Some of the most crucial insights about the energy industry's struggles come from the people doing the toughest hands-on work daily. So it was no surprise to me when an electrical lineman who restored power to my neighborhood following the recent derecho told me why it was such a mammoth effort.
“We don’t have enough of a workforce,” he said. “And we’re not organized. If we have a multi-city, multi-county, or multi-state disaster, we’re screwed. We don’t have the tools to deploy enough people.”
Like so many other Houstonians, I spent six days without power. As I write this, people across the country are also experiencing extreme weather. In a disaster, critical infrastructure and power systems risk collapsing if we don’t have the resources we need at the speed and scale we need to deploy them.
“Would you believe we still use spreadsheets,” he asked, rolling his eyes.
Much capital has recently been deployed to decarbonize and meet aggressive goals set by nations, from climate tech to renewable energy to carbon capture. For instance, the Energy Earthshots Initiative from the US Department of Energy is designed to “accelerate breakthroughs of more abundant, affordable, and reliable clean energy solutions within the decade.” (Gilly Rosen, part of our ALLY community, is a leader in this effort.)
However, none of these solutions will be scaled without a talented, skilled workforce. The entire energy industry has major work to do on this.
New tool to the rescue
ALLY is working with a talented team to build the solution. Our AI solution will modernize how we connect people and companies to opportunities. Because it’s designed with a unique focus on purpose, it will also match people to their desired careers. Sign up now at allyenergy.com/allyai.
By tapping into AI's unprecedented potential, we will avoid the inefficiencies and costs of brain drain and create a lasting talent pipeline. I often say that we’ve invested in creating pipelines for every kind of energy except the most important one: human capital.
We’re living in an era where people want different things from work. Some want to work remotely full-time. Some want to take skills they’ve honed over decades in fossil fuels and apply them to climate tech jobs, while others just want to find a place where they fit. Some want to leave big cities and metro areas and relocate elsewhere. (I still encourage people to come to Houston, the energy capital of the world!)
Our AI will learn and match the right opportunities that complement unique profiles, assuring the job and company are a cultural fit. This is proven to increase retention and ingenuity. It will give all companies in energy, large and small, a single, trustworthy place to find the best people while lowering the cost and reducing friction in the process.
When we deploy modern technology to balance the talent supply and demand, we will find new treasure troves of talent and can reverse the talent crisis we’ve created over the past three decades and send the spreadsheets packing.
Learn more at allyenergy.com/allyai
