Building the backbone of the hydrogen economy

1. In the context of the hydrogen transition, what makes organisational structure as critical as the technology itself?

In any large scale transformation, especially one as complex and urgent as the hydrogen transition, technology is only part of the equation.

Organisational structure is the delivery mechanism. Without the right structure, even the most advanced technologies will falter during implementation.

Hydrogen companies need agile, adaptive, and integrated structures that can respond to evolving regulations, market dynamics, and ecosystem complexity. Traditional, hierarchical setups often slow decision-making, dilute accountability and create silos, all fatal in a high-stakes, innovation-led environment.

In contrast, future-fit structures prioritise cross-functional collaboration, decentralised decision-making, and embedded learning loops.

Think of it this way: If technology is the engine, structure is the chassis. You can’t scale a Formula One engine in a go-kart frame.

2. What do you see as the biggest internal barriers preventing hydrogen companies from scaling effectively?

Several internal barriers commonly appear across the sector:

• Siloed functions: engineering, commercial, regulatory, and operations often operate in isolation, despite the need for constant synchronisation.
• Legacy leadership models: many organisations still rely on linear, control-heavy leadership approaches that inhibit agility and innovation.
• Change fatigue or fear: previous transformation efforts (or industry volatility) can lead to resistance or risk-aversion, particularly among mid-level leaders.
• Lack of strategic clarity: often, companies scale without a clear ‘north star’, unclear purpose or shifting priorities create misalignment and wasted effort.
• Underinvestment in people: training, change capability development, and workforce engagement are too often treated as side projects rather than core enablers.

These are not just barriers to efficiency; they directly affect a company’s ability to deliver on the promise of hydrogen at scale.

3. How can leaders ensure cross-functional collaboration when legacy mindsets or departmental silos still exist?

The key is not just structural but behavioural. Leaders must do three things in parallel:

Model the behaviour: cross-functional collaboration starts at the top. If the executive team operates in unison, with shared objectives, joint decision-making, and clear communication that example cascades.

Create shared goals: aligning KPIs across departments (e.g. safety, cost, carbon impact) forces collaboration. If hydrogen production and commercial teams succeed together, they stop guarding turf.

Redesign for interaction: implement structural nudges, agile delivery models, cross-functional squads, co-located project teams, to force regular contact and remove bureaucratic bottlenecks.

And critically, reward systems must shift: if leaders are still promoted based on function-specific performance, silos will always win.

4. You’ve spoken before about “change capability”. What does that mean, and why should hydrogen firms prioritise it now?

Change capability refers to an organisation’s enduring ability to respond, adapt, and thrive through change, not just once, but repeatedly and sustainably.

For hydrogen firms, this is not a luxury. The entire industry is in flux: from regulation to geopolitics, supply chain constraints to public perception. Change capability means building the skills, structures, mindsets and systems to navigate that turbulence without losing momentum.

It includes:

• Leaders trained in change leadership (not just project delivery).
• Embedded internal change agents.
• Real-time feedback and adaptive planning systems.
• A culture that normalises experimentation and learning.

If you’re going to survive in a low-carbon economy still being invented, you don’t just need to do change. You need to be change-ready.

5. How can investors or stakeholders be reassured that a hydrogen business is truly change-ready?

Stakeholders want more than ambition, they want evidence. A change-ready organisation demonstrates:

• Clear change governance: defined roles, responsibilities, and sponsorship at senior levels.
• Demonstrated learning: evidence of lessons applied from past transitions or pilots.
• Cultural maturity: high levels of psychological safety, openness to feedback, and trust in leadership.
• Execution metrics: change-related KPIs built into performance tracking, not just delivery, but adoption and sustainment.
• Transparent communication: a consistent, joined-up narrative from boardroom to front line.

Being change-ready is not a claim, it's observable in how a company operates under pressure. Smart investors look for signs of resilience, not just runway.

6. Can you describe what a truly future-ready hydrogen organisation looks like in your view?

A future-ready hydrogen firm is one that combines innovation capacity with adaptive resilience. It has:

• Modular, flexible structures that can scale up, pivot, or integrate with partners as needed.
• A unifying mission that guides decision-making at every level, creating alignment without bureaucracy.
• End-to-end digitalisation that enables real-time insight, forecasting, and simulation.
• Strong people systems that invest in capability, wellbeing, and leadership development.
• Embedded change capability, treating transformation as business-as-usual.
• Ecosystem thinking, seeing suppliers, communities, regulators and competitors not as constraints, but collaborators.

It’s less about predicting the future, more about being built to adapt to any future.

7. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Only this: In hydrogen, we’re not just building new infrastructure. We’re building the future economy. And we won’t get there by copy-pasting yesterday’s playbook.

Technology will enable the transition, but it’s people and culture that will define its success. If the people can’t follow, the transition fails.

We need boldness. We need empathy. We need organisations brave enough to lead change, not manage it.

Written by Mark Green, Change Rebellion

Read the article online at: https://www.globalhydrogenreview.com/special-reports/30062025/building-the-backbone-of-the-hydrogen-economy/