Nik Baumann

The next 25 years will be a highly disruptive period in industrial history. Net Zero, ElectroTech and Artificial Intelligence will reshape cost structures, energy systems and competitiveness. How can industry achieve Affordable Net Zero - the hardest unsolved problem in industrial strategy? Affordable does not mean simple. It means navigating the complex real-world triangle of cost, carbon and change in an invest-to-save transition. That is where companies struggle. After 20 years in senior global roles in Finance and General Management at Mazda, Merck, Aggreko and QIAGEN, I now work with decision-makers at this intersection. My role is to help leaders move through complexity - turning climate ambition into economically viable pathways and decisions. Here is the lens that shapes my work and contributions: I. It is crunch time for Net Zero. We have ~25 years left to reach 2050 targets. The insurance industry is already warning what failure looks like. Disruption is guaranteed. The only question is who thrives and who falls. II. Net Zero crunch time and the dawn of the AI age now collide. AI brings breakthroughs and optimizations from data to grid to materials and more. It also brings rapidly growing power and cooling loads from data centers. AI disruption will also create winners and losers - with implications for which companies can still focus on Net Zero and who cannot. III. Welcome to the ElectroTech Revolution. Solar, wind, batteries, electrification and digitalisation are at tipping points. Up to half of emissions can be reduced in cost-competitive ways. But grids have become a key bottleneck, which means decentralisation, microgrids and on-site power will rise fast. IV. We still need a Net Zero tech stack beyond ElectroTech. ClimateTech must scale and reduce the green premium. First-of-a-kind (FOAK) projects remain a major bottleneck. Phasing out fossil fuels will create more strategic disruption across industries. V. Companies will need to execute it. This includes credible and cost-effective Climate Transition Plans, empowered sustainability teams with cross-functional leadership and fairness across value chains with, procurement and sales & marketing fully engaged. VI. And people will need to cope with the disruption. Resources are limited, so we must be smart and cost-effective. We will need great conversations, strong collaboration across systems and quality decisions at every step. This is why I do this work. If you are facing bottlenecks on the road to Affordable Net Zero, let's connect. (Views are my own.)