AI Shaping the Future with Dominic Vergine

In this episode of What Next? Leadership Conversations for a Better Future, hosts Lindsay Hooper and Marc Kahn speak with innovation and sustainability leader Dominic Vergine about how artificial intelligence can be directed toward solving the world’s hardest engineering and energy challenges rather than fuelling hype or waste. Drawing on two decades at the intersection of technology, engineering, and purpose - including building the sustainability function at ARM - Dominic offers a grounded perspective on where AI’s genuine value lies and why leadership judgment, not speed, will determine its legacy.

Guests: Dominic Vergine (CEO, Monumo)
Hosts: Lindsay Hooper (CISL) & Marc Kahn (Investec)

In partnership with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) and Investec

Rather than focusing on the hype around chatbots and large language models, Dominic explains why the most transformative applications of AI will emerge in targeted, complex scientific and engineering challenges, such as improving the efficiency of electric motors and generators - technologies central to global decarbonisation. A 5 per cent improvement in motor efficiency, for example, could remove emissions equivalent to France and Germany combined.

The conversation explores how economics, energy costs, and human behaviour will shape AI’s trajectory - from the unsustainable business models driving large language systems to the targeted, high-value innovations that could accelerate the energy transition. Dominic also reflects on how AI could disrupt incumbent industries, reshape work, and even help humanity optimise for competing sustainability goals.

Ultimately, the episode calls for clear-sighted leadership: understanding where AI adds real value, anticipating social disruption, and ensuring powerful technologies accelerate progress toward more sustainable and equitable futures.

Key quote: “It is the most powerful tool by some margin that humans have ever had. And we will use it badly, we will use it for good, and we will use it incompetently. The question is, where will the needle lie?” – Dominic Vergine

Key takeaways:
• AI’s true value lies in solving complex, high-impact problems - from engineering efficiency to medical breakthroughs - not in hype-driven chatbots or data scraping.
• Leadership judgment matters more than speed. The impact of AI depends on disciplined choices that link innovation to real-world value and ethics.
• Business models will evolve. Today’s energy-intensive, low-value uses are commercially unsustainable; economics will drive a shift toward targeted, high-value applications.
• Policy incentives should be deployed to steer AI investment toward productive, sustainable innovation rather than speculation.
• Education must evolve. With machines mastering information, human advantage will lie in critical thinking, creativity, and moral reasoning.

Credits
Presented by:
• Lindsay Hooper, Chief Executive, CISL
• Marc Kahn, Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer, Investec
Produced by: Carl Homer (Cambridge TV) & Alexa Sellwood
Executive Producer: Gillian Secrett
In partnership with: Investec

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Available on all major podcast platforms or visit the CISL Leadership Hub or Investec Focus for more episodes and insights.

Disclaimer:
The views in this podcast are those of the contributors, and don’t necessarily represent those of CISL, the University of Cambridge, or Investec, and should not be taken as advice or a recommendation.