AI × Climate: Adaptation, the Grid, and What Comes Next
AI is transforming how we understand, predict, and respond to climate change and it is simultaneously reshaping the energy systems that power it. CLAI Ventures is bringing together practitioners, founders, and investors at the frontier of both challenges for an afternoon of candid, technically grounded conversation during SF Climate Week 2026.
Welcome and Introduction: 2:00-2:30 PM
Panel 1 — Climate Adaptation × AI · 2:30–3:15 PM
Extreme weather is becoming more frequent, more severe, and less predictable. AI is changing what's possible from hyperlocal forecasting and flood modeling to real-time wildfire risk and coastal resilience planning. This panel explores how AI is being deployed at the frontier of climate adaptation, and what it will take to scale these tools where they are needed most.
Panelists:
🌀 Ravi Jain — Ravi is a seasoned AI and technology leader with a career spanning Google X (CTPO of Tapestry), Amazon (where he was VP of Search AI and Alexa), Meta (Senior Director for AI in AR & Metaverse), and Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc. where he served as CTO. He is currently working in the area of AI for Climate.
🌀 Sean Gilleran - Sean is the Chief Machine Learning Scientist at PG&E, where he leads AI-driven initiatives to mitigate wildfire risks and optimize renewable energy integration. With over a decade of experience across engineering and data science, he specializes in applying spatiotemporal modeling and predictive analytics to solve complex infrastructure and sustainability challenges.
🌀 Mayur Mudigonda — Founder & CEO, Vayuh Mayur leads Vayuh, a CLAI portfolio company building AI-native models for extreme weather forecasting and climate risk. He previously led climate AI research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Additional panelists to be announced.
Panel 2 — AI × Energy: Powering the Grid in the Age of AI · 3:30–4:15 PM
AI is reshaping the energy system in two directions at once as a massive and growing source of electricity demand, and as a powerful tool for making that system smarter, cleaner, and more resilient. This panel explores the real constraints on powering AI sustainably: what the grid can and cannot absorb, where efficiency gains are actually coming from, and where AI itself is becoming essential for grid management and resilience.
Panelists:
⚡ Chris Richardson — Chris is a Partner at Realize 2050, a firm that partners with utilities, industry leaders, and governments to accelerate the energy transition.
⚡ Prathamesh Pawar — Energy Optimization for Data Center Infrastructure at AWS, and previously Data Science & Product Lead, Energy Solutions, LG Electronics.
⚡ Tom Nudell, PhD — CEO & Co-founder, Piq Energy, which builds grid planning software and data systems to accelerate the interconnection of renewable energy and dynamic loads like data centers.
4:15–5:00 PM — Networking
About the Organizer: CLAI Ventures is an early-stage VC fund investing at the intersection of AI and Climate. Our portfolio includes companies working on AI-native weather forecasting, grid resilience, battery storage optimization, and extreme weather risk intelligence.
Hosted in partnership with DLA Piper. Moderated by Ajay Gupta, Managing Partner, CLAI Ventures.
By registering for this event, you agree to share your registration information with the organizers of SF Climate Week.