Note: this essay contains discussion of orthopaedic injury that some may find distressing. I lay screaming on the floor of a conference centre in Gwangju, Korea, with dozens of concerned onlookers around me Twenty-one hours later I gave a talk on ‘digital transformation in energy’ in front of 300 senior energy professionals. In November 2019 I was invited to speak at a high profile conference hosted by the Korea Electric Power Corporation.