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Jan Kalfus, Head of Americas Chemical Advisory at S&P Global Energy, joins Victoria Meyer for a fast-paced exploration of how AI and data center growth are reshaping the chemical industry. Starting with Jan’s personal journey, the conversation connects industry fundamentals with today’s high stakes shifts in AI, digital infrastructure, and supply chains.
They dig into why demand from data centers is spurring real, but nuanced, changes on both the commodity and specialty sides, why much of the action (and opportunity) in specialized materials is still outside the US, and how regulatory constraints and value chain complexity make reshoring tough. The discussion then looks ahead: What does AI really mean for chemical leadership? How are industry roles and university connections evolving as automation advances?
Victoria and Jan discuss the following:
- How data center and AI growth is fueling complex, uneven demand for chemicals.
- The real challenges behind US specialty chemical competitiveness and reshoring.
- Modernization, regulation, and why many intermediates left North America.
- R&D, innovation, and the shifting role of universities in the chemical sector.
- What “agentic AI” could mean for future chemical businesses and leaders.
- Human context, divergent thinking, and why people still matter for competitive edge.
Killer Quote: “I always say it kind of to be a little bit provocative, but I think there’s a lot of truth behind it, is that the AI will turn out to be the best CEO, the best engineer, the best manager, and the best scientist. It may not be one AI. We may have different agents with different capabilities and different sort of learning profile. But that’s where we are going.” — Jan Kalfas
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How Hyperscaling and Data Centers Influence Chemical Demand and Innovation with Jan Kalfus of S&P Global
The chemical industry sits at a unique intersection of established manufacturing, emerging technologies, and global supply chain dynamics. On this episode of The Chemical Show, Victoria Meyer sat down with Jan Kalfus, Head of Americas Chemical Advisory for S&P Global Energy, to unpack what the rapid growth of AI and data centers means for this critical sector. The conversation ranges from shifting demand for specialty chemicals to the deeper, long-term implications of AI on the very way chemical businesses are run and led.
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A New Catalyst: How AI and Data Centers Are Shaping Demand
The surge in AI and hyperscale data centers is on everyone’s radar. For the chemical industry, Jan explains that the immediate impact shows up in two distinct layers of demand. On the commodity side (think PVC, polyethylene, polyurethane foams) there’s “a good uplift in demand,” but it isn’t reshaping industry fundamentals. In other words, construction materials for these enormous facilities give a healthy nudge but don’t upend the market.
However, on the specialty side, the changes are deeper. Specialty chemicals (such as epoxies, fluorinated liquids, and advanced resins) are essential to the chips and advanced cooling technologies underpinning data centers. As Victoria notes, every construction project is built on chemicals, but this new build-out is stretching into cutting-edge specialty products required for reliability, efficiency, and scaling.
The Challenge and Opportunity in Specialty Chemicals
For North American chemical producers, the opportunity around AI and data centers is nuanced. Significant portions of the required specialty chemicals are imported, primarily because hardware manufacturing, including many advanced resins and substrates, has migrated to other regions, most notably East Asia.
Changing this landscape isn’t as simple as turning back the clock. As Jan highlights, capturing more of this value chain onshore would require investment throughout the production chain, including intermediate molecules and advanced regulatory compliance capabilities. Some products were once made locally, but incidents or poor economics led to shutdowns, and regaining that capacity is a daunting task.
Government incentives play a significant role in where capacity is built. In China, for instance, targeted policies and direct execution of strategic supply chain decisions have propelled capacity growth. Europe, meanwhile, maintains its position through advanced, modernized processes and productive university-industry partnerships.
Rethinking University and Industry Collaboration
Innovation often starts with human capital. But as Victoria points out, the US and parts of Europe have seen university-industry ties loosen. Funding, direction, and curriculum haven’t always aligned with industrial needs. In Asia, especially China, closer collaboration has fostered research and talent pipelines tailored to real-world production challenges.
Yet, entrepreneurial energy remains vital in North America: many of the “most impressive innovators” are spinning out of university labs into startups. The challenge lies in bridging applied research and industrial scaling, an opportunity for chemical leaders to engage more deliberately.
AI’s Next Act: Transforming the Chemical Business
While materials demand fuels the current boom, Jan sees AI’s most disruptive impact ahead, within the industry itself. The rise of “agentic AI” not just simple chatbots but swarms of AI agents operating in teams, could redefine roles from CEOs to engineers. AI excels at process optimization, data synthesis, and rapid learning, potentially outpacing human ability in routine operational domains.
Still, the context, unique judgments, and divergent thinking that drive successful chemical businesses remain resolutely human. AI might plug gaps in process, but individuals and teams armed with curiosity, vision, and business acumen will shape the strategies, relationships, and decisions that set organizations apart.
Efficiency, Scale, and the Next Growth Phase
On the hardware front, the current mantra is “bigger is better” as data centers scale for ever-larger AI models. Yet the real future battleground is efficiency: getting more intelligence per unit of power requires smarter cooling, better materials, and innovative chemical solutions. The human brain accomplishes remarkable feats at a fraction of the power of even the most advanced data centers, a benchmark and inspiration for future innovation.
The convergence of chemicals, data, and AI marks a transformative period for the industry. Leaders need to sharpen their focus, not only on what’s being built, but how their organizations learn, adapt, and collaborate. Now is the time for chemical professionals to extend their influence, invest in relationships, and position themselves at the forefront of this intersection. The path forward will belong to those who embrace change, build new capabilities, and fuse human insight with computational power.
As Victoria and Jan make clear, we’re in the midst of a shift that will continue to unfold and those ready to lead will define what comes next.
About Jan Kalfus:
Jan Kalfus, PhD, Head of Americas Chemicals Advisory at S&P Global
25 yrs in the refinery & chemical industry with ExxonMobil, Braskem, and Orlen. $20B of investment advisory in Americas and Asia, 2 ventures spun off.
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