Powering innovation

Fast Company

14-05-2025

In 1943, Tulsa, Oklahoma–based energy company Williams Brothers stepped in to help support the U.S. war effort, building two pipelines to bring critical oil resources from Texas to the northeast. 'We built that in under a year so that we could deliver fuel to help our friends and allies around the world,' says Chad Zamarin, executive vice president of corporate strategic development for Williams, as the company is now known.
Throughout its more than nearly 120-year history, Williams has recognized the importance of moving energy to the right places at the right time. Today, the company specializes in producing and distributing natural gas, transporting that fuel through major pipelines around the U.S. and readying it for export to global markets. As the world becomes increasingly electrified, Zamarin believes the company is playing a crucial role in helping to meet rising energy demand around the globe.
But it's not just the rise of power-hungry AI or the shift to electric vehicles that's driving the need for more energy. Zamarin notes that energy is a key economic development catalyst in areas where electricity is unreliable or cost prohibitive. In these markets, reliable access to clean and affordable energy can provide a student with the light to study at night or give a rural doctor the ability to use powerful technology tools to make faster and more accurate diagnoses. 'Energy truly is the link between evolving communities out of poverty and advancing quality of life,' he says.
WINNING THE TECHNOLOGY RACE
Williams' pipelines move more than a third of the natural gas in the U.S. and help power millions of homes and businesses. Increasingly, the company is delivering liquefied natural gas [LNG] to shipping terminals for export to global markets. The U.S. provided Europe with a critical source of natural gas after many countries stopped imports from Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In recent years, the global market has been booming for the U.S., which has become the world's largest producer and exporter of natural gas.
Continuing to meet that global demand, however, is putting stress on the nation's existing energy infrastructure. Zamarin notes that more capacity is needed, yet lengthy permitting processes and other bureaucratic red tape can push the timeline for a new pipeline to five years or more. Modernizing this energy infrastructure will require a huge cooperative effort, but it's work that Zamarin believes we need to prioritize. While it's one thing to boost export capacity, it's also critical for the U.S. to ensure that it has the energy it needs to support innovation in areas such as AI. 'The relationship between energy and technology is more important than ever, and we're not going to be able to scale up to our full technology potential without energy scaling along with it,' Zamarin says. 'That's why we're so focused on making sure that the infrastructure that we have in the United States positions us to win the technology race.'
Zamarin also champions the sustainable benefits of natural gas. In fact, he notes the shift from coal to natural gas over the past 10 years has driven roughly 60% of the emission reductions in the U.S. during that time. And he wants to continue the push to decarbonize existing energy solutions and systems around the world—especially in areas where it's cheaper to use high-emission fuels. 'We've got to provide them with a solution that is more sustainable than cutting down a tree or digging coal out of the ground and lighting it on fire.'
A TRADITION OF INNOVATION
Throughout its history, Williams has continued to adapt and evolve along with the marketplace. In the 1970s, the company augmented its energy business by selling fertilizer and steel, operating retail stores, and dabbling in commercial real estate development. And in the 1980s, Williams ventured into the telecom space, using old pipelines to run fiber-optic cables.
For more than two decades, Williams has been sharply focused on energy. But that doesn't mean the company has lost its entrepreneurial edge. Indeed, Zamarin believes that innovation will be what continues to drive Williams forward. It's why the company focuses on creating an environment where employees are encouraged to think creatively and come forward with big ideas. And it's also why Williams is exploring ways to support the data centers that provide the backbone for AI tools, including through the real estate it owns along its pipeline network and the massive amount of fiber-optic connectivity that follows much of the company's pipeline routes.
'We care about our employees, and we care about the communities that we work in. But we also want to be very aggressive in innovating and looking toward the future,' Zamarin says. 'We're making sure that we're not only delivering in the here and now, but also to make sure we're positioned to do that going forward.'