Inside Kyoto: Meet Pablo, the man convincing suppliers to join the energy revolution

At Kyoto Group, Supply Chain & Manufacturing Manager Pablo Fortes Quesada spends his days convincing leading industrial suppliers to step out of their comfort zone.

In this very first edition of Inside Kyoto, our new relay series where employees pass the baton to one another, we sit down with Pablo to get to know the people behind our technology, discuss supply chain reality checks, and learn why energy independence is the ultimate goal.

- Hi Pablo! Picture a dinner party: Someone asks what you actually do at Kyoto. What's your go-to explanation?

- It's actually quite funny, because whenever I try to get to the point, I end up spending most of the time explaining what Kyoto does. So in the end, I usually just say "I work in purchasing."

In a company like Kyoto, compared to a big corporation, there are no clear boundaries between roles. You just need to be willing to work whenever and wherever it's needed to bring the project forward. But the biggest part of the conversation is always explaining how much heat industry actually uses every day - and how we fit in to solve that.

- Think back to when you first started out: What was it about thermal batteries that caught your attention?

- For me, it actually started almost 20 years ago. I spent 13 years in the Concentrated Solar Power industry, where I had the chance to visit solar plants using molten salt. Back then, everyone agreed that generating clean energy wasn't enough; we had to store it.

When I first learned about Kyoto, the technology itself wasn't unknown to me. But the challenge was: how do we take this idea and apply it to a new field - decarbonising industrial heat? That caught my attention immediately. Plus, being in a small company meant I could actually influence how things develop from the start.

- If we were a fly on the wall in your office, what's one detail about your work that would surprise us?

- People have this common misconception that suppliers are always knocking on your door, trying to sell you things. In my case, it's the opposite: I'm the one trying to convince the suppliers to join us on this journey.

We are asking them to adapt their equipment and take on technical challenges they might never have worked on before. Sometimes people internally even joke that I defend the supplier's position more than our own! But right now, we don't just need vendors who sell us parts; we need partners who want to build this with us.

- When the working day is over and you close every browser window, what do you do to clear your mind and relax?

- Being a father of two teenage daughters, most of the time I'm basically working as a taxi driver for them! But whenever possible, doing sports - whether it's playing basketball, going to the gym, or just walking outside - is the best way for me to clear my head and recharge my batteries.

- What is the one thing about the energy transition you constantly find yourself explaining to friends and family?

- We tend to underestimate how important energy is. People think about their electricity bill or the price of fuel at the gas station. But energy is in everything we use, from the food we eat to the clothes we wear.

For me, the energy transition isn't just an environmental question. It's an economic question and a matter of independence, especially for Europe. We need to own how we produce and manage our energy so we don't depend on third parties where we have no influence at all.

- We're passing the baton! Who should we spotlight next?

- I want to nominate my colleague Celia Rodríguez Rivero, Sales Technical Manager at Kyoto. We have very similar roles, just on opposite sides of the value chain. I work to convince suppliers, and she works to convince customers.

Celia, the baton is yours!

Curious about the technology Pablo and his suppliers are building? Visit our Heatcube page