric grid technologies. He is a noted speaker and author, having written several articles on analytics, economics, change management, and energy technologies. Raiford’s career includes various customer, technology, and grid-related executive roles at Google and several large utilities, overseeing complex, cross-functional transformation initiatives. He served on multiple advisory boards for technology companies (ABB, Echelon, EnerNOC, Intel, Google, RTI, SAS, and Tendril/Uplight) and held various leadership positions on several non-profit boards (SEPA, SGIP, SEEA, MEEA, BSAG). He is also a licensed North Carolina attorney and has testified as an expert witness before several states’ utility commissions.