Podcast Summary:

Inevitable (an MCJ Podcast)

Episode: How Euclid Power Streamlines Clean Energy Development at Scale
Date: May 5, 2025
Host: Cody Simms
Guest: Jacob Sandri, CEO & Co-founder, Euclid Power

Episode Overview

In this episode, Cody Simms interviews Jacob Sandri, CEO and co-founder of Euclid Power, a platform providing renewable energy project development, financing, and operations tools—layered with AI-enabled services. The discussion explores Jacob’s journey in renewables, why the industry remains fraught with workflow challenges, the creation of Euclid Power, how AI is changing the pace of project delivery, and what the next decade in clean energy might look like. Notable moments include the nuts and bolts of renewable project complexity, AI’s real (and overhyped) use cases, and industry predictions on scale and capital influx.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Jacob Sandri’s Background & Industry Experience

• Early Interest in Renewables:
  Jacob was originally interested in politics/NGOs but found renewables combined social impact with his love for math and competition.
  “It was this really beautiful mix of this issue that I cared so much about, but also using math and science and numbers and goals. And it, like, spoke to my sense of competitiveness.” (03:07)
• Training Ground:
  Started at Mosaic, then worked at Generate Capital under Jigger Shaw, and later joined Goldman Sachs’s Renewable Power Group.
• Industry Evolution:
  Initially, “renewable energy” meant “alternative energy.” There was a divide between innovating new tech and fully deploying existing tech at scale (the “Jigger Shaw view”).
• Big Break Experience:
  “I got to be like employee number eight at Generate... just got to see what worked, what didn’t and get a crash course and like, how do you invest in projects?” (04:46)

Insights on Renewable Energy Project Development

Why Is Project Deployment So Hard?

• Bottleneck is NOT Tech
  The technology (panels, batteries) is mature, but project deployment collides with document chaos and workflow confusion.
  “Doing the diligence on 220 operating solar projects means going through tens of thousands of documents...” (10:54)
• Failure Rates:
  “60% of projects are delayed and 30% fail altogether after money has already gone into them…” (11:34)
• Unforced Errors:
  Many project failures are due to avoidable errors—missed filings, poor coordination, bad communication—not inherent technical or regulatory impossibility.

Case Example: SunPower Portfolio at Goldman Sachs

• Jacob and co-founders managed a $600M portfolio, requiring review of over 220 solar projects. The overwhelming manual data wrangling led directly to the conception of Euclid Power.
• “I cried twice trying to get this portfolio done, because, I mean, it’s $600 million, you’re 26, and you’re like, if I get this wrong, does Goldman own my soul for the next thousand generations…” (12:53)

What Makes Renewable Project Workflows Unique?

• High Complexity, Low Automation:
  A single solar project is its own LLC—with lawyers, engineers, financiers, and specialized documents all in play.
  The traditional approach: “We’re still building them like it’s 2005.” (15:55)

• Multiparty Coordination:
  Each project involves an intricate web of stakeholders, each needing different data.

• Financial Dynamics:
  Renewables investments are “credit” assets, not impact investments—mainstream capital likes them for reliable, long-term cash flows.
  “Investing in renewables is not impact investing. Goldman didn’t raise a couple billion dollars to do impact investing. They did it because they thought it was a good asset class.” (17:36)

The Birth & Growth of Euclid Power

• Origin Story:
  The founders recognized the sector’s “messiness”—extraordinarily smart, hardworking people stuck wrestling with scattered files and error-prone processes.
  “If this is the way that everyone’s doing this, how are we going to be able to deploy this many solar projects at scale…?” (13:57)

• Product Evolution:
  Started as spreadsheet-based services, then gained client traction; customers wanted both better tools and hands-on support.

• First Big Client Example:
  “UBS is a big client of ours... They come to us because we can do a lot of the in the weeds diligence work, document management, data management. That unlocks them making decisions faster and that means they can get more projects done every year.” (20:28)

• Software with a Service Core:
  Despite early software ambitions, the team realized manual services would be integral—clients want projects done, not just data dashboards.

AI — Power, Limitations, and Reality

• AI as Accelerator, Not Magic Wand:
  Euclid leans into AI for workflow acceleration—not just chatbots:
  “What’s magical about AI is actually what it can do to automate workflows and streamline process.” (26:04)
• AI excels in extracting structured data from documents, but critical reasoning and risk management still demand human oversight.
• “The cost of errors are really high. Even really good AI still makes mistakes. It hallucinates.” (38:41)
• Real world AI value: “...make us way faster, but still make sure a human is signing off and making sure that things aren’t going wrong.” (39:17)

Euclid Power’s Current Product & Business Model

• Central Source of Truth:
  Euclid is both software and an expert services team, tying project data, workflows, and documents together for all parties.

• Network Model:
  Multiple stakeholders—lawyers, engineers, investors—collaborate via Euclid, reducing duplicate work and “unforced errors.”
  “It becomes really annoying and where a lot of these unforced errors happen is the way we have to do it today is you have to set up a different data room for each of these different groups... At Euclid, we were like, we have to centralize this in one place.” (33:47)

• Market Traction and Growth:

  • “Last year we had 350 new projects… 3x growth over the year before.”
  • 90-person team, doubling customers recently, and profitable while being capital efficient.
    (32:10-32:42)

• Blend of Automation and Services:
  Customers value speed and expertise more than pure automation; the key is blending AI-powered workflows with diligent human oversight.

  • “VCs think about, well, software versus services, AI. But our customers are often like, I want to get my projects done.” (37:12)

Decoding the Name “Euclid”

• Why “Euclid”?
  Named after the “father of geometry” — “bringing structure and clarity to the complexity.”
  “Euclid replied, ‘there’s no royal road to geometry,’ meaning there’s no shortcut... you have to do the work and do it right. And I think that really spoke to us about the values we wanted…” (48:54)

Clean Energy Transition: Where Are We Headed?

• Dual Wave Moment:
  “You guys are surfing two waves right now. You’re surfing the wave of renewables being this huge... And you’re hitting the wave of a technology wave that is very good for your business both at the same time.” (27:53)
• Power Demand Curve Shift:
  • AI/data center power needs, onshoring of manufacturing, and electrification of transport are sending demand soaring, reshaping project site strategies.
  • “We’re going to see new markets opening just because, out of necessity, we need more power... the fastest and cheapest way to get power these days is solar and storage.” (45:43)
• Political & Economic Wildcards:
  State policy and incentives cause wild regional variance; economics are still primary driver.
• Outlook:
  • Anticipate new “super majors” like NextEra, Brookfield dominating assets, with Euclid being essential infrastructure—akin to a “Schlumberger” for renewables.
  • “If 25 years from now, most of our power grid is renewables... the renewable energy industry should feel something like how the oil and gas industry feels today.” (29:24)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (w/ Timestamps)

• “Doing the diligence on 220 operating solar projects means going through tens of thousands of documents…”
  — Jacob Sandri (10:54)
• “If this is the way that everyone’s doing this, how are we going to be able to deploy this many solar projects at scale if it’s this hard to do 200?”
  — Jacob Sandri (13:57)
• “Investing in renewables is not impact investing. Goldman didn’t raise a couple billion dollars to do impact investing. They did it because they thought it was a good asset class.”
  — Jacob Sandri (17:36)
• “Automation sounds great, but in reality, any of us who are using anything where you can’t get a human to answer a hard question is frustrating as crap.”
  — Cody Simms (40:28)
• “There’s no royal road to geometry, meaning there’s no shortcut to learning it. You have to do the work and do it right. And I think that really spoke to us about the values we wanted to create in a company.”
  — Jacob Sandri (48:54)

Topic Timestamps

• [00:00] — Jacob’s background, motivation and entry into renewables
• [03:34] — Generate Capital, mentorship under Jigger Shaw
• [08:54] — Goldman Sachs, scale of projects, diligence pain points
• [11:34] — Industry project failure and error rates
• [13:57] — How manual pain led to Euclid’s founding
• [15:57] — What makes solar project management so complex
• [19:25] — Euclid’s bootstrap and initial product approach
• [21:38] — Evolution into software + services platform
• [26:04] — The real AI opportunity in workflow automation
• [27:53] — Industry macro-waves: renewables + AI’s energy impact
• [32:10] — Euclid Power’s growth, team, and business model
• [33:32] — Network effects and multi-stakeholder collaboration
• [37:07] — Balance of automation and hand-in-hand support
• [40:43] — Risks of relying blindly on AI; case studies
• [43:24] — State policy, new markets, what the next decade holds
• [48:12] — The name “Euclid” and its philosophical underpinnings

Conclusion & Calls to Action

Jacob Sandri encourages listeners who are passionate about renewable energy deployment, or developers/investors struggling with workflow or data complexity, to connect with Euclid Power—highlighting they are hiring across product, engineering, and services roles.

For further information:

• Visit MCJ’s website and subscribe to their newsletter.

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