The world's largest energy projects take decades to build and cost tens of billions of dollars. When they stall or fail, the consequences extend far beyond budgets. Communities waiting for reliable energy wait even longer. Some never get it at all.

Aleida Rios has seen energy poverty firsthand. She experienced it growing up in Mexico, then again in the jungles of Indonesia, and communities across the United States. That perspective shaped a 35-year career at BP, where she became Senior Vice President and Global Head of Engineering, and later an International Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. For Aleida, building energy infrastructure is one of the fastest ways to improve human prosperity.

In this episode of Earn The Right Podcast, Aleida joins Apoorv Agarwal to examine why energy megaprojects run over budget and behind schedule, what AI can realistically do to fix them, and why faster, more bankable projects are critical to expanding access to energy.

They discuss why the sheer volume of megaproject data exceeds human capacity, how AI can identify design flaws before construction begins, standardise engineering across projects, preserve institutional knowledge, and improve project execution. Aleida also explains why the energy transition is ultimately an engineering and talent challenge, and why, when it comes to delivering the infrastructure the world needs, speed matters most.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

- Why 90 percent of energy megaprojects go over budget and what drives it

- How AI can find design defects earlier and reduce the total cost and cycle time of megaprojects

- Why standardisation is the most underrated lever in energy project delivery

ABOUT ALEIDA

Aleida Rios is a former energy executive and chemical engineer whose 35-year career at BP culminated in senior leadership roles including Senior Vice President of Engineering and Global Head of Engineering. She led BP's global engineering centre and the professional development of more than 2,500 engineers worldwide. She previously served as Vice President of Operations for BP's Gulf of Mexico platforms and its US Lower 48 onshore business, overseeing budgets approaching one billion dollars. Born in Mexico and raised in the United States from age eight, she was the first in her family to attend college, earning a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University. She is an International Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Energy Institute, and a Chartered Engineer. She has been recognised in Fortune and ALPFA's 50 Most Powerful Latinas and the Financial Times EMpower ethnic minority executives list.

ABOUT EARN THE RIGHT PODCAST

How do the world's most impactful leaders think, decide and build? Through unfiltered conversations, the Earn The Right Podcast takes listeners inside the rooms where the hardest choices are made: from building billion-dollar companies to navigating doubt, reinvention and change. The show is hosted by Apoorv Agarwal, an AI scientist, entrepreneur (Text IQ, acquired 2021) and Columbia PhD, who has advised Fortune 500 leaders. For founders and decision-makers developing the future, this is your front-row seat to how the best earn the right to lead.

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