SmarterMarkets™

Helima Croft, RBC Capital Markets’ leading geopolitical and commodities strategist, examines the energy-market fallout from conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. They explore dwindling supply-chain buffers, refined-product shortages, threats to Gulf infrastructure, and the uncertain future of U.S. security guarantees. The conversation also looks at Russia-Iran-China cooperation, why the Americas may benefit, and China’s growing energy influence.

Dr. Tricia Wang, sociologist, technology strategist, and CEO of the Advanced AI Society, explores how trust must evolve in the machine-to-machine age. She discusses cryptographic verification, proof of control for sovereign AI, and why crypto’s “don’t trust, verify” ethos matters for AI safety. The conversation also examines human judgment, enterprise adoption, regulation, insurance, and building verifiable AI markets.

Peter Zaman, a Singapore-based HFW partner advising on energy, climate, carbon markets, and regulation, returns to discuss how conflicts and energy disruptions are reshaping the transition. Topics include climate policy’s growing ties to politics and trade, the EU’s CBAM, the Paris Agreement after U.S. withdrawal, limits of the 1.5-degree goal, and why energy security is accelerating low-carbon investment.

Thomas McMahon, Abaxx Technologies co-founder; Benoît Clément, a carbon-market infrastructure specialist; Mandy Rambharos, Verra CEO; Alexia Kelly, carbon-policy expert; and Alex Saer, Cercarbono CEO, explore the carbon market’s next phase. They discuss Article 6, compliance and voluntary-market convergence, project finance, nature-based credits, permanence, digitalization, AI, data provenance, and the infrastructure needed to connect fragmented national systems.

Mandy Rambharos, Verra’s CEO, and Candace Vinke, its Chief Program Development and Innovation Officer, discuss Verra’s new Scope 3 Standard. They explore supply-chain emissions interventions, Scope 3 units versus carbon credits, attribution challenges, climate finance, and market recovery. The conversation also covers digital verification, AI with human oversight, pilots, reversal protection, and the future of corporate climate action.

Dirk Forrister, President and CEO of the International Emissions Trading Association, is a leading voice on carbon markets and climate policy. He explores tightening emissions rules, carbon border adjustments, linked regional markets, and the race to expand international trading under Article 6. He also examines aviation’s Corsia challenge, climate urgency, and the future of carbon-market cooperation.

Robert Friedland, mining entrepreneur and technology investor, joins for a sweeping look at copper’s surge, strategic metal shortages, and the forces reshaping global markets. He explores mining’s flawed valuation models, China’s resource acquisitions, currency debasement, geothermal power, AI risks, and the urgent need to rebuild industrial capacity for energy security and sovereignty.

Ben Hunt, author of Epsilon Theory and co-founder of Perscient, explores his Semantic Manifesto. He discusses how AI and LLMs make meaning measurable, how stories compress information, and how narrative structures shape markets, politics, and sports. The conversation also examines tracking semantic signatures in global news, transforming story data into investment signals, and uncovering the invisible world of narratives.

Frances Haugen, whistleblower-turned-author and advocate for social media accountability, talks about how attention-driving algorithms amplify conflict and push users toward extremes. She explores design choices that magnify harm, trade-offs between regulation and transparency, youth addiction risks, and ideas for safer, human-scale social networks.

Russell Robertson, Chief Business Development Officer at Abaxx in Singapore, veteran builder of regional commodity markets. He discusses India’s rising role in gold and silver trading. He maps new trading corridors across India, Middle East, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore. He explains how local benchmarks, physical-delivery dynamics and market connectivity are reshaping regional commodity trading.