Keynote: AI Needs Power, the Grid Needs AI

Event Overview

The global AI race depends on abundant, reliable power. While the U.S. leads in AI, its aging electric grid is increasingly strained. Join Lutz Finger, faculty at the Johnson School, for a conversation with Josh Wong, founder and CEO of ThinkLabs AI, on how trustworthy AI can unlock capacity and reduce failure risk in today’s grid.

They will explore what it means if data centers and electrification push electricity demand to roughly double the load by 2040 and why that creates hard constraints on growth, resilience, and national security. The discussion connects energy and geopolitics to the practical realities of grid operations, explaining why the grid sits at the center of the AI economy.

You‘ll also discover where AI can help most, from understanding physical constraints in the “highways of electrons” to automating planning and operations as experienced experts retire.

Join us live and bring your questions for an interactive audience Q&A.

What You'll Learn

Why energy has become a strategic asset in global competition
How grid fragility turns rising load into an economic and security risk
How AI can help unlock capacity from existing infrastructure
How utilities can automate planning and operations as expertise retires
What “trustworthy AI” means when failure is not an option

Speakers

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Josh Wong

Founder and CEO

ThinkLabs AI

Bio

Founder and CEO

Josh Wong is the founder and CEO of ThinkLabs AI, a specialized AI development and deployment company with a mission to empower critical industries and infrastructure with trustworthy AI toward global energy sustainability. ThinkLabs AI is developing a Grid Copilot for electrical grid planning and operations.

Josh brings over 20 years of experience in cleantech, including utility grid modernization, solar, storage, microgrids, hydrogen, and DERMS. He was formerly founder and CEO of Opus One Solutions as well as general manager of grid orchestration at General Electric.

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Lutz Finger

Visiting Senior Lecturer

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

Bio
Certificates Authored

Visiting Senior Lecturer, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

Lutz Finger is a Silicon Valley technologist and Cornell faculty member with 20+ years of experience building AI-driven products and platforms at Google, LinkedIn, and Snap. He is a serial entrepreneur (R2Decide, acquired in 2025; Fisheye Analytics, acquired in 2013) and currently leads AI strategy at XGEN AI, developing next-generation generative retail solutions.

Finger teaches several courses on AI and product development. His eCornell certificate program provides an end-to-end guide to using AI to create measurable business value, and has helped executives worldwide move from AI ideas to real implementations:

Finger is also a frequent Forbes contributor on AI and the future of commerce. He is a Venture Partner at Cherry Ventures, serves on multiple advisory boards, and has advised and invested in data-centric companies across the United States and Europe. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and an M.S. in Quantum Physics from TU Berlin.

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