{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Owl Have You Know","title":"Powering AI With Clean Energy feat. Michael Pariser ’12","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1920,"description":"Michael Pariser ’12 was a banker at Lehman Brothers when the 2008 financial crisis pulled the rug out from under him. But after buying a one-way ticket to Southeast Asia and exploring the world, he stumbled into the work that would reshape his career: finding clean energy solutions. \n\nThat experience led Mike straight to Rice Business and into a career that has taken him from selling utility-scale wind and solar at NextEra Energy and EDF Renewables to buying power for Walmart, Microsoft, and now Oracle, where he oversees global energy procurement and clean energy strategy for one of the largest AI data center buildouts in history.\n\nIn this conversation with co-host Brian Jackson ’21, Mike unpacks what it actually takes to get electricity to a data center in 2026, why the U.S. grid is struggling to keep pace with AI's appetite for power, and how embedding environmental justice commitments directly into power purchase agreements can turn billion-dollar infrastructure projects into engines for local community investment. He also offers career advice for Rice students eyeing the power sector and explains how his monthly happy hour became a go-to gathering for Houston’s energy and power crowd.\n\nEpisode Guide:\n00:00 Meet Michael Pariser\n01:04 From Lehman to Clean Energy\n02:08 Southeast Asia Reset\n11:01 Why Choose Rice MBA\n14:14 Houston Energy Future\n16:07 Networking Happy Hour\n17:54 Buyer vs Seller Insights\n19:25 Speed to Power Explained\n24:45 Energy Trends Crystal Ball\n30:10 Advice for New Grads\n\nThe Owl Have You Know Podcast is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.\n\n\nEpisode Quotes:\n\nWhen an entrepreneurial idea becomes a business plan\n13:20: I always have had an admiration for entrepreneurs and never had the courage to go out and strike on my own, but that is something that obviously Rice is really strong in. In fact, with one of my MBA 2012 colleagues, Phil Leach, we were in the Rice MBA business plan competition, and we even won $10,000...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/TJ_bP9v1zp60qvMRjx8jTuTiOVRFDdgjR-9C4xy2Tmg/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzE1ODMyLzE2MDM5/OTczNzQtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}