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Is GreenXAI an illusion?
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GreenXAI, an illusion?
GreenXAI, an illusion? 308 163 Cordny

Green IT, that’s one of my favorite subjects these days here and on LinkedIn.

But did you know TestingSaaS also works in the field of Explainable AI aka XAI?
And that he combines it in GreenXAI.
Let me explain.


Is GreenXAI an illusion?

source image: https://en.imna.ir/news/807163/AI-Emerges-as-a-Vital-Tool-for-Environmental-Protection-Sustainability

What is XAI?

AI is for people a black box. You put some data in the AI app (like ChatGPT) and you receive the output. But can you explain how the output is created?

Here XAI joins the stage. This is a collection of methods and processes, enabling AI users to understand and trust the AI output.
The so called post-hoc methods are applied after the model is trained.
SHAP and LIME are examples of these, which I use daily in my work.

Because I am also interested in green IT, I was wondering how green these post-hoc methods are.


How green is XAI?

Well, they are not, because they run additional computations on top of the AI model. This means they increase runtime resulting in extra CPU/GPU usage, consuming more energy compared to just running the model alone.

But is that the whole story?

No, they expose bias and errors faster resulting in a reduction of wasted compute on poorly performing models.
Also they enable more efficient model design. By identifying which features truly matter, you can retrain a smaller, leaner, greener model.
And last, but not least:  they can be paired with tools like CodeCarbon to connect explanations with sustainability metrics. This increases the transparency in energy measurement.


Is greenXAI an illusion?

So, is green XAI an illusion by using these post-hoc methods?

SHAP and LIME are not inherently “green IT” methods, but they can play a green role within the AI development lifecycle by preventing waste and helping optimize models for efficiency.

I will still use these methods because I want to find out more about how the AI output is created. In the meantime I will make my coding greener when possible.

Are you interested in my GreenIT and XAI work? Just contact me and let’s see how I can help you.

Why you can't measure the AI consumption of different cloud computing vendors without a proper standard for GreenIT?
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Comparing apples with oranges in Green IT
Comparing apples with oranges in Green IT 1200 768 Cordny

Comparing apples with oranges?
Yes, that’s what I think is going on when GreenIT professionals are comparing cloud computing vendors on their energy costs per LLM query.

Comparing apples with oranges?
Yes, that’s what I think is going on when GreenIT professionals are comparing cloud computing vendors on their energy costs per LLM query.
Last week Google published an article about how environmental impact on AI inference is measured by them. And whole LinkedIn went wild. And it was polarizing, supporters and critics falling over each other trying to shout the hardest.

But what did Google measure? That’s what TestingSaaS will find out.


Measuring environmental impact on AI inference by the cloud/AI providers

Google

First of all, Google measured the energy costs of a single Gemini text prompt (text, not another medium, which costs a lot more energy). The study focuses on a broad look, including not only the power used by the AI chips that run models but also by all the other infrastructure needed to support that hardware like water consumption, cooling etc.


The estimation results: the median Gemini Apps text prompt uses 0.24 watt-hours (Wh) of energy, emits 0.03 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent (gCO2e), and consumes 0.26 milliliters (or about five drops) of water.


How Google did this is explained in their technical paper. It goes too far to explain all here.
To have a better undertanding of these numbers Google stated:


The Gemini Apps text prompt uses less energy than watching nine seconds of television (0.24 Wh) and consumes the equivalent of five drops of water (0.26 mL) and 0.03 grams of carbon dioxide (market estimate)

And although the Google scientists also mentioned some critical remarks in their paper and article (median, market estimate etc.) LinkedIn went in critical mode. Just query LinkedIn on ” google gemini AI energy’ and you will find enough positive and negative posts on this subject.

Mistral

Last July, Mistral AI published a full life cycle assessment (LCA):

the environmental footprint of training Mistral Large 2: as of January 2025, and after 18 months of usage, Large 2 generated the following impacts:

20,4 ktCO₂e, 

281 000 m3 of water consumed, 

and 660 kg Sb eq (standard unit for resource depletion). 

the marginal impacts of inference, more precisely the use of their AI assistant Le Chat for a 400-token response – excluding users’ terminals:

1.14 gCO₂e, 

45 mL of water, 

and 0.16 mg of Sb eq. 

Awesome, now we can compare the results with Google, or not?

Comparing Google and Mistral AI energy costs

That’s like comparing apples with oranges.


Why?

Just look at what is measured:

– the “marginal by prompt” (Google),

– the “total cost of the cycle” (Mistral).

What Google measured is completely different compared to Mistral.

Why is this wrong?
Well, if you compare different things it’s like comparing apples with oranges. They are completely different, so no comparison can be made.
It’s not a standard you can compare.

What to do now?

So instead of criticizing the reports of how AI energy consumption is measured by the cloud computing vendors, why not figure out together what a suitable measurement standard could be for AI energy consumption in GreenIT?
Or not Green Software Foundation?

That would make the world less polarizing as it already is.
We’re engineers, let the politics out of it!










Green IT vs. Sustainable IT
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Green or sustainable IT?
Green or sustainable IT? 1024 1024 Cordny

Last week I had a great meetup with like-minded people about IT and getting it more greener.
Members from the Green Software Foundation and Sustainable IT Netherlands communities together.
Passion for technology converged with a shared commitment to sustainability.
That evening something was lingering in my mind, but I could not grasp it.
A few days later it struck me:

Green IT is not equal to Sustainable IT

Let me explain.

Why is Green IT not equal to Sustainable IT?

Green IT and sustainable IT, both terms are used frequently on social media, especially on LinkedIn, when promoting the use of IT measures against climate change. We use them interchangeably without even knowing it. But they are not the same.
We first have to see what these terms mean seperately.

What is Green IT?

In my honest opinion, Green IT, as also stated by the Green Software Foundation (GSF) is software that is responsible for emitting fewer greenhouse gases like CO2. So, less CO2, less energy, less waste etc.
It’s a tech thing, trying to solve a prblem quick, result driven.
But what’s then the difference with Sustainable IT?

What is Sustainable IT?

Sustainable IT refers to the design, manufacture, use, and disposal of IT systems and infrastructure with minimal negative impact on the environment, while also being socially responsible and economically viable.
The last part of this definition shows the difference with Green IT: while also being socially responsible and economically viable. Let me explain this further.

The difference between Green IT and Sustainable IT?

Sustainable IT is not only about IT, it involves also the social interaction. It’s a process, get IT sustainable.
How? By implementing processes, not only involving IT pro’s, but other people too.
And processes take time, it’s not a quick fix, it needs commitment. It is slower.
And it also affects the economy. How can we build solutions for sustainable IT that lasts a long time?

In other words, Green IT is a part of Sustainable IT.

What is the role of TestingSaaS here?

TestingSaaS has a green mission: help to reduce the emission of green house gases by IT.
With his knowledge of software testing, documentation, and green IT Cordny Nederkoorn
helps Small and Medium-sized Enterprises get their software testing and document creation greener, so they can create sutainable products.
Not only green IT, but also sustainable IT, by creating awareness at these companies and clients.

Would you like to discover what TestingSaaS can do for your organization?

📅 Schedule a free exploratory call via
https://lnkd.in/eAXUVjBS

or send me a direct message.

Let’s build sustainable IT together, for a lasting world!!









TestingSaaS goes green IT
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TestingSaaS on a new mission: a green mission!
TestingSaaS on a new mission: a green mission! 502 356 Cordny

Remember I said it was time for some experiments?

Well, they started.

TestingSaaS goes green IT, just like its logo.

It started with a spark, erupting into a flame and last Wednesday a flow started to spread.

How did this happen?

The spark which erupted the flame: a book called Green IT

A few months ago I was walking through my favorite bookshop in Oss like Ernest Hemingway did a hundred years ago in the famous bookshop Shakespeare and Company in Paris. I always relax here, just browsing through books. Then I saw a book called Green IT by Jan Hoogstra and Eric Consten.

While reading the cover I got intrigued and I bought it. Yeah, the current IT (especially AI) is having a problematic impact on the climate. And this book gives , next to some theory, also practical examples how to decrease this impact. Software, hardware, networks, data centers and utilities, they all can help this do it. Companies and organisations like TNO, AFAS and the government are doing it.

This got me thinking, how could I help with my company?
Not only by getting more sustainable with my company, but also more as a real player in this new field.

A spark became a flame.

Then I met Wilco Burggraaf on LinkedIN.

The flow: Meeting the people from Sustainable IT Netherlands and the Green Software Foundation

Following Wilco, the Dutch Green Software Champion, expanded my network in Green IT, with people like Robert Keus, a social entrepreneur revolutionizing the way technology intersects with society. And developing a  first green AI chat, reducing the impact AI has on our environment by running on sustainable infrastructure and by repurposing heat. Chatbots eeh, where did I do that before ?


Man, I had to meet these people, but how? As an entrepreneur I’m also quite busy.
Let’s see if there are meetups where they are involved, and yes, there are.

One of them was last Wednesday, the 28th of May 2025.  A meetup from Green Software Foundation and Sustainable IT Netherlands communities, where passion for technology converges with a shared commitment to sustainability.
Hosted by Thorsten Picard at Capgemini HQ Utrecht.
This was the time to get that flow going!

The Green IT flow

The evening was wonderful. I finally met Wilco and Robert and a lot of other people, a real organic gathering.

I heard about the ‘Green Software Foundation’, and I was very happy to also meet people from ‘Sustainable IT Netherlands’. Corina Milosoiu and Chris Stapper, very delighted to have met you.

But a meetup is not a meetup when there are no talks.

Robert kicked it of, together with Cas Burggraaf, an energetic and eye-opening session, which proved that a talk about GenAI can be about so much more than just numbers and figures.

Then the stage was ready for a lighthearted talk by Mirko van der Maat from Capgemini about Sustainability in Architecture and Barbapapa. Oh man, Barbapapa, forgotten memories.

At the end it was time for some pitches, which were received very well.

But hey, what is a meetup without some drinks and snacks, very well facilitaded by our host?

Time for some networking. Great talks with very passionate people with one thing in common: Green IT!

TestingSaaS going green: the future?

Ok, we had a spark that erupted in a flame, becoming a flow.

Well, I want a good Aussie bush fire, I want to create a flood.

Yes, I remember your books Rijn Vogelaar.

And I can’t do it alone.

With my new friends from the Green Software Foundation and Sustainable IT Netherlands communities I can.

How? By Creating Content through Testing!

To be continued!!

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Time for some experiments
Time for some experiments 2000 1333 Cordny

When you look at the logo of TestingSaaS you see a green magnifying glass.

One of the reasons I selected the color green was because of my biology-background at Wageningen University & Research.

For the future there will be another reason.

When I was in Ireland a few weeks ago the color green was everywhere.

And the I got an epiphany, something to work on when I was back at my home.
See the recent posts of me, Cordny Nederkoorn, and guess what it will be.

DM me if you know 🙂

Experiments are going on now, and it looks promising.

One step at a time.

To be continued!


picture of Tom Cruise in a fighterjet in movie Top Gun
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Testing like Top Gun?
Testing like Top Gun? 1549 874 Cordny

Testing like Top Gun

A few years ago I was asked to help a crack remote IT-team from Nagarro (India) to help them with their software testing and quality assurance.
Their assignment then was to create plugins (interfaces) between the client’s marketing Platform (PaaS) and 3rd parties like Microsoft Azure , Google cloud platform and other platforms like Snowflake etc.
There was one catch, little documentation was available and we did not have a dedicated PO (later we got a great one!) and the situation could change by the day.
So, what do you do as a tester then?

source:  https://www.looper.com/831839/the-suprising-reason-top-gun-maverick-shot-a-jaw-dropping-amount-of-footage/

Introducing the OODA loop

Well, about 10 years ago a buddy of mine (and great coach) told me about the OODA loop, a decision-model created and used for making decisions quickly.
It was developed by a US Airforce Colonel, John Boyd, for use in air combat where situations change by the second. Remember Top Gun and its great sequel Top Gun: Maverick ?

How I use the OODA loop with software testing

OODA is an acronym for Observe, Orient, Decide and Act.
My first step was to oversee the situation (Observe) and filter the things necessary for my tests. These things I had to combine (Orient) and create the best fitted tests for the product and the current situation (Decide)
And then the testing started (Act).
But what if things changed?
Well, that’s why it is called a loop, and you can start again from the beginning at Observe.
All in a fast and agile way.
Doing this we created interfaces in a fast way and we were always aware of the constraints and possible risks. As a team, not a bunch of individuals!

Alas, after a while the management team wanted to align us with the other teams and with the company’s processes.
Which is understandable because the company became more a scale up.

But, what a time.
It shouldn’t be a surprise I use the same OODA loop for my clients at TestingSaaS.

Always a maverick at TestingSaaS, always a step further, sometimes in the danger zone, but then the OODA-loop helps.
See you in the air, I mean cyberspace….

a bloch sphere visualization of a qubit
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Quantum computing, Cordny, are you mad?
Quantum computing, Cordny, are you mad? 776 773 Cordny

Quantum computing, Cordny, are you mad?

This question I got last week from a peer after I announced on LinkedIn I wanted to dive into quantum computing.

Yeah buddy, quantum computing, QC for short.

On high school I wasn’t a physics fan, but I was always fascinated by atoms and its protons, electrons etc.
Regarding mathematics, geometry I hated, but algebra I was more interested in. Even during my biology study theoretical biology attracted me, but zoölogie was always my keen interest, so I graduated in microbiology and bio-informatics. Recognize the interest in micro?
Durig my testing career my curiosity in how things work at the smallest level continued and I also got more experienced in cloud computing (see my blogs and articles)
And then a few months ago a colleague of mine talked about QC and I thought, seeing the possibilities of cloud computing, combined with QC, thank you Quantum Delta NL, why not give it a shot in 2024? Let’s test it out and create content, or better said: Create Content through Testing. Just like I did for identiverse (UMA!!!!!) and the metaverse startups (Fectar ???? )

A bloch sphere visualization of a qubit, created with Python



It’s a kind of deja vu I now have, the curiosity and implementing it, just like I had more than 10 years ago with IAM (identity and access management) and UMA (yeah Eve Maler !)
I do not expect to be a pro at QC, but with my company TestingSaaS I will explore the landscape, test the software in the cloud, talk to the quantum computing experts, and I will write about it. Yes, using all my skills.
One step at a time, or better said 1 Qubit at a time :-).

To be continued!!

PS: I must be crazy, but I like it!

EinsteinGPT by Salesforce
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Salesforce and EinsteinGPT: what’s it all about?
Salesforce and EinsteinGPT: what’s it all about? 768 446 Cordny

When I started my TestingSaaS blog years ago I was inspired by the efforts of Marc Benioff and his Ohana crew at Salesforce. Creating a service online in a new to discover silicon ecosystem.

SaaS and cloud computing, that would be my area for at least a decade. Well, it’s already more than a decade and I’m still cloudbusting.

Digital identity, data science, machine learning and some occasional blockchain. All part of AI aka artificial intelligence. And it’s not stopping yet.

The Rise of Generative AI

Artificial intelligence is already a very interesting field, but AI even has an area which is even more attractive for engineers and even artists: Generative AI. This includes AI tools for creating text, images or even audio.

Let’s start with text. Do you remember the hit at the end of 2022: ChatGPT. That is a tool created by OpenAI.

What is GPT?

ChatGPT is a natural language processing tool driven by AI technology that allows you to have human-like conversations and much more with a chatbot. The language model can answer questions, and assist you with tasks such as composing emails, essays, and even code. It already has a massive userbase and therefore may have a profound impact on the way we work now and in the future.

But did you know ChatGPT is as implementation part of a bigger family? The GPT family.

GPT stands for generative pre-trained transformer which is a family of language models generally trained on a large corpus ( collection) of text data to generate human-like text. Other members are BioGPT and ProtGPT2, which originate from biomedicine and bio-informatics. Yeah, that brings back memories of my time at Wageningen University, but that’s another story.

Ok, back to Salesforce.

Salesforce already used AI with Einstein, built-in intelligence to work smarter with CRM.

And now it has incorporated GPT into its CRM software.

Salesforce answer to Generative AI: Einstein GPT

In the beginning of March Salesforce launched Einstein GPT, the world’s first generative AI CRM technology, delivering AI-created content across every sales, service, marketing, commerce, and IT interaction, all at hyperscale. Einstein GPT will use its generative power – through enabling conversational questions with natural-language prompts – to work with Salesforce’s proprietory AI models in the Salesforce ecosystem of partners and the Salesforce Data Cloud.

In this video you can see a peak of Einstein GPT.

That sounds awesome, and I can tell you a lot about its features, but what about its benefits?

The benefits of Einstein GPT

Basically Salesforce Einstein GPT is for every CRM-professional:

  • Service – More customer satisfaction through personalization (automated chat replies and knowledge articles)
  • Sales – Less time lost with automatically generated tasks like meeting scheduling and emails.
  • Marketing – Unique content creation through a data-driven personalization engine
  • Developers – Increase productivity by generated code or answering questions
  • Instant messaging – More productive ad efficient Slack conversations

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Salesforce and the future of AI

Salesforce is in AI for a long time now and will be staying.
New GPT-implementations are already there like GPT-4, which can, next to text, also respond to images, opening a whole set of new possibilities.

I wonder how Salesforce will react to this as a CRM-specialist?

Interesting media about Salesforce Einstein GPT

Do you want to read more about Einstein GPT and GPT in general?

I suggest the following pages:

https://www.salesforceairesearch.com/

https://openai.com/research/overview

Finally, follow this trailhead course too:

https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/einstein-gpt-quick-look/get-started-with-einstein-gpt

…

testdata and software testing
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One of the hardest things in Software Testing
One of the hardest things in Software Testing 870 470 Cordny

When people ask me what the hardest thing in software testing is:

Creating your testdata and then use it wisely.

Testdata, not test automation?
No, because getting the correct testdata for your software testing costs a lot of time, especially when you need lots of data, which is also diverse.

Test automation is also hard, but this is just about automating your tests, not testing it. You first need your testdata, otherwise no test, no test automation.

Luckily we have the knowledge and tools from data science where we can create testdata with, for instance, Python and its libraries.

So, what testdata did you create today for your tests?

PS: Next to this post on TestingSaaS this blogpost was also shared on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cordnynederkoorn_testdata-softwaretesting-datascience-activity-6988401827411021824-ySXd?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

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The Holy Grail in Software Testing
The Holy Grail in Software Testing 2560 1920 Cordny

Test automation is not the holy grail in software testing
It’s just a tool to achieve the holy grail.

In my opinion, the holy grail here is quality.

Do you agree?

This was a post I created at LinkedIn last week and it got plenty of attention.

I mentioned 2 well known and great software test professionals, Michael Bolton and James Bach, and to my astonishment they reacted.

The Holy Grail of software testing is the truth about the status of the product.

Truth is my obsession.
Trouble is my faith.
Quality is an unknown country.

James Bach

Quality about product is like finding the Holy Grail. Lots of people are running around trying to achieve that; they’re not sure where the object of their search is; and they’re not sure how they’ll get there.

Neither testing nor automated checking advances the quality of the product. 

Michael Bolton

They said a lot more, but these struck me. You can read more in the comments to my LinkedIn post.

I also liked Jim Hazen’s take on it: It’s Automation, not Automagic. You have to do the magic all by yourself. Well said Jim!

When writing the post I wanted to kick the hornet’s nest as I explained in my following post.

Why this LinkedIn Post on Software Testing and Quality?

It certainly caught some attention and even inspired other posts.

But what was it that I wanted to achieve?

  1. That test automation is not the Holy Grail in Software Testing.
  2. A discussion about quality in software testing. Is it all about quality or the state of the product under test – as a QA engineer I first thought the first, but now I know it’s all about the state. Quality is subjective and different per person who looks at it.

Another thing I learned, kick the hornet’s nest at LinkedIn when you want to know something and people will certainly respond. Or, as Michael Bolton said, did I simply stir the soup and see the ingredients that were out of sight, below the surface?

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