Betting on America: Winning the Global Tech Race

Electricity Whenever You Want It: Featuring Mateo Jaramillo, Co-Founder and CEO of Form Energy

Co-founder and CEO of Form Energy, Mateo Jaramillo, joins Navin Girishankar to discuss the challenge of building long-duration energy storage from the ground up. He explores iron-air batteries as a scalable and bankable innovation, the precision manufacturing process required to bring this technology to market, and why West Virginia was the right place to build. He also reflects on the evolving role of government, the investor base backing the effort, and the lessons learned at the frontier of U.S. reindustrialization.

Commercial Diplomacy for U.S. Tech Exports

Join us for an episode of Betting on America, recorded at the CSIS Futures Summit. Navin Girishankar moderates the panel "U.S. Commercial Diplomacy Through the Lens of the Private Sector," joined by Cynthia Conner, Senior Manager for International Policy at Chevron; Nicole Issac, Vice President of Global Public Policy at Cisco; and Katherine F. Pickus, Chief Sustainability Officer at ADM. They discuss where U.S. commercial interests and countries’ development goals come together, the constraints U.S. companies face in emerging markets, what effective commercial diplomacy looks like, and why getting this right matters.

Solidarity in an Era of Economic Competition: Featuring Rep. Ami Bera

Congressman Ami Bera (D-CA) joins Navin Girishankar to discuss the importance of reviving economic alliances amid rising global threats. He explains the roots of today’s economic security challenges, as well as the dual goal of achieving balanced economic integration with countries like Japan, Korea, and India while rebuilding the U.S. domestic industrial base. He highlights his legislative efforts to strengthen critical minerals supply chain resilience through economic security pacts in the Global South. He also explores opportunities for AI in healthcare and emphasizes the need for all Americans to contribute to the nation’s economic security goals.

Can AI Accelerate Scientific Discovery? Featuring Under Secretary Darío Gil

Under Secretary Darío Gil joins Navin Girishankar to discuss the Genesis Mission—a Department of Energy–led initiative to build an AI-driven platform for accelerating scientific discovery. Under Secretary Gil outlines the Mission's integration of AI, supercomputing and quantum technologies for scientific exploration, alongside institutional innovations such as public-private partnerships and interagency coordination. He also addresses research security, allied collaboration, and the long-term vision to revitalize the U.S. science and technology enterprise.

The Imperative of Renewal featuring Senator David McCormick

Senator David McCormick (R-PA) joins Navin Girishankar on Betting on America to discuss the urgency of economic renewal in the face of myriad challenges to national power. In this wide‑ranging conversation, Senator McCormick discusses the AI revolution, U.S. trade policy, defense tech innovation, and workforce issues. He reflects on Pennsylvania’s experience and its potential to offer lessons for the country as a whole.