LTP 2026.3 - Kara Rodby
"AI Won't Save Us, and Neither Will the Pentagon."
Everywhere, newsletters and podcasts are discussing the "pivot" climate tech is facing — a pivot to national security/defense, reliability/resilience, AI/grid infrastructure, to later stage companies with revenue, etc. — as if it is just a practicality of the times. Kara Rodby discusses why these reframings are not inherently climate tech and, in fact, are quite dangerous to the climate movement.
Speaker Bio:
Kara Rodby is the founder of Lost the Plot. Kara has spent the last 5 years as a Principal at a thematic venture capital firm - Volta Energy Technologies - with a portfolio of largely early-stage, battery hard tech companies. At Volta, she supports the portfolio through board roles, executes technically-focused due diligence, and manages the firm's corporate relationships. This has included operator stints within the portfolio, such as her recent position as NanoGraf's Chief Strategy Officer from January 2026 on. Before this, Kara received her BS from Northwestern University (2017) as well as both an MS and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2022). In addition to her career in climate, Kara has significant experience as an organizer and activist. Most notably, Kara was a lead organizer for the MIT Graduate Student Union, where she helped the ~4k student bargaining unit organize for an election over a two-year period, which ended in a successful unionization vote. She also recently joined the board of the Degrowth Institue (DGI).
Lost The Plot:
Lost The Plot is a monthly seminar series - virtual and free - that talks about the systemic issues of climate change. Open to all but targeted at professionals working in climate and sustainability who want to more deeply connect with climate - which often is quite absent from our careers - and examine what it is We are all doing (and NOT doing) to address this generation-defining challenge. We seek to dispel the technooptimist standpoint inherent to the broader effort today, and instead look critically at the sociopolitical systems that have prohibited stronger and more meaningful action to date. Each month a different speaker will lead a unique discussion, come for one or all, and view whichever you miss on YouTube after. Learn more at www.lost-the-plot.com .