Smart Society Show

About Smart Society Show

Join former UK Energy Minister Chris Skidmore and Venture Capital investor Brynne Kennedy as they explore cutting-edge climate technology and policy. This bi-weekly show features interviews with global climate leaders and innovators, offering insights on climate and technology markets. Discover the companies and visionaries shaping the world's largest economic opportunity and driving the path to Net Zero. Whether you're a policy maker, entrepreneur, investor, or climate enthusiast, The Smart Society Show brings you the latest in climate innovation. Brought to you by Smart Society Ventures.

Publisher

Smart Society Ventures

Category

news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

24 Sept 2024

Latest episode

11 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 23 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   11 Jun 2026

   S2E6: AI Power, Pipeline Energy, and Critical Infrastructure Automation with Freddie Sarhan (Sapphire Technologies) and Vicki Knott (CruxOCM)

   In this episode of The Smart Society Show, Brynne Kennedy and Chris Skidmore explore the accelerating collision of AI, data centers, and energy infrastructure, from the growing power bottleneck facing AI to the rise of off-grid, behind-the-meter generation and the renewed importance of transition finance. They are joined by Freddie Sarhan, Founder and CEO of Sapphire Technologies, who explains how Sapphire is turning wasted pressure energy in natural gas pipelines into clean, 24/7 electricity and cooling for data centers and industrial customers. Vicki Knott, Co-Founder and CEO of CruxOCM, also joins to discuss how her company is bringing adaptive cruise control-style automation to pipeline control rooms, helping make critical energy infrastructure safer, more efficient, and ready for a more automated future.

2. 

   17 Mar 2026

   Power Prices, Grid Intelligence, and the Future of Energy with Dave Easton (Generation IM) and Sean Kelly (Amperon)

   Electricity has become one of the defining economic and political issues of our time. In this episode, Brynne Kennedy and Chris Skidmore unpack the growing pressure around power prices in the US and UK, the urgent need for grid modernization, and why on-site generation, storage, and smarter forecasting are becoming essential as demand surges. They are joined first by Dave Easton, Partner on the Growth Equity Team at Generation Investment Management, who explains how Generation’s research-led “roadmap” approach helps identify where value will accrue across sustainability themes before the market fully catches on. He shares why the collision between AI and energy has been visible for years to those paying attention, why sustainable investing is simply best-practice investing, and why the next decade could create more opportunity in energy technology than the last hundred years combined. In the second half, Sean Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Amperon, explains how his Houston-based company built an AI-powered electricity forecasting platform now operating across 24 countries. Sean shares how Amperon helps traders, utilities, and grid operators navigate a more volatile, renewable-heavy power system through better demand, generation, and price forecasting — and why AI-driven forecasting is becoming critical infrastructure in its own right. From electricity prices and storage to AI adoption and grid reliability, this episode explores the technologies, business models, and investment themes shaping the future of energy.

3. 

   22 Jan 2026

   S2E4: Digital Infrastructure, AI at Scale, and Industrial Robotics with Tomas Lamanauskas (Deputy Secretary General, ITU) and Fredrik Isler (CFO, ANYbotics)

   This week, Brynne Kennedy and Chris Skidmore speak with two leaders shaping the future of digital infrastructure, AI, and industrial energy systems: Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) at the United Nations, and Fredrik Isler, CFO of ETH Zurich spin-out ANYbotics. Brynne and Chris open with a discussion on how geopolitics, energy security, and AI are increasingly intertwined. They explore the shift from carbon-centric narratives toward cost, sovereignty, and competition for electrons and molecules, the implications of AI-driven electricity demand for grids and consumers, and why hyperscalers are being pushed toward behind-the-meter and co-located power solutions. Tomas Lamanauskas reflects on his journey from telecom regulation across multiple continents to shaping global digital policy at the ITU. He explains how AI and connectivity can reduce emissions through smarter networks, grids, and cities, while also addressing the growing footprint of digital infrastructure itself. Tomas shares insights into the ITU’s Green Digital Action agenda, including standards-based approaches to sustainable data centers, AI-enabled efficiency, early warning systems, and integrating sustainability into next-generation technologies. Fredrik Isler discusses how ANYbotics is bringing AI into the physical world through autonomous inspection robots deployed across energy and industrial environments. He explains why robotics is becoming essential infrastructure for asset monitoring, safety, and operational efficiency, how certification unlocks adoption in regulated industries, and why Switzerland’s ETH and EPFL ecosystems are producing globally competitive deep-tech scale-ups.

Inside a recent episode

S1E14: Tariffs, Climate Investing Trends, and Distributed Energy with Greg Wasserman (Head of Private Climate Investing, Wellington Management) and Alexandra Rasch (Founder & CEO, Caban)

Published 17 Apr 2025 · Transcript excerpt

[…] They talk about a combination of natural gas and renewable energy generation. They talk about some of that, you know, a lot of that actually needing to be co -located or being effectively decentralized. And that's an area where we're seeing so much interesting innovation and activity, maybe a bit more so in the US, given the natural gas ecosystem, but I've seen and not had a number of conversations recently with people that are developing solutions to build data centers right next to natural gas production, or people that are developing, renewable or natural gas, decentralized technologies that can be moved next to a data center to think about it the other way. […]

Who has been a guest on Smart Society Show

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Oliver Libby
• Gianluca Ambrosetti
• Julien Villeret
• Aurélien de Meaux
• David Livingston

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Spotify

4.0 / 5

4 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 36 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

59

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

31

Contact Smart Society Show

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Smart Society Show