Data Center Richness
Data Center Richness features expert interviews and insights on data centers, cloud computing, and AI infrastructure. Host Rich Miller, a journalist with over 25 years of experience, talks with thought leaders about the digital economy, the AI revolution, and the energy transition. The conversations are aimed at data center professionals and those in the energy industry.
Episodes
Insights From Data Center Alley
Loudoun County in Northern Virginia has long been the center of gravity for the data center industry. It is the home of Data Center Alley, a section of Ashburn where all the major networks meet, making it the world's primary destination for Internet traffic. As a result, Loudoun County has been on the front lines of just about every major trend in the data center sector. That includes the data cen
Why Big Money Is Pouring Into AI Cooling
Liquid cooling has become one of the most important technologies in the rise of AI. Powerful new AI server hardware throws off a lot of heat, pushing past the limits of most traditional air cooling. This has driven a surge of acquisitions in the cooling sector, and none bigger than Ecolab's $4.75 billion deal to acquire liquid cooling specialist CoolIT Systems. In this episode of Data Center Richn
Building A Safety Culture at Internet Speed
Building hyperscale data centers at the speed of AI comes with a massive challenge: taking care of the thousands of tradespeople on the front lines of construction sites. As project schedules compress and job sites push into remote locations, how do industry leaders build a culture that keeps workers safe, healthy, and genuinely supported? In this episode of Data Center Richness podcast, we sit do
Is The Data Center Boom Built to Last?
There's a big question at the heart of today's tech headlines: Is there an AI bubble? I sat down with someone who's been building data centers since 1997, and I found his answer really insightful. That's Ron Vokoun. He's had 37 years in construction, most of it in digital infrastructure - fiber networks in the '90s, the first Qwest data centers, a stretch dedicated to prefab and modular builds, a
How Tech is Transforming Data Center Construction
Demand for data center space is hitting all-time records. That is creating a major boom in data center construction, including more projects and larger campuses. How does the industry keep track of all this construction? For more than 1,000 data center projects, the answer is OpenSpace, a technology company that provides visual intelligence on construction job sites. Its platform uses 360-degree c
The State of Data Center Construction
Inside the Future of Data Center Construction Demand for data center capacity has never been higher. But building a data center is a complex undertaking, involving global supply chains and local contractors. As the industry seeks to build super-sized data center campuses, there are reports that a growing number of projects are falling behind schedule. So what's the state of data center constructi
What Solid State Transformers Mean for Data Centers
The transformer is a key component of power delivery, but its core design dates to the 19th century. A number of startups are working to build a better transformer using software-defined power electronics that are ready for the AI era. One of those companies is DG Matrix. It focuses on solid-state transformers, which are emerging as as a critical piece of the infrastructure for next-generation AI
Why Google is Turning to Virtual Power Plants
Can electric vehicles, solar panels and smart thermostats in homes help free up more grid power for data centers? This concept that has been turning in recent months as the data center power crunch has become more challenging. The concept known as a virtual power plant or VPP. It's a collection of small energy sources that are brought together to create a large energy asset, which can be managed t
How Google Built the Future of Data Centers
What's it like to work on the front lines of data center innovation? Google has been a pioneer in the digital economy, and developed many of the innovations that define hyperscale data centers. Today on Data Center Richness, we discuss what it's like to be building at the leading edge of a massive technology transformation. Our guest is Joe Kava, who led the Google data center team through an ama
The Future of Liquid Cooling
Few people know liquid cooling as well as Rich Whitmore. He is the CEO of Motivair by Schneider Electric, which has cooled the world's most powerful supercomputers. After years of working with the HPC and data center communities, Motivair was acquired last year by global equipment giant Schneider Electric to prepare for surging adoption of liquid cooling for AI workloads. The rise of AI and e
Solid-State Transformers: The Bridge to 800 VDC?
There's big change coming to power distribution in data centers. Today on Data Center Center Richness, we look at the planned transition to 800 volt DC power distribution, and a new technology - Solid-State Transformers - could play a key role in these upgrades to AI infrastructure. Our guest is Dafna Granot, the Senior Manager for Strategy & Innovation at SolarEdge, which specializes in DC power
Using AI to Unlock More Power for Data Centers
We've all seen the headlines about AI data centers using up grid capacity and raising power prices. What you may not know is that AI can also find more power and help lower consumer bills. In this video we profile a startup called GridCARE, which is using AI tools and software to unlock more existing electricity for utilities and power grids. CEO Amit Narayan shares how this technology located 400
The State of the Data Center 2026
These are boom times for conferences about data centers and AI. In a time of Big, Fast, Change, industry events provide essential education and networking for the many folks who are new to the data center sector. One of the largest events on the conference schedule is Data Center World, which gets underway next week in Washington, D.C. We sat down with Bill Kleyman, the Executive Chairman of Data
The Solar Startup Aiming to Transform Data Centers
Let's talk about solar-powered data centers. A lot of the recent discussion of data center power has focused on strategies supported by natural gas, or perhaps small modular nuclear reactors. But what about renewable energy? Today my guest is Nic Bustamante, who has held data center leadership positions at several hyperscale players. Nic is the Chief Data Center Officer at Exowatt, a renewabl
What's Next for Onsite Energy and Data Center Power
One of the biggest growth stories of 2026 is the rise of on-site powers for data centers. The AI boom is driving huge growth in demand for electricity to support AI factories, as well as traditional cloud workloads. But many major markets have limited availability of utility power, as electric grids are struggling to keep pace with the growth of digital infrastructure. Today on Data Center Richn
Solving the Speed to Power Problem
Solving the Speed to Power Problem Speed to power is the hot topic these days, as data center operators race to deploy new capacity for AI services. Many of the leading players in the AI sector say they are capacity constrained - meaning they can't get new compute fast enough. Meanwhile, many utilities are also constrained, and have limited power availabel for new data center builds. Bridging th
The State of Enterprise Data Centers in 2026
There's been a big focus on hyperscale facilities for generative AI. Where does the enterprise customer fit in the current data center landscape? One of the providers focused on the enterprise market is Flexential, a company with a history providing network-focused colocation and wholesale space in second-tier markets. Flexential CEO Ryan Mallory joins us today on Data Center Richness to share his
Data Centers and Energy: Bridging the Knowledge Gap
The AI boom is creating a massive business opportunity at the intersection of the data center and energy sectors. But these are both complex industries with lots of specialized knowledge. How can these two crucial industries work together effectively to build the future? We explore this questions today with the help of Arushi Sharma Frank, who is an expert in energy market economics, regulation, a
Data Centers in Space: Talking Tech With Space Pioneer Chris Stott
Why the Future of Data Might Be Off Earth Data centers in space are a hot topic. Hyperscale data center builders like Google and Crusoe are planning space-based facilities, and tech veterans like Eric Schmidt, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk also have ambitions for deploying data centers in space. All these headlines have folks wondering - are data centers in space a pipe dream, or the next phase in digi
Beyond Hydrogen: ECL Hosts NVIDIA's Most Advanced Racks
The data center landscape is changing fast, as AI drives innovation in both energy and cooling. In a industry dominated by big companies and big requirements, it's a tricky time for data center startups. Yuval Bachar is the founder of ECL, a startup that set out to pioneer hydrogen-powered data centers. With the arrival of ChatGPT and the AI data center boom, ECL has changed along with the indu
How AI is Reshaping Data Center Design
AI is changing the way we design and build data centers. Meanwhile, cloud computing and enterprise companies continue to need lots of IT capacity. This creates a challenge for the teams that design data centers, who must navigate rapid change amid tensions between workloads and technologies. AI or cloud? Air-cooled or liquid-cooled? This is Sara Martin's world. Sara is an Associate Principal at HE
The Equinix 3.0 Vision: Connecting the AI-Powered World
The Internet is a network of networks. And it's the connections between these networks that can transform a local business into a global enterprise. From the early days of the Internet, Equinix has been one of the primary places where these connections happen. Equinix has made nearly half a million interconnections between the 10,000 companies using its 270 data centers around the world, making it
Applied Digital's Big Pivot to AI Data Centers
One of the big data center stories of 2025 is the big shift of capacity from crypto to AI computing. In recent months, companies that got their start in crypto infrastructure have signed deals with the largest players in hyperscale AI, winning contracts worth billions of dollars. One of those is Applied Digital, which has been one of the busiest players in 2025, singing deals for 600 megawatts of
On-Site Generation and the Future of AI Power
There's been Gigawatts of on-site power procured for data centers this year. And there's likely much more to come as the rise of AI boosts demand for data center capacity. Today on Data Center Richness our topic is on-site power and the new energy landscape. Our guest is KC Mares of Megawatt Consulting, who has worked with many of the most consequential companies and projects in the history of the
An Inside Look at the Data Center Development Journey
Data centers are economic engines of the new economy. Every data center starts as an idea, with a location attached. It takes a lot of funding, planning and execution to create these complex facilities. Today on Data Center Richness, we share a behind-the-scenes look at how investors and developers work together to bring a data center project from concept to reality. Our guests are Sabey Data Cent
What Data Center Innovation Looks Like in the Age of AI
What Data Center Innovation Looks Like in the Age of AI Data center development is moving fast, and so is the computing technology that lives inside them. The AI boom is accelerating just about everything, placing a premium on innovation. So what does data center innovation look like in 2025 and beyond? To explore this question, we turned to Phill Lawson-Shanks, the Chief Innovation Officer at Ali
Decoding Data Center Power with Dan Crosby
Energy is the lifeblood of every data center. As the AI boom has gained velocity, the focus on energy has intensified as power demand has effectively maxed out existing grid capacity in major data center markets. Understanding the finer points of power has never been more important. Dan Crosby has helped explain the complexities of the energy market for the data center sector. Dan is the founder a
What Every Local Official Should Know About Data Centers
When a data center project comes to town, a question often asked by residents and local officials is "what's in it for us?" What if there was a guide that could help local officials understand the upside of how digital services can transform their work and their community? Today we continue our series on data centers and community controversies. Our guest is Ilissa Miller, the CEO of iMiller Publi
Data Centers and Community Controversies
We've seen a lot of headlines about data centers lately, especially controversies in communities considering large new data center campuses to support AI. Community resistance to data centers is not new, but has escalated rapidly in recent months, with a number of projects being canceled or delayed amid community outcry, including some that represented billions of dollars in local investment. Adam
EdgeCore 2.0: Building Big in Power-Rich Locations
Building big campuses in power-rich locations. That's the approach at EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure, which is developing data center campuses in six sites across the US, including a $17 billion campus in Louisa County, Virginia. EdgeCore's strategy is guided by CEO Lee Kestler, who has deep experience in both the data center and energy sectors. Kestler has held leadership positions at data cente
Why Data Centers Are Turning to Bloom Energy Fuel Cells
It's been a big year for Bloom Energy, a fuel cell manufacturer which has been winning large deals to provide power for data centers. Our guest on Data Center Richness is Jeff Barber, the Vice President of Data Center Sales for Bloom Energy. Jeff discusses why Bloom is providing on-site power for large data centers AND their utility providers, and how fuel cells can address some of the community c
How Aligned is Tackling Data Center Density
Cooling is a hot topic in the data center industry. Few companies have been more focused on cooling than Aligned Data Centers, which builds hyperscale facilities for some of the world's leading players in cloud computing and AI. Our guest today is Michael Welch, the Chef Technology Officer at Aligned, who discusses how Aligned is updating its products and designs for the rising densities in AI wor
What's Next for Data Center Investing?
Large global investors have played a major role in the AI boom, providing funding for the construction of data centers and network infrastructure. Today we look at data centers through the perspective of investors, How do large private investors think about data centers as an asset class? What trends do they consider in their investment strategies? Which markets are the most attractive? And how do
Chris Crosby: Upgrading the Data Center Supply Chain
Chris Crosby has deep insights on essential the role of data centers in an AI-powered future. Crosby is the CEO of Compass Datacenters, which builds some of the world's largest data center campuses. In this week's Data Center Richness episode, host Rich Miller talks with Crosby about how Compass has embraced new approaches to power and the supply chain, as well as sustainable construction and bac
Verrus is Rethinking the Data Center
Verrus is a new data center company that is seeking to build the data center of the future. It is rethinking key aspects of how data centers are built, and how they interact with the power grid. On this episode of Data Center Richness, host Rich Miller speaks with the leadership team at Verrus, an all-star team of data center pioneers who are rethinking the data center for 2025 and beyond. That in
Why AI Will Be A Paradigm Shift for the Tech Sector
AI will be a paradigm shift for tech - and how that may change our work and our daily lives. What will that look like? To explore this important topic, Data Center Richness host Rich Miller speaks with Bill Kleyman, CEO of AI technology firm Apolo. They discuss the speed of the AI transition, what comes next, what it means for the tech sector, how we handle this type of big, disruptive change as s
How Will Data Centers Be Different in 2030?
What will the data center of 2030 look like? How will design and technology change as AI moves to the next level? Those are the questions that Vlad Galabov and his research team addressed at the Omdia Analyst Summit at the recent Data Center World conference. Vlad is the Senior Research Director for Enterprise Infrastructure at Omdia, one of the market intelligence services at Informa TechTarget.
The Key to Unlocking More Data Center Power
Are regional power grids actually constrained? Or could dozens of gigawatts of power be unlocked by new approaches to grid management and data center power contracts? That's the intriguing question posed by new research from an energy analyst, and it could have large implications for the data center industry. Data Center Richness host RIch Miller talks with Tyler Norris, whose recent research pape
What's Next in Data Center Real Estate?
The geography of data center real estate has been changing rapidly since ChatGPT arrived in 2022, kicking off huge demand for IT infrastructure for AI hardware. This AI boom has transformed how data centers are designed, and where they are located and powered. To understand these changes, DCR host Rich Miller spoke with David Liggitt, the founder and CEO of datacenterHawk, which provides research
Data Centers, AI and the Future of Power
Could data centers help reshape the power grid? The boom in AI infrastructure is creating challenges for data centers, utility providers and power grids. To help us understand the state of play between data and energy, we turned to Elisa Wood, the founder of Energy Changemakers, which focuses on the future of distributed energy. Elisa has been covering the energy sector for years, and many of you
Power, Bravery and Nuclear Data Centers
In the premiere episode of the Data Center Richness podcast, host Rich Miller speaks with Apolo CEO Bill Kleyman about his mantra of "power and bravery" as the key to innovation and building the data center industry of the future. A key focus is the timeline for nuclear-powered data centers. How soon can nuclear energy be available to address the "power gap" from constraints on regional power grid
Recommended
紐約鳥｜New York Aperture
The Swerve Podcast: Obscure Topics | Conspiracy Theories
The Bread and Banter Podcast
The Church of What's Happening Now: The New Testament
Busted Open
Deadline: White House
Crickets Corner
History of the Earthquake and Fire in San Francisco
Fox news
K-Drama Obsessed Mamas | Beyond “Just One More Episode!”
True Crime Classics
The Healer Revolution
