AI, Energy, and Building a More Sustainable Future with Josh Rainbow

Author

Charlie Cichetti
September 24, 2026

QUICK TAKE

What happens when AI adoption runs headfirst into energy constraints? Josh Rainbow sees technology, infrastructure, power, and sustainability becoming increasingly interconnected — and believes the winners will be the people who can turn emerging technology into measurable business outcomes.

From running an AI-native company with roughly 250 AI agents to bringing global leaders together through Future Summit, Josh offers a fascinating look at where technology, energy, investment, and sustainability are heading next.

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🌱BREAKING GROUND ON BETTER BUILDING

In this episode, Josh Rainbow connects AI, energy, infrastructure, and sustainability — and challenges leaders to think about technology through the lens of real business outcomes:

[Key Insight #1] AI can make a business leaner — but automation needs to solve real business problems

  • What's outdated: Companies can become fascinated with emerging technology without connecting it to revenue, cost reduction, scalability, or another measurable business outcome. Josh learned that traditional businesses don’t necessarily care how impressive a technology is — they care what it does for the business.

  • The innovation: Josh’s company has become AI-native, deploying roughly 250 AI agents across financial reporting, operations, administration, project management, marketing, sales, funnel research, and other functions. His philosophy is to apply technology directly to business problems rather than adopt it simply because it’s new.

  • Impact: Josh says these initiatives helped reduce his company’s operating expenses by approximately 4 –50% year over year, allowing that capital to go back into the business while supporting both sustainability and scalability.

[Key Insight #2] The AI revolution is quickly becoming an energy and infrastructure challenge

  • What's outdated: The next wave of AI requires enormous amounts of compute — and that compute requires reliable power. Josh argues that access to energy is becoming one of the major constraints facing data center and AI expansion.

  • The innovation: Josh is closely watching technologies such as small modular nuclear reactors as potential tools for increasing future energy supply. While he acknowledges that SMRs remain expensive and highly regulated today, he sees the underlying need for abundant energy as critical to supporting continued technology growth.

  • Impact: More reliable and abundant power could help unlock additional data center capacity and AI infrastructure. For businesses, Josh sees energy availability and financing becoming increasingly important factors in determining where and how quickly new compute infrastructure can scale.

[Key Insight #3] Technology only matters when it creates measurable business value

  • What's outdated: Technology conversations often start with the tool: Look at this incredible technology. But established companies aren’t necessarily interested in innovation for innovation’s sake.

  • The innovation: Start with the business objective. Josh combines his background in technology with experience in sales and business strategy to understand how an organization makes money first — and then determine where technology can solve a meaningful problem.

  • Impact: Connecting technology investment directly to revenue, operating costs, productivity, scalability, or another business objective gives executives a much clearer reason to invest. For sustainability professionals, the same mindset creates a stronger bridge between innovation and the business case needed to get projects approved.

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✅ CONNECT AND CONTINUE

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📄 Read the transcript: HERE

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