Name: Gautam Shah
Location: Kenya
Initiative Title: Wild Ideas Lab
Short Description of Initiative: An experimental lab/studio dedicated to finding transformation solutions to engage the public with wildlife and nature
Sectors: Conservation, Technology, Gaming, Entertainment, Media, Education
Website: www.internetofelephants.com
Social Media: @ioelephants on X, LinkedIn and Instagram
Gautam Shah is the founder of Internet of Elephants, a social enterprise pioneering new ways to connect people with wildlife through digital experiences. A National Geographic and TED Fellow, Gautam believes the future of conservation depends not just on policy or science, but on making nature an accessible and meaningful part of people’s daily lives.
By blending mobile gaming, augmented reality, and real-time animal data, Internet of Elephants transforms conservation storytelling by bringing audiences closer to wild animals in ways never before imagined. Their mission is to build a new global culture of public engagement with nature, one that isn’t limited to documentaries, donations, or zoos, but instead meets people where they are: on their phones, in their games, and through interactive digital spaces.
Gautam launched the Wild Ideas Lab, a groundbreaking experimental hub dedicated to designing and testing the most innovative digital tools for wildlife engagement. Inspired by the MIT Media Lab model, the Wild Ideas Lab will push the boundaries of conservation tech, with the ambitious goal of forging direct emotional bonds between one billion people and wild animals. By proving that mass public engagement can drive market shifts and policy change, the Lab hopes to redefine the role of digital media in environmental action.
In this conversation, Gautam shares his bold vision for the future of wildlife storytelling, the challenges of breaking conservation’s status quo, and the reasons he believes the biggest untapped force in conservation is people.
I was sitting alone on a beach in Antarctica, with only a penguin for company. This was my umpteenth spectacular wildlife experience, an indulgence my career with Accenture had afforded me. But in that particular moment, it all felt very selfish: the only person benefiting from these experiences was me.
Countless people were making those experiences possible through their relentless work and sacrifices to conserve nature, often without any recognition or support. That was the turning point. I knew then that I no longer wanted to indulge in “wildlife gluttony”. Instead, I wanted to figure out a way to do something meaningful. It took a few years before I quit my job and eventually founded Internet of Elephants, but that moment with the penguin was where the journey truly began. I took a photograph to capture that special day:
I want to transform the way the public engages with and supports nature conservation.
For 70 years, we relied on the same three approaches: wildlife documentaries, donation campaigns, and zoos. While each has its role, they are either limited in reach or come with unintended consequences or collateral damage. If we truly want long-term conservation outcomes, we need to touch people’s hearts and minds and create a bottom-up movement of public support for the planet. Otherwise, conservation will always be an uphill battle, fighting against the tide.
In several ways!
First, prioritising public engagement as the key driver for conservation is unconventional. Conservation efforts typically focus on either on-the-ground interventions or top-down regulations. Public engagement is often seen as a “soft” factor, difficult to measure, rather than a strategic priority.
Secondly, we’re using games and digital experiences. These sit outside the comfort zone of the conservation sector, which is much more used to the medium of film and photography. At a major wildlife film festival I attended just two years ago, the discussion wasn’t even about cutting-edge engagement strategies—it was about whether to use social media at all. Meanwhile, 3.5 billion people are playing games, investing billions of hours and dollars every year—yet conservation hasn’t tapped into this potential! Instead, the world keeps producing another David Attenborough documentary because it's a safe bet, rather than taking bold risks.
Finally, we’re building an experimental lab designed to take big swings and test bold ideas that will, most likely, fail most of the time. Conservation is desperate for entities willing to take risks, yet few organisations receive funding to experiment, fail, and refine their approach. This is exactly what the conservation sector really needs: entities that will take risks and will keep taking those risks until solutions are found.
It is all about infusing little bits and pieces of nature into people’s everyday lives. No matter what they do, we need to ask the big question: How can wildlife and nature be a little part of it?
Imagine if your daily commute took you through a digital forest, if music concerts were set in virtual deserts, or if animals surrounded you at the bar—not in real life, but through technology.
When these things aren’t physically possible, technology can simulate them! If we can get people to spend just 5–10 minutes a day engaging with an orangutan, a hummingbird, or a rainforest through their mobile device, nature becomes part of their consciousness. It becomes something they talk about at work, follow in the news, and care about.
Think about sports, music and politics and the role they play in our daily lives. Wildlife and nature deserve a seat at that table.
Photo Credit: Internet of Elephants
Plenty—and I don’t always have the answers. But I constantly ponder some key questions:
I get the sense that people don’t take it seriously.
They see games as “cute” or “for kids.” They think public engagement isn’t as important as on-the-ground conservation. And I’ve never understood why so many people struggle to see the bigger picture, to think holistically and strategically about this. No one wants to step outside their comfort zone. And that still surprises me.
I advise anyone and everyone to have a partner. Innovation is an emotional burden to bear on your own. It’s a practical burden. It’s brutal to do it all alone – the marketing, the accounting, the investor relations, etc. You need someone to share the ups and downs, the joys and the challenges, someone who has real skin in the game.
That’s why I don’t put much stock in “advisors”. They don’t have anything at stake. You need people who think about your idea even when you’re not in the room.
You also need help with the mundane stuff—taxes, legalities, immigration, accounting. These things won’t make your company, but getting them wrong can break it. Having the right support, the ones who can steer you in a good direction, allows you to focus on what matters: innovation.
For myself, I hope it has given me a sense of fulfilment and that the sacrifices I made since the day I sat with that penguin were completely worth it. I know that no matter what we do, it will never be enough. But I’m hoping to be able to sit back, raise a glass to what we have built and feel the tears in my eyes.
For the sector, I want there to be ten other Internet of Elephants in existence and hundreds of other people working on digital tools for wildlife engagement! I want us to have “sector rivals” or for this field to become as mainstream as wildlife documentaries.
For wildlife and nature, I hope that we can have at least ten examples of places in the world that have directly benefited from our work. To have tangible proof that our work has directly improved ecosystems, and point to places where nature is thriving thanks to what we created.
For people, I hope millions will see and empathise with nature in a deeper and more satisfying way. That engaging with wildlife, even if just for a few minutes a day, made them feel better about themselves.
My biggest hope is that we have created the foundation for how, over the next 10 to 20 years, hundreds of millions of people will spend 5-10 minutes with wildlife every day. I hope this small but consistent connection enriches their lives—and in turn, helps transform countless places around the world for the better!
This insight is part of a series highlighting our first cohort of the Exploration Co-Lab. Read more about the Exploration Co-Lab here.
You can also read more insight pieces like this here.
The content of this piece represents the author’s own views and does not necessarily represent the views of Unearthodox or of any of its collaborating institutions.
