Leadership Lens: Capital re-allocation as a leadership capability

Watchwords will be credibility, systems thinking, and talent at industry intersections.

Despite strong crosswinds, Energy and Infrastructure players are pursuing their quest for clean energy. Certainly, fossil fuels still dominate – for now. But the resources that will shape the future are steadily being diverted. As of early 2026, for every $1 invested in fossil fuels, close to $2 is being funneled into clean power, grids, and storage.

The transition is unfolding under heightened concerns about geopolitical volatility, energy security and affordability. Even if capital is dynamic, its deployment is hampered by grid bottlenecks, permit delays, skilled labor shortages and supply-chain constraints. And investors are more interested in delivery discipline than ambition alone.

The Nordics and Baltics exemplify the shift. Building large-scale wind assets, Ignitis have attracted capital with complex IPOs and ESG-linked financing. Fortum’s power generation has one of Europe’s lowest specific CO₂ emissions. And despite last year’s Hornsea 4 cancellation, Ørsted still leads in renewables across Europe and beyond. Unlike its volume-chasing peers, Ørsted, facing execution risks, pivoted toward capital selectivity. Meanwhile, Aerones is improving turbine performance through robotic blade inspection, maintenance and repair, directly increasing turbine uptime and extending asset life. This aligns with the industry’s shift from ‘“build more” to ‘“optimize what exists,” as pressure on margins and grid bottlenecks limit new capacity.

In many regions, capital reallocation is not only driven by decarbonization goals - it is equally a question of sovereignty and resilience. In the Baltics, the grid synchronization with continental Europe was as much about geopolitics as engineering.

A revolutionary change

Today’s capital relocation has a wide wingspan. Long-term investment in fossil fuels is dropping in favor of solar, wind, hydro, biomethane, and geothermal energy. Money is flowing into power grids and digital substations. It is boosting electric vehicle charging, heat pumps, grid stability and storage technologies.

But infrastructure is a bottleneck: ambition is outpacing grid capacity. Without parallel investment in transmission, distribution, flexibility, and long-duration storage, capital cannot secure system reliability. We’re seeing strong investment in grids: upgrading aging systems to handle wind and solar fluctuations, investing in storage infrastructure and lithium batteries. The focus on digital grid intelligence is intensifying: sensors, AI, and IoT devices allow realtime visibility and reactivity to variable power flows. Smart grids and datadriven optimization make cybersecurity a non-negotiable.

Data centers and AI workloads are raising requirements for 24/7 clean power: Google and Microsoft are signing big Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for nuclear and solar energy - anchoring new projects.

Are leaders really equipped?

The shift in capital allocation is neither cyclical, nor temporary. It signals a structural re-engineering of the global energy system. It is also redefining leadership. CFOs, for example, must engage in capital allocation strategy, blended finance, and tariff economics. The best are experts in raising capital: blending private equity, government grants, green bonds and other sources to finance cash-hungry innovations.

We’re also seeing new requirements for Chief People Officers and CHROs. Renewables and related technologies require cutting-edge knowledge. But hiring organizations are feeling the heat. The problem does not lie in access to capital, but to senior talent - amidst market perceptions of inertia in the sector. For legacy players, hindered by portfolio complexity and political scrutiny, employer branding is a burning platform. To secure outstanding people, they are competing with more agile sectors: automotive, telecoms, defense and technology (for engineers and digital specialists), banks (for cybersecurity professionals).

Today, no CXO can rely on past data, rote solutions, or local perspectives. All need global (or at least regional) awareness, technical and digital literacy. Moreover, M&A and ecosystem-building matter more than ever. Crossborder talent — across functions and markets — is a gap. And as capital rewards credible execution platforms, people who combine experience in legacy operations and new technologies are invaluable.

Energy transition must be systemic, not departmental

Procuring and developing senior talent is one challenge. Culture and organization design are another: strategy must converge seamlessly with operations. But many Csuite roles and boards are still siloed, rooted in legacy success models. Even as hybrid roles emerge, organizations are lagging.

Answers can be found in companies that act as fluid ecosystems, alive with crossfunctional collaboration. Here, different specialists are linked with different teams - with particularly strong traffic between the CTO and COO domains. Both roles are pivotal: value creation is defined by execution risk. Delivering infrastructure on time, on budget, and safely is paramount.

The sweet spot for new leadership – a Venn diagram

Where can energy players find the Leaders for What’s Next? The news is good. There are rich talent pools at the intersections of future-ready industries: automotive and battery ecosystems; telecoms and complex infrastructure; industrial automation and defense engineering.

But leaders need broad experience: industrywide, marketwide, in legacy and scaleup environments. These are seasoned executives who have lived through crises: able to deliver uninterrupted service, not experiments.

In the decade ahead, the market will increasingly reward ‘agile industrialism’: leaders delivering massive physical infrastructure with the speed, data discipline, and stakeholder sensitivity of digital organizations.

That talent may not be found at home. Securing it means going deep and wide: combining crossborder competence and vertical domain expertise. The ability to attract and leverage capital tomorrow depends on the people you position today.

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