Brown Advisory Presents Navigating Our World

Navigating Our World is the podcast where we seek insights about some of the most pressing questions that we face as investors and as a society. We examine the forces shaping our world, moving capital and raising the future—with the thoughtful experts across our network. These conversations help us make better decisions for our clients, and we welcome you to join us.

 



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Powering the Future of AI [Recorded Live at NOW Austin]

December 12, 2024

The race for AI supremacy is dramatically increasing electricity consumption, as hyperscalers, such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon, invest heavily in expanding data center capacity—straining an already outdated U.S. energy grid. In this episode, recorded live at our NOW conference in Austin, Brown Advisory's Katherine Kroll sat down with three experts—Dr. Brian Spears, Dr. Michael Webber and Alex Hernandez—to explore critical questions, including: Is the data center expansion exaggerated? How will it impact the energy transition? What role will nuclear energy play? What are the national security implications?

Past Episodes

National Security and the Frontier of Tech Innovation [Recorded Live at NOW Austin]  

November 27, 2024

In a world fraught with geopolitical risks, the U.S. military is in a race to adapt its technology to the speed of artificial intelligence, quantum computing and increasing autonomy. In this conversation, recorded live at our NOW conference in Austin, Brown Advisory's Brett Gibson sat down with The Honorable Christine Fox and Dr. Casey Perley—ideal guides to explore defense tech innovation and the path to a safer world.

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A New World Order: The Shifting Geopolitical Landscape [Recorded Live at NOW Austin]  

November 20, 2024

In the wake of the U.S. election, Emily Harding, Robin Niblett and James Harding kicked off the NOW conference in Austin by examining the geopolitical risks, alliances and power dynamics that could drive the global order. It was a provocative discussion, reflecting the precarious state of our world. As you'll hear, Emily and Robin offer some unsettling—and quite illuminating—insights.

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The Case for Techno-Optimism | A Conversation with Marc Andreessen [Recorded Live at NOW Austin]  

November 8, 2024

Marc Andreessen is one of the most influential Silicon Valley founders and investors, so when he talks about the future of tech, we want to pay attention. In this conversation, recorded live at our NOW conference in June 2024, Brown Advisory's Elise Liberto sat down with Marc to explore: why he's a techno-optimist, innovation in the age of AI, the state of venture capital, and lots more.

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Creating Breakthrough Cultures | A Conversation with Dr. Kim Budil  

November 8, 2024

As investors, we are keenly interested in what it takes to create and sustain cultures of excellence. In this conversation, recorded live at our NOW conference in San Francisco in June, Brown Advisory's Karina Funk sat down with Kim Budil, Director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. For Dr. Budil, stewarding a culture designed for transformational technical breakthroughs--such as fusion ignition--is a matter of national security and global stability.

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The Global Battle for Chips  

August 12, 2024

Two seismic forces that are shaping our world—deglobalization and digitization—are colliding over a single inflection point: semiconductor chips. Chips are the building blocks of the global economy, an irreplaceable enabler of tens of trillions of dollars of annual economic activity. Geopolitically, the stakes could not be higher. 

In this conversation, recorded at the NOW Conference in June 2024, Ben Bayat speaks with Chris Miller, author of Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology. They discuss the true marvel that is semiconductor manufacturing, the remarkably complex supply chain and its risks, the CHIPS act, the state of the global semiconductor industry, and the precarious national security implications of our collective reliance on these diminutive components.

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A New World Order: China and the Geopolitical Landscape  

July 2, 2024

Global world order is shifting. The last four decades have seen a marked rise in the economic power of China and a simultaneous weakening in the stability of liberal democracies the world over. The outlook for the 2020s appears rife with uncertainty. We kicked off our NOW conference in San Francisco with two China experts in conversation about the changing geopolitical landscape and the future of U.S.-China relations--covering topics that included Xi Jinping's vision, the rise of national security over economic interests, multinational business engagement in China, Taiwan, and more.

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Fault Lines and Frontiers: A New Cold War? 

June 3, 2024

Global world order is shifting. The last four decades have seen a marked rise in the economic power of China, and a simultaneous weakening in the stability of liberal democracies the world over. 

As investors, how should we be thinking about the geopolitical outlook—and what might be on the horizon? 

In the lead-up to Brown Advisory's "Navigating Our World" conference in San Francisco, Meredith Shuey Etherington sat down with leading foreign policy expert Sir Robin Niblett for insights into current hot and cold conflicts and long-term geopolitical risks, and how they may shape the context for our investment decisions.

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Energy Transition—Or Energy Expansion? 

May 21, 2024

According to the IEA, one in 10 people around the world lacks access to reliable energy. A third of the world’s population lacks access to clean cooking fuels—a major health risk. At some point, renewable energy sources will likely fill these gaps—but until then, Steve Riney, President and CFO of Apache, argues that we need more of every form of energy to connect people to the global economy. 

As always, we want to listen to and learn from varied perspectives as part of the shift to a lower carbon economy. In this episode, Erika Pagel sits down with Steve to talk about why he thinks in terms of energy expansion rather than energy transition. They cover changes in the energy industry, conventional vs. unconventional production, energy poverty, sustainability, and “doing the right thing” in a politicized environment. 

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The Essential Role of Lithium

December 5, 2023

Lithium is the lightest metal, so soft that you can cut it with a knife. Its structure gives it the ability to store large amounts of energy, making it ideal for manufacturing batteries. As the world moves to create a lower-carbon economy, it is not an overstatement to say that the energy transition may hinge on lithium. 
To learn more about lithium, how it is produced, and its role in electrification and the shift to renewable energy sources, Brown Advisory's Erika Pagel sits down with Eric Norris, President of Energy Storage at Albemarle—the largest producer of lithium in the world. 

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The Energy Transition: Is "New Nuclear" The Answer?

July 19, 2023

Nuclear power has had a controversial history. Today, however, it is often considered an essential energy source for a lower-carbon future. In a continuation of our NOW series on the energy transition, Erika Pagel sits down with Joe Dominguez, CEO of Constellation, the leading operator of nuclear power plants in the US. Joe and Erika discuss progress in shifting to a lower-carbon economy, where nuclear fits in, promising innovations, and what it will take to get to net zero by 2050. 

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The Energy Transition: Why Solar?

November 21, 2022

As investors, we know that climate risk is real—and that we cannot achieve real climate action without a material shift to renewable energy sources. So, as we think about driving toward a lower carbon economy, we want to understand different opportunities and perspectives across the energy landscape. In this episode we are diving into renewables, and specifically into solar power. Brown Advisory's Erika Pagel sits down with Raghu Belur, the Co-founder and Chief Products Officer of Enphase Energy, which has revolutionized the solar industry with its microinverter-based technology. Erika and Raghu explore solar—in terms of economics, job creation, energy security and climate action. 

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The Energy Transition: What Role Should/Can/Will Traditional Energy Companies Play?

October 25, 2022

In part 1 of our energy transition series, Dr. Atul Arya, Chief Energy Strategist of S&P Global, said, "Energy companies are really good at putting steel in the ground and building stuff." In his mind, they must be part of the solution to create a low-carbon economy. So, in part 2, Brown Advisory's Erika Pagel explores the role of traditional energy companies with Allyson Book, the Chief Sustainability Officer of Baker Hughes, an engineering and technology provider that works with many of the largest global traditional oil and gas companies. How are the companies that built their businesses on fossil fuels facilitating a transition to a more sustainable, lower-carbon future?

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The Energy Transition: Is There a Path to Net Zero?

September 23, 2022

In conjunction with Climate Week, we are launching the first episode in our NOW podcast series on the transition to a low-carbon economy. In this first episode, Brown Advisory’s Erika Pagel sits down with Dr. Atul Arya, the Chief Energy Strategist of S&P Global, to discuss the race to net zero. They cover the impact of the war in Ukraine, the role of traditional energy companies, the promise of technology and innovation, and the feasibility of reaching the Paris Agreement’s critical but ambitious targets by 2050.

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About NOW

We launched Navigating Our World in 2008 to mark our 10th anniversary as an independent firm. Each NOW conference is meant to embody our commitment to seeking fresh and broad perspectives, learning from experts across disciplines, and challenging conventional assumptions. While we have shifted our conference format to a podcast series due to the pandemic, we remain steadfast in our belief that thoughtful inquiry, encompassing varied perspectives, helps us make better decisions for clients and makes us more effective contributors to our communities. As a firm, we aspire to raise the future—and NOW helps us get there.

LISTEN TO MIKE HANKIN'S FOREWORD PAST NOW CONFERENCES