Katie Mehnert, Chief Executive Officer, ALLY Energy
In an interview with Invest:, Katie Mehnert, CEO of ALLY Energy, discussed how AI is shifting the decision-making process and how it can help companies achieve sustainable growth towards the future. “What we aim to do is to help speed up decision making, giving people good information to help them focus their businesses on what they ought to be selling, who they ought to be selling to, and who they ought to be hiring, so that we can drive sustainable growth,” Mehnert said.
Over the past year, which strategic initiatives has ALLY Energy had the most significant impact on the company’s growth?
We are in the midst of a pivotal energy transition. Our primary initiative has been to transform how energy organizations navigate this shift. We’ve developed the first-ever performance engine specifically for the energy transition. It analyzes the complex energy ecosystem — from emerging technologies and market trends to workforce dynamics and competitive landscapes. We are focused on helping energy companies identify their unique role in the transition and equip them with the people and strategies to not just survive, but lead the way.
What factors make Houston an ideal headquarters for these new projects, and how does the local ecosystem make your company ideal to help out in the current market?
Houston is a city of firsts. We’ve put men and women on the moon, we’ve developed vaccines to bring to market, we’ve got the space programs and medical centers, global manufacturing is now coming back and becoming more local here, and AI sits at the heart of this. Houston is uniquely positioned because of our incumbent technology and workforce, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to win the race; it means we’ve got a bit of a leg up.
We must recognize that every city in Texas, every city in the nation, and every city in the world is looking for what’s going to be next in this space around artificial intelligence, and authentic intelligence is where we are headed.
How are you leveraging the convergence of Houston AI and ALLY Energy, and what use cases are emerging in the Houston innovation ecosystem?
When the co-founders came to me and said, “Would you co-found Houston AI?” I said that it seemed to me like a great idea, and we established this non-profit so that anyone and everyone could participate. AI is really at the forefront of this new world order that we’re going to see shifting. This new world is all about a new way to think, new educational systems, and solving big challenges that we have, like climate change or global health. This is going to be important, and one of the elements of AI that is important is helping people to see things from a systems thinking perspective.
ALLY Energy sits at the heart of this transformation. Houston’s ecosystem is unique because of its deep-rooted energy workforce and infrastructure. That gives us a significant head start. The use cases are immense: from using data to optimize wind and solar farms to building a skilled green-collar workforce and managing the complex, interconnected grid of the future. It’s a cornucopia and an opportunity for people to step into this space and step into the new world.
How can the workforce be prepared for the shifts toward using more AI within the workplace?
Systems thinking is super important; that is how AI thinks. The AI looks at the broader picture and brings massive amounts of data to make decisions. I think we’re going to need to help people understand how to prompt more effectively and how to use AI. I don’t believe AI will replace jobs. I believe it will replace the friction and inefficiency in our work, freeing us to focus on innovation and creation. For decades, we were taught to remember and analyze information. Now, technology can do that faster and better. The future belongs to creators and evaluators, the people who can solve complex problems and build new solutions.
Bloom’s taxonomy of learning is a hierarchical framework for categorizing education. This shows how most of us were taught: to remember, understand, apply, and analyze information, and on top of that hierarchy is about creation, producing new or original work. I believe that the computer can do most of this, but where machines are not going to be able to do well is around evaluations and creation. There are a lot of problems that we need to solve, so that’s going to require that we create new solutions, not necessarily using solutions that we have today.
That’s where I think there is going to be a lot of disruption. There are a lot of people and roles that live in the non-creative part, but we were all taught to think and to respond to information in a more industrial economy type of way. Because we’re moving away from that line of thinking, we’re going to need to teach people how to do things differently; schools have to change, and we as adults are going to have to adapt and be able to learn new things. There will be people who will not have jobs, but those people and anyone else can learn a new mindset, and that is what the principle of systems thinking is about.
Are there any new partnerships or cross-sector initiatives that have emerged from your efforts?
Yes, we are building a powerful ecosystem dedicated to the future of energy. We are forging partnerships with technology companies, universities, and both traditional and renewable energy players. Our goal is to create a central platform that connects capital, projects, and — most importantly — people.
Have you been able to give back to the community in Houston, and how?
Houston Energy & Climate Week got off the ground last year and has been successful. It started as a way to bring attention to the city’s efforts in energy and climate, and it has grown into a major platform for collaboration. It was multiple years in the making, and we did it in the middle of September when it’s hot. There’s also a massive risk because that’s hurricane season, but we got really good attention in the city and the efforts around energy and climate.
This year, we brought in medicine, space, and all of the different industries together because the community needs to know the future in this space. If we want to create a sustainable, livable place, we’ve got to know what those options are, and that means opening it up and giving people an opportunity to learn and engage.
What are your top priorities for ALLY Energy over these next three years?
Our priority is to be the essential platform for the energy workforce transition. We are focused on building what’s next by helping companies find the A+ talent they need to build and scale new energy projects, whether in hydrogen, carbon capture, or renewables. We want to provide the resources and connections for people to build meaningful careers in the new energy economy.
We’re happy and excited about being able to solve some big problems in the world. It’s one thing to live them and feel them: it’s another thing to get it done.
