Nicole Hughes

For 25 years, I’ve worked across technical industries on three continents, from defense and aviation to energy and nuclear. The core of my work has always been the same: building teams to meet complex missions. But I’ve never seen anything like the challenge and opportunity we now face in nuclear.

Quadrupling U.S. nuclear capacity by 2050 is the mission. But we can’t get there by technology alone—the future will be built by people. And if we don’t think carefully about who we’re bringing in, and how, the mission will fail.

I’ve worked with global leadership and first-time apprentices. I’ve led recruitment where talent was scarce and urgency high. The biggest barrier I’ve seen is a lack of imagination in how we design the path.