The Self-Driving Home: AI, Net-Zero Living and Energy-as-a-Service, Mark Lufkin, Wondrwall
- S1E45
- 39:05
- June 25th 2025
Adam speaks with Mark Lufkin, Chief Product Officer at Wondrwall, the Manchester-based company using AI to reinvent how homes manage and generate energy.
Mark walks us through Wondrwall’s evolution, from its origins in motion-sensing wallpaper to a full-stack smart home system powered by AI, solar, and predictive analytics. Think of it as a self-driving car, but for your house: the platform controls heating, lighting, storage, and energy flows in real time, drawing on over 20,000 data points per home, per day.
The conversation dives into the psychology behind smart tech adoption – why most people don’t have time to be energy experts, and how Wondrwall designs for trust, not just efficiency. Mark also unpacks Wondrwall’s PowerPlan model which removes upfront costs by giving away solar panels, batteries, and EV chargers, instead selling clean power back to homeowners at lower rates.
The episode explores how smart systems can feel more like companions than control panels, offering just the right balance of automation, insight, and emotional connection. If the future of housing is intelligent, Wondrwall wants to make sure it is also human.
Adam and Mark discuss:
- Most people aren’t prosumers; Wondrwall’s AI runs the home so they don’t have to
- Human-first design: tech that acts smart, but asks before it acts
- Future Homes Standard doesn’t go far enough and risks driving up bills
- Power Plan flips the model: zero upfront cost, cheaper energy, smarter homes
- Making net-zero realistic by designing for how people actually live
Useful Links
Visit Wondrwall: https://wondrwall.com/
Connect with Mark Lufkin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklufkin/
Join Hypercube's Beyond Energy Community: https://wearehypercube.com/join-the-community/
The Hypercube Energy Podcast
The Hypercube Energy Podcast explores the application of technology, data and AI across the energy sector.
In the fast-moving energy landscape, organisations of all sizes need to understand and adopt emerging tech to tackle complex problems, identify new areas of innovation and capitalise on opportunity.
What should an energy technology strategy look like?
How do we identify what problems to solve first?
What innovations are being made in the industry?
These are the questions that host Adam Sroka seeks to answer on this show.
In each episode, he sits down with tech experts and business leaders from the energy sector to understand exactly how they are solving energy-specific data challenges today.
You can learn more about Hypercube - Energy Technology Partner at wearehypercube.com
Join the Beyond Energy Community: wearehypercube.com/join-the-community/