Rewiring the Innovation Process

Kicking off season two of the Energy Thinks Podcast, Tisha Schuller sits down with Kevin Krausert and Bryan Trudel of Avatar Innovations. Rewiring how the world powers itself is no small task, and Avatar has a solution—creating an independent innovation hub where technological advancement is accelerated and risk is mitigated. Avatar is busy answering the question, Where can growth for the oil and gas industry occur if production is to be limited in the future? Today’s episode takes future-proofing the oil and gas industry to the next level. Listen for an exciting and inspired exploration of solutions.

In this episode, we dive into:

· Reshaping the narrative on how to achieve decarbonization

· Creating a new ecosystem for lasting innovation

· How to de-risk the innovation process

Kevin Krausert is the CEO and Co-Founder of Avatar Innovations, an industry wide collaboration between E&P’s, tech companies, and the University of Calgary bringing new technology and AI into the drilling industry. Kevin has spent 20 years on the front lines of energy innovation in numerous executive leadership roles in the industry. Starting his career in the energy industry as a roughneck on the oilrigs of Northern Alberta, he grew through the ranks until he was Chief Executive of Canada’s oldest drilling company. His championed some of the first fully computerized drilling rigs in the world and led the first long-reach horizontal well in the Canadian arctic. Kevin has been an articulate and major champion for unlocking the energy transition solutions inside oil and gas for a better future. Kevin holds a Bachelor of Science from McGill University and a Masters of Business Administration from the Haskayne School of Business and serves on the steering committees of both the Clean Resource Innovation Network (CRIN) and the Energy Futures Lab (EFL).

Bryan is Avatar Innovations’ CFO and Co-Founder. As an accomplished Capital Markets professional, Bryan’s 20 years on Bay Street has seen him lead through many market and investment cycles in energy, becoming an Executive Director at one of Canada’s largest banks. Given his extensive first-hand experience with Canada’s largest institutional investors, Bryan’s insight into the changing landscape of energy investment makes him one of Canada’s rare energy bankers able to connect the importance of oil and gas with the market driven need to decarbonize. Based in Toronto, Bryan facilitates Avatar Innovations connection with the institutional investors critical to unlocking the massive capital required for the energy transition. Bryan holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Carleton University.

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[Interview recorded on December 9, 2020]