Build, Repeat. (A Paces Podcast) From Wall Street to Clean Energy: Investing in the AI-Powered Power Grid with Shanu Mathew
Nov 20, 2025
Shanu Mathew, Senior Vice President at Lazard, merges finance and sustainability, spearheading U.S. sustainable equity strategies. He explores the evolution from traditional ESG investing to an alpha-first approach, driven by AI's transformative impact on energy demand. Shanu discusses the crucial 'chip-to-grid' value chain and the physical constraints affecting AI deployment. He also highlights the challenges public markets face against private innovations in the climate-tech landscape, offering insights into the complexities of modern investment in a rapidly changing environment.
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Bottom-Up Sustainability Drives Alpha
- Shanu Mathew runs a US equity portfolio that invests bottom-up in companies benefiting from sustainability trends.
- He looks for firms where sustainability drives faster growth, better margins, and superior returns.
AI Compressed Decades Into Years
- AI adoption since late 2022 has compressed decades of tech adoption into a few years and dramatically increased data-center demand.
- That surge transformed power into a mainstream, politically visible issue overnight.
Paces Cut Millions To Thousands With AI
- James described Paces building a pro‑forma in minutes with AI that previously required many people and cost millions.
- That example showed how AI slashed labor and maintenance costs dramatically.