Brookfield CEO: AI Bubble, Opportunities, and Risk | Connor Teskey
March 17, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readBrookfield CEO: AI Bubble, Opportunities, and Risk | Connor Teskey
The 90% Rule and Taking Action
Connor Teskey, CEO of Brookfield Asset Management, learned early in his career a principle that has shaped his entire approach to investing. A mentor told him: "There's no absolute certainties in this business. So when something feels 90% right, you do that transaction or you do that deal. And the most important thing is you do 10 of them. And you're going to be right nine times out of 10. That's really, really good. If you wait to try and de-risk everything to the absolute nth degree, you'll de-risk your transactions, you'll also do none of them."
This philosophy—acting on imperfect information with calibrated judgment—runs through everything Brookfield does. Teskey learned it from his first mentor at the firm, and it shaped his entire career trajectory.
The Brookfield Operating Model
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:12) **Brookfield's Investment Thesis & Culture** - Connor Teskey explains Brookfield's core strategy: raising capital from global pools and deploying it into the backbone of the global economy, with a focus on the US and Western Europe.
- 2 (03:05) **Connor's Mentorship & Career Accelerants** - Teskey reflects on the non-obvious lessons from Bruce Flatt and his own rapid rise, including the value of mentorship and taking initiative.
- 3 (15:10) **De-Risking Deals: The Brookfield Playbook** - Teskey explains the firm's core approach to structuring investments to eliminate market risk while retaining operating and development risk.
- 4 (19:00) **The AI Infrastructure Opportunity** - A deep dive into the data center investment thesis, focusing on the expanding scope and high-credit-quality counterparties.
- 5 (22:22) **Global Investment Operating Model** - How Brookfield manages a global, decentralized team while maintaining centralized capital allocation.
- 6 (29:36) **Non-Consensus Bets & Downside Focus** - Using the Westinghouse acquisition as a case study for how Brookfield structures asymmetric bets.
- 7 (32:17) **The Owner-Operator Playbook** - How Brookfield's history as an industrial conglomerate informs its hands-on approach to improving acquired businesses.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
Connor Teskey is the CEO of Brookfield Asset Management, one of the world’s largest investors, managing about a trillion dollars across infrastructure, power, real estate, private equity, and credit.
In this exclusive interview, his first as CEO, we explore his approach to capital allocation, isolating variables, and building a business designed for long-term growth.
Discover why effective investing begins with minimizing losses, how waiting for perfect information can result in missed opportunities, the strategies Brookfield uses to manage market risk while maintaining upside potential, and the key insights he gained working alongside Bruce Flatt.
This discussion goes beyond investment strategies, offering a glimpse into Connor's perspective on decision-making in an uncertain environment, mentorship, culture, positioning, and talent.
It's a rare inside look at the operations of one of the world's most tight-lipped firms.
Enjoy!
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Timestamps:
(00:00) Introduction
(00:05) State of the Union for Brookfield
(04:14) Nature of Investing
(07:24) The Rise to Brookfield
(12:06) Your Work Ethic is in Your Control
(17:30) Ad Break
(19:00) Data Center Deep Dive
(22:22) How Does a Deal Come to Be?
(29:34) Taking Bets Against Consensus
(32:00) What Happens Post Business Acquisition?
(40:44) Ad Break
(41:55) Lived Experience Through Crashes
(43:44) Where Does Talent Matter the Most at Brookfield?
(47:10) Identifying Talent
(58:18) Using AI to Increase Value Not Cut People
(01:01:58) When Was Brookfield the Underdog?
(01:03:38) Personal Ambition Over the Next 20 Years
(01:10:34) Behind The Scenes of Oaktree
(01:15:17) Work and Life Harmony
(01:17:54) Time Allocation
(01:19:58) The Most Fun Deal to Work On
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