AES Corporation leadership interviews test whether candidates understand how directing a global power generation and utility company through the energy transition differs from leading an industrial company or a domestic utility – where CEO Andrés Gluski has built AES's strategic identity around accelerating decarbonization through coal retirement and renewable energy development through AES Clean Energy, where the regulated utility subsidiaries AES Indiana and AES Ohio create a stakeholder accountability to retail ratepayers and state utility commissions that constrains transformation pace in ways that competitive generation businesses do not experience, and where the international operations spanning Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia require leadership judgment about political risk exposure in emerging markets that represents a different kind of strategic challenge than managing regulated monopoly utilities in Ohio and Indiana. Leadership at AES spans clean energy transition execution (where closing coal plants on a credible timeline while building wind, solar, and battery storage capacity to replace coal generation requires capital allocation discipline, construction execution capability, and regulatory relationship management across multiple jurisdictions simultaneously), regulated utility rate case and stakeholder management (where AES Indiana's and AES Ohio's relationships with the IURC and PUCO determine the financial returns on regulated capital investment and require executive leadership who understand that rate case strategy is not just a legal filing but a multi-year relationship management process with regulatory commissioners and consumer advocates), international portfolio risk management (where AES's generation assets and utility concessions in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East face political risk, currency risk, and regulatory risk that require leadership portfolio decisions about which international positions represent sustainable long-term value versus which face structural risks that justify divestiture), and IRA investment opportunity capture (where the Inflation Reduction Act's production and investment tax credits create a capital deployment opportunity for AES Clean Energy that requires governance to deploy capital at the pace the tax credit window demands while maintaining underwriting discipline that prevents overbuilding into markets where PPA pricing will not support acceptable returns).

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What interviewers actually evaluate

Clean Energy Transition Governance, Regulated Utility Stakeholder Management, and International Portfolio Strategy

AES leadership interviews probe whether candidates understand how power sector executive leadership differs from industrial leadership in the regulatory relationship centrality (AES Indiana and AES Ohio cannot earn returns above their PUC-allowed ROE regardless of how efficiently they operate, and the primary lever for regulated utility financial performance is the rate base growth that comes from approved capital investment – making the relationship with state utility commissions not a compliance function but a strategic function that determines how much capital AES can deploy at allowed returns in its US utility business), the decarbonization timing tension (coal retirement and renewable replacement must proceed at a pace that maintains grid reliability, satisfies PUC expectations about just transition for affected communities and utility employees, and generates the financial returns that AES's capital cost requires – and leadership that moves too fast creates reliability and regulatory risks while leadership that moves too slowly misses the IRA tax credit opportunity and faces increasing investor pressure), and the international emerging market leadership judgment (AES's international operations in countries with different political stability, rule of law, and regulatory framework than the US require leadership who can assess when a country's risk profile has changed enough to justify divesting a position, and when political difficulties in a specific market represent temporary turbulence rather than structural deterioration that would impair long-term asset value).

The capital allocation tension between AES Clean Energy's renewable development pipeline and the regulated utility capital investment programs at AES Indiana and AES Ohio requires executive leadership who can articulate a capital allocation framework that serves both growth and regulated return objectives without creating financial leverage that degrades AES's credit profile.

What gets scored in every session

Specific, sentence-level feedback.

Dimension What it measures How to answer
Clean energy transition governance and coal retirement sequencing Do you understand how to govern AES's coal retirement and renewable replacement program – how to determine the appropriate coal retirement timeline given grid reliability requirements in AES Indiana's and AES Ohio's service territories, what the governance process is for approving each coal retirement decision including the replacement capacity confirmation, PUC notice requirements, and community impact mitigation that must precede a retirement announcement, and how to manage the financial modeling that ensures coal retirements are sequenced to minimize stranded cost recovery risk while meeting the decarbonization commitments that AES has made to investors and external stakeholders? We flag leadership answers that describe coal retirement as an environmental decision without engaging with the grid reliability, regulatory, and financial sequencing that makes coal retirement execution more complex than announcing a retirement timeline. Coal retirement timeline and grid reliability adequacy confirmation, PUC notice and community impact mitigation governance, stranded cost recovery strategy in retirement sequencing
Regulated utility rate case strategy and PUC relationship management Can you describe how to develop the rate case strategy for AES Indiana or AES Ohio – how to determine the timing and magnitude of a rate case filing in a way that maximizes the capital investment recovery while building credibility with utility commissioners who scrutinize rate increase requests against the consumer impact and the utility's efficiency record, what the multi-year regulatory relationship management approach is that distinguishes proactive commission engagement from reactive rate case advocacy, and how to develop the intervenor strategy for managing consumer advocates and industrial customer intervenors who challenge AES's rate base additions and cost allocation proposals in rate case proceedings? We score whether your regulatory strategy approach engages with the relationship management and intervenor dynamics that make rate case success dependent on the quality of the ongoing regulatory relationship rather than just the strength of the rate case legal arguments. Rate case timing and magnitude strategy relative to PUC relationship and consumer impact, proactive commission engagement between rate cases, intervenor management for consumer advocate and industrial customer rate case challenges
IRA investment opportunity governance and development capital discipline Do you understand how to govern AES Clean Energy's deployment of capital into the IRA tax credit window – how to establish the development capital authorization framework that allows AES Clean Energy to advance projects quickly enough to capture the tax credit opportunity while maintaining the underwriting discipline that prevents committing capital to projects that will not achieve acceptable returns, what the PPA pricing floor is below which AES should not proceed with project development even if the project qualifies for bonus credits, and how to communicate the IRA investment opportunity and pace to investors who want capital deployment acceleration while also managing concerns about development execution risk in a renewable construction environment with persistent supply chain and labor constraints? We detect leadership answers that describe IRA investment as capital deployment management without engaging with the underwriting discipline and investor communication dynamics that distinguish responsible renewable program growth from overbuilding at returns below the cost of capital. Development capital authorization framework for IRA opportunity capture, PPA pricing floor for project advancement under various credit scenarios, investor communication of development pace and underwriting discipline
International portfolio risk assessment and divestiture timing Can you describe how to assess whether AES's position in a Latin American country represents a continued strategic asset or a divestiture candidate – how to evaluate the structural versus cyclical nature of political risk changes in a country where a new government is renegotiating the terms of independent power producer contracts, what the valuation impact is of counterparty credit risk from a government-owned utility offtaker whose financial position is deteriorating, and how to develop the divestiture timing strategy that maximizes exit value while exiting before country risk deterioration impairs the asset valuation that a buyer would be willing to pay? We flag leadership answers that describe international portfolio management as financial monitoring without engaging with the political risk assessment and counterparty credit analysis that determine whether a country position represents sustainable long-term value or accumulating risk that justifies exit. Political risk structural versus cyclical assessment, government-owned offtaker credit risk impact on asset valuation, divestiture timing strategy to maximize exit value before structural deterioration

How a session works

Step 1: Choose an AES leadership scenario – clean energy transition governance and coal retirement sequencing, regulated utility rate case strategy and PUC relationship management, IRA investment opportunity governance and development capital discipline, or international portfolio risk assessment and divestiture timing.

Step 2: The AI interviewer asks realistic AES-style questions: how you would respond when the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission staff issues a data request letter in advance of AES Indiana's upcoming rate case seeking detailed justification for the capital expenditure programs that AES Indiana plans to include in rate base, specifically questioning whether the planned grid modernization investment is prudent given that AES Indiana has not demonstrated a reliability improvement plan with measurable targets, including how to develop the response strategy that addresses the staff's prudency concern, what the pre-hearing engagement with IURC staff and commissioners should look like, and how to manage the risk that the staff position could result in disallowance of a meaningful portion of the capital program; how you would develop the board presentation on AES Clean Energy's 5-gigawatt development pipeline, including how to frame the investment opportunity against the IRA credit window timeline, what the return expectations are across the pipeline at current PPA market prices and under downside scenarios where renewable supply growth reduces PPA pricing, and how to address the board's question about whether AES Clean Energy has sufficient development execution capability to deliver 5 gigawatts without the project delays that have affected other large renewable developers; or how you would evaluate the decision about whether to retain AES's hydroelectric generation position in a South American country where a new government has announced plans to require renegotiation of existing independent power producer concession agreements at terms that would reduce project revenues by 25 percent.

Step 3: You respond as you would in the actual interview. The system scores your answer on decarbonization governance, regulatory strategy, IRA investment discipline, and international portfolio management.

Step 4: You get sentence-level feedback on what demonstrated genuine power sector executive leadership expertise and what needs stronger regulatory relationship engagement or international portfolio risk assessment specificity.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Andrés Gluski and what has been his strategic direction at AES?
Andrés Gluski became AES Corporation's President and CEO in 2011, having joined AES as CFO in 2007. Under his leadership, AES has executed a significant portfolio transformation from a coal-heavy global independent power producer to a company focused on renewable energy development through AES Clean Energy, regulated utility operations through AES Indiana and AES Ohio, and international utility concessions in Latin America and other markets. Gluski's strategic agenda has centered on exiting thermal generation assets, developing and acquiring renewable energy capabilities, and positioning AES as a leader in the grid-scale battery storage market through its investment in Fluence (a joint venture with Siemens).

How does the regulated utility business affect AES's overall strategy and financial profile?
AES Indiana and AES Ohio provide stable regulated returns that anchor AES's financial profile and provide predictable cash flows that support the capital investment programs at AES Clean Energy. Regulated utilities earn returns determined by state utility commissions based on approved rate base and allowed ROE, creating a business model where investment returns are more predictable but also more constrained than competitive merchant generation. The regulated utility position gives AES access to long-term financing at favorable costs and creates a foundation for the diversified energy company model that leadership is building.

What is AES Clean Energy and what is its strategic role?
AES Clean Energy is AES's platform for developing, owning, and operating renewable energy and battery storage assets in the United States. The platform pursues utility-scale wind, solar, and battery storage projects primarily through contracted power purchase agreements with utilities and corporate buyers. AES Clean Energy has grown significantly since the Inflation Reduction Act enhanced the financial attractiveness of US renewable development, and represents AES's primary growth vehicle in the US market alongside the regulated utility operations. Leadership's challenge is deploying development capital at the pace the IRA opportunity demands while maintaining project economics discipline.

What does AES's international footprint mean for leadership complexity?
AES operates generation and utility assets in approximately 15 countries across Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Asia. This geographic diversity creates revenue stream resilience but also creates leadership complexity around political risk management, emerging market regulatory relationships, and capital allocation across a portfolio where different country positions have very different risk profiles. Leadership must develop the judgment to assess when political risk in a specific country has changed enough to warrant portfolio action versus when country-specific difficulties represent temporary turbulence that does not change the long-term asset value thesis.

How does the Inflation Reduction Act affect AES's strategic priorities?
The Inflation Reduction Act extended and enhanced production and investment tax credits for renewable energy through 2032 with phased step-down provisions. For AES Clean Energy, the IRA created a compelling investment window where the combination of tax credits, prevailing wage bonus credits, domestic content bonuses, and energy community bonuses can significantly improve project economics for projects meeting the relevant qualifications. Leadership's task is to accelerate development and investment activity to capture the tax credit opportunity while the credit levels are most favorable, without compromising the project underwriting discipline that ensures acceptable returns on each investment.

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One full session free. No account required. Real, specific feedback.