Sandeep Pai

Sandeep Pai is senior lead for international energy transitions and executive in residence at the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University and the James E. Rogers Energy Access Project.

With more than a decade of experience in major leadership roles at the intersection of research, program strategy, and policy, Pai has led global, high-impact initiatives in the areas of just energy transition, decarbonization of state-owned enterprises, and methane mitigation. Pai has worked with multilateral agencies like the Asian Development Bank and think tanks such as the Center for Strategic & International Studies and Swaniti Global. He is a cofounder of the Council for Critical Minerals Development in the Global South, a joint initiative between the United Nations’ SEforAll; University of California, Davis; and Swaniti Global. Prior to his career in research and policy, he worked as an investigative journalist for leading Indian newspapers, reporting on rural development, energy transition, and political corruption across South Asia.

Pai’s work has been recognized nationally and internationally. In 2016, he received the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award—India’s highest journalism honor—for his investigative reporting on governance challenges in state-owned enterprises. He is the author of Total Transition: The Human Side of the Renewable Energy Revolution, a book that explores how workers and communities are navigating energy transition. His commentary and analysis appear regularly in global media outlets including The Guardian, Times of India, and CNN.

Pai holds a Ph.D. in resources, environment, and sustainability from the University of British Columbia. He also holds a M.Sc. in environmental sciences, policy, and management from the European Commission’s MESPOM program, jointly taught by Lund University, Central European University, and the University of the Aegean.

On his own time, Sandeep co-hosts The India Energy Hour, a popular podcast focused on India’s energy transition. The show is available on all major platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.