Kevin Krausert, CEO and Co-Founder of Avatar Innovations Inc., brings a story that starts with a vegan roughneck and ends with a venture studio that's quietly changing how oil and gas companies innovate from the inside out. Chuck and Kevin get into the Avatar model, some clever bets that actually paid off, the coolest ideas that flopped, and why Kevin thinks AI early adopters in energy are about to leave everyone else in the dust. Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward. Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 - Vegan Roughneck Origins 03:16 - Big Tech's Energy Wake-Up Call 07:14 - What Avatar Innovations Actually Is 08:33 - How the Program Works 11:10 - Bragging Rights: Production Optimization Win 14:25 - Turning Oilfield Emissions Into Beer CO2 15:13 - Smart Grid Splice Monitoring Tech 18:26 - How to Get Into the Avatar Program 22:00 - AI-Optimizing Condensate Stabilizers 24:05 - The Shale Revolution and Suspending Convention 27:14 - Who Drives Innovation in Oil and Gas 30:03 - AI as the Single Source of Truth 35:38 - Building AI Sandboxes for the Oilfield 38:09 - Open CLAW and Observations from Nvidia GTC 39:51 - What a VC Legend Taught Chuck About Markets 42:04 - The Best Ideas That Didn't Work 45:58 - Know Your Loss Point Before You Start 49:30 - How to Connect With Kevin and Avatar https://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai