Welcome to Season Eleven of Conversations in Cleantech!
This season, we're exploring the talent equation, examining the people, skills, and leadership required to accelerate the energy transition. From workforce strategy and culture, to talent development and organisational growth, we'll explore what it really takes to build the teams driving the sector forward.
In this episode, Jenny Gladman and Chloe England are joined by Karl Andersen, Founder & CEO of Lektra - an entrepreneur operating at the intersection of AI, energy, and digital infrastructure.
As excitement around AI continues to accelerate, Karl poses a different question: what happens when our energy systems can no longer keep up? He argues that the future of AI won't be limited by computing power, but by something far more fundamental - access to electricity.
The conversation explores why ageing grids are struggling to support the next wave of technological growth, why decentralised energy could reshape the way communities interact with power, and what a more resilient 'Grid 2.0' might look like. But beyond the technology itself, this episode is ultimately about people: the leaders, innovators, and problem-solvers needed to build entirely new systems from the ground up.
Karl also shares a refreshingly human perspective on leadership, entrepreneurship, and the importance of bringing together diverse thinkers who are willing to challenge assumptions and embrace complexity.
This episode offers a thought-provoking look at one of the biggest questions facing the energy transition: if AI is moving at extraordinary speed, can our infrastructure - and our workforce - evolve quickly enough to support it?
01:18 - Introduction to Karl
02:25 - Have you always had an entrepreneurial mindset?
04:30 - What is it about high-growth, fast-paced environments that energises you?
07:40 - You’ve said it’s not just about money, but about building something meaningful - where does that mindset come from?
12:10 - You’ve said the grid was never built for AI - can you unpack what that means and its implications for the future?
15:30 - Do you think society has fully grasped the scale of infrastructure needed to support AI?
20:00 - Does AI fundamentally change the economics of distributed energy by making compute a more valuable offtaker than the grid?
27:47 - How are you building diverse teams and fostering diversity of thought within Lektra, especially amid today’s talent challenges?
31:36 - What have you learned about leadership and people while scaling Lektra so far?
35:15 - If your vision of Grid 2.0 becomes a reality, how different will that world look?
38:18 - What advice would you give your younger self, and those following in your footsteps?
Connect with your hosts, Jenny Gladman and Chloe England, on LinkedIn.
Find your guest, Karl Andersen, on LinkedIn.
Thanks for listening to Conversations in Cleantech brought to you by Brightsmith.
This is a Loaded Hype production.
