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The most valuable commodity on earth today is data. How we make it, use it, move it & protect it. Join David McCall as he invites guests from all industries to talk about how they use data to drive their business & innovation in their market.
Episodes
7 days ago
7 days ago
A West Texas frac company turned out to be one of the best-positioned energy players of the AI era. Luke Saladyga explains how that happened, why power got scarce so fast, and why the steadiest jobs of the next decade might be ones nobody told you to want.
Chapters:
00:00:00 Welcome back on Star Wars Day
00:02:13 The perfect storm: how power got scarce
00:09:10 From Oracle to VoltaGrid: frack fields to AI power
00:10:21 Moving 25 to 40 megawatts in under 24 hours
00:12:38 The hard part: load transients in milliseconds
00:20:24 Why Luke joined, and betting before the contracts
00:24:00 8.3 gigawatts contracted, and why competition matters
00:30:09 How Oracle burned the ships
00:36:14 Will the grid catch up? The swing-set problem
00:46:01 Is this a bubble? Why turbine makers stay cautious
00:54:04 Communication and energy: the engine of every advance
00:56:20 Behind the meter, explained simply
00:58:50 Take-or-pay contracts and the coming efficiency push
01:03:38 Labor: the real constraint and the aging-talent crisis
01:11:18 The markers of who adapts well
01:28:37 Mike Rowe, welders, and the trades PR battle
01:31:19 Georgia's free trade tuition and a welder who blew his mind
01:35:23 Where to follow Luke, and the one takeaway: embrace the chaos
References and Links:
Luke Saladyga LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saladyga/
VoltaGrid: https://voltagrid.com
Jim Gao (Phaidra): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimgao/
Texas SB6 — load-transient / large-load interconnection bill
Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe!
For more information, go to https://www.QTSDataCenters.com
Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters
Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to podcast@qtsdatacenters.com
Friday Jun 12, 2026
Friday Jun 12, 2026
Somewhere along the way “diesel” turned into a dirty word. Jim McDonald’s spent 30 years on the generators that keep 911, hospitals, and your data alive — and he’s a little tired of playing the villain. We get into what’s real, what’s myth, and why he still thinks everybody wins.
Chapters:
00:00:00 Welcome, and the “luminary chair”
00:01:24 From the University of Delaware to founding MIRATECH (1992)
00:04:16 The first data center (2006) and the “internet hotel”
00:06:52 What a backup generator does, and why a data center needs it
00:10:16 The “nines” of reliability and the 7-second diesel start
00:13:27 What “five nines” actually means in downtime
00:16:42 How often the generators really run (mostly testing)
00:19:44 Diesel’s “Mufasa moment”: how a word got loaded
00:24:00 “Dirty diesel” — where the myth comes from
00:25:07 The ratepayer pledge and the peak-power problem
00:27:06 Why diesel: 48 hours of fuel on site
00:30:15 Behind-the-meter and microgrids, explained
00:36:14 202(c) orders, Ashburn, and grid-vs-on-site emissions
00:48:14 PJM, the load-duration curve, and demand response
01:02:10 EPA Tier 2 to Tier 4 and a “new spirit of cooperation”
01:14:57 Energy storage: heating bricks, ice, and synthetic DNA
01:30:05 Small modular reactors and the nuclear question
01:33:24 Three daughters and “nuclear is super safe”
01:40:44 What to watch in the next 18–24 months
01:43:13 The takeaway: open minds, and everybody wins
References and Links:
Jim McDonald (guest), MIRATECH — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jim-mcdonald-80229223
MIRATECH (guest’s company): miratechcorp.com
David McCall (host): linkedin.com/in/davidnmccall
QTS: q.com
Ratepayer Protection Pledge (White House, March 2026): whitehouse.gov — Ratepayer Protection Pledge
PJM Interconnection (regional grid operator referenced re: load-duration curve / demand response): pjm.com
Book referenced — “The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel” by Douglas Brunt (2023).
Plant Vogtle (Georgia Power / Southern Company) — the Georgia nuclear plant Jim worked near during construction.
Michael Shellenberger nuclear talk (~10–15 years ago, “several million views”)
Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe!
For more information, go to https://www.QTSDataCenters.com
Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters
Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to podcast@q.com
Wednesday Jun 10, 2026
Wednesday Jun 10, 2026
We’re all chasing the same thing: safe, affordable, local power. Rahul Kar thinks we keep overlooking the easiest source of it — the power already sitting unused inside our own data centers. He’s convinced it’s hiding in plain sight, and he explains it with a kids’ story.
Chapters:
00:00:00 From Boston to Redwood City: an engineer’s “five grand challenges”
00:06:53 Hammerhead AI for non-engineers: the two-toy-car rule
00:09:49 Why data centers run at 30–40% capacity (and why it’s by design)
00:15:41 Plain English: training vs. inferencing, and what a “token” is
00:21:06 Visibility first: how operators stop over-building
00:24:43 Turning stranded power into net-new, flexible workloads
00:28:14 Reliability, community trust, and being a good steward
00:31:56 Resilience by distribution: many sites, one brain (the 60-millisecond point)
00:35:07 From virtual power plants to AI orchestration
00:41:46 Small Is Beautiful vs. The Bitter Lesson: the tension driving the company
00:49:08 The “easy button,” and the one big idea: a utilization crisis, not a power crisis
References and Links:
Rahul Kar (guest) — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rahulkar
Hammerhead AI (guest’s company): hammerheadco.ai
AutoGrid — Rahul Kar’s prior company; pioneered software-defined “virtual power plants” and was later acquired by Schneider Electric
E. F. Schumacher, “Small Is Beautiful” (1973) — the economics-of-scale idea Rahul cites as a guiding influence
Richard Sutton, “The Bitter Lesson” (2019) — the essay arguing that brute-force compute tends to beat hand-designed methods; Rahul calls Sutton “the father of reinforcement learning” Dean Nelson — named as a longtime champion of the do-more-with-what-you-have mindset; associated with Sun Microsystems
Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC) — the industry conference where David spoke on a panel Rahul attended
Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe!
For more information, go to https://www.QTSDataCenters.com
Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters
Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to podcast@qtsdatacenters.com
Thursday Jun 04, 2026
Thursday Jun 04, 2026
Most people think the cloud floats. Saurav Roychoudhury, a Capital University economist, ran the numbers on Ohio’s data centers and found concrete, copper, and a whole lot of jobs. We get into ripple effects, why community trust is the real bottleneck, and whether any of this is zero-sum.
Chapters:
00:00:00 From Calcutta to Capital University: the unlikely data center economist
00:02:31 How the Ohio Chamber’s data center study came to be
00:04:58 “It’s not ethereal”: what the cloud is actually made of
00:05:44 Inside the method: IMPLAN modeling and 30-plus interviews
00:07:53 The real bottleneck — power and water are solvable, trust is harder 00:08:42 “We want it, just not in our backyard”: the clean-water parallel
00:10:58 The mystery box: what’s really running inside a data center
00:19:11 Why the job count lags: a federal code updated only every five years
00:25:09 Ripple effects, and why above-median wages matter
00:35:06 Ohio, the third-largest data center market in the U.S.
00:40:11 Data centers vs. the dot-com boom and the railroads: a GDP comparison
00:47:48 A view from India: 1.4 billion people, less capacity than New Albany
00:50:04 Send an evangelist, not just engineers: how to earn community trust
01:08:00 New Albany’s tax innovation and the Chromebook check
01:24:05 Behind-the-meter power and a stronger grid for everyone
01:28:05 “What are we for?” Why this isn’t a zero-sum game
Links:
Saurav Roychoudhury — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sauravrc
Capital University — Economics: capital.edu/academics/majors-and-minors/economics
The Economic Impact Study of Data Centers in Ohio — by SRC EvalMetrics LLC (the guest’s firm) for the Ohio Chamber of Commerce Research Foundation: ohiochamberfoundation.com — data center study PwC, “Economic, Environmental, and Social Impacts of Data Centers in the United States” — commissioned by the Data Center Coalition (referenced ~00:27:32): datacentercoalition.org/reports-and-publications
IMPLAN — the input-output economic modeling system used in the study (~00:05:44): implan.com
Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe! For more information, go to https://www.QTSDataCenters.com
Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters
Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to podcast@qtsdatacenters.com
Friday May 22, 2026
Friday May 22, 2026
Join us for a live discussion from Truist Park at the 2026 Atlanta Conn3ct Data Summit where we discuss the very real challenge of educating and attracting the work force of the future.
Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe! For more information, go to https://www.QTSDataCenters.com
Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters
Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to podcast@qtsdatacenters.com
Wednesday May 20, 2026
Wednesday May 20, 2026
Cosme Garcia didn't plan to work in data centers — a project manager got sick, somebody asked him to fill in, and three decades later he's still here, still curious, and still trying to be the least smart person in the room. We talk about wrenches, weather, and what to tell your kid.
Chapters:
00:00 How Cosme Accidentally Ended Up in Data Centers
02:00 Exodus Communications and Learning Power and Cooling the Hard Way
08:30 Why Being the Least Smart Person in the Room Is the Goal
10:30 The Question Cosme Is Asking: When Do We Use AI on Ourselves?
14:00 From a Refrigerator-Sized Gigabyte to a 250-Gigabyte Phone
18:40 Even the Lineman on the Pole Now Depends on a Massive Building
22:00 The Cold War Between IT Teams and Facilities Teams
29:30 Jim Gao, DeepMind, and the Variable Nobody Predicted
35:00 Why Humans Are Bad at Patterns and Casinos Are Good at Them
41:30 Too Many AI Tools, Not Enough Time: Where Do You Even Start?
46:30 Agentic AI: Beyond Prompts, Toward Work That Does Itself
54:00 Trust, IBM, and Picking a Partner When the Market Is Crowded
59:30 Are Our Jobs at Risk? Which Ones, and Why a Wrench Still Wins
1:06:00 QTS Grew 20-Fold; Staffing Didn't. Here's What Happened.
1:14:00 What Will Force the Next Wave: Power, Competition, and One Senior Leader
1:21:00 Advice for the 26-Year-Old: Be Fearful or Be the Person Who Figured It Out
Reference Links: Google / DeepMind data center efficiency work — the project Jim Gao led that applied machine learning to data center cooling optimization. Public reference: https://deepmind.google/discover/blog/deepmind-ai-reduces-google-data-centre-cooling-bill-by-40/
Cosme Garcia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosmegarcia/
Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe!
For more information, go to https://www.QTSDataCenters.com
Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters
Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to podcast@q.com
Wednesday May 06, 2026
Wednesday May 06, 2026
Bill Kleyman, CEO of Apolo, says the gigawatt era is here, and our industry has to grow up fast. We get into power as a relationship, the new physical security frontline, why every data center is becoming an AI data center, and what bravery actually looks like in this market.
Chapters:
00:00 Cold Open: The Energetic Chipmunk on a Barrel of Oil
01:20 Welcome to the Gigawatt Era - Why It Is Already Here
06:31 The Outsider Reaction: When Trillions of Chips Sound Like a Threat
09:06 Listening to the Skeptics: A High School DECA Lesson and a GDC Backstage
23:36 Plant Seeds, Do Not Win Arguments - The Communication Playbook
24:50 Power Is Not a Line Item, It Is a Relationship
32:23 Bravery Defined: Big Decisions With Eyes Wide Open
38:14 Cloud, AI, and the Electrification Moment for Digital Infrastructure
44:02 The New Frontline: Physical Security in the AI Era
54:42 Tools of the Adversary: Drones, Wireless, and What Comes Next
59:38 The Catalyst, the Targets, and the Closing Charge of Fearless Curiosity
Links and References:
Bill Kleyman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billkleyman
Apolo (Bill’s company): https://www.apolo.us
Bill Kleyman personal site: https://billkleyman.com
AFCOM article — "2026: The Gigawatt Era Begins" (Bill’s monthly AFCOM piece referenced at the top of the episode). Read it here
AFCOM State of the Data Center 2026 — the 10th-anniversary edition of the report Bill authored. The "human threats overtaking ransomware" and "84% changing physical security" figures both come from this report.
AFCOM resources AFCOM forthcoming security article — "The New Frontline: Securing Data Centers in an AI Era," scheduled for AFCOM publication the Friday of the recording week. AFCOM news feed
Bastille Networks (referenced for wireless / drone-based facility security): https://bastille.net
Volta Grid (referenced for behind-the-meter natural gas generation): https://www.voltagrid.com
Schneider Electric Innovation Summit (where Bill heard the 200 GW projection): https://www.se.com/us/en/work/campaign/innovation/summit.jsp
NVIDIA GTC 2026 (Jensen Huang trillions-of-chips and 600 kW rack reference): https://www.nvidia.com/gtc
Game Developers Conference (GDC) - Bill’s Luminary Stage talk: https://gdconf.com
Nomad Futurist (industry talent and education organization Bill is on the board of): https://nomadfuturist.org
Infrastructure Masons (where Bill chairs the Education Committee): https://imasons.org
AFCOM (where Bill is Data Center World Program Chair): https://afcom.com
Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe!
For more information, go to https://www.QTSDataCenters.com
Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters
Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to podcast@qtsdatacenters.com
Wednesday Apr 22, 2026
Wednesday Apr 22, 2026
Ojonimi Bako's dad survived hepatitis C on a clinical trial at Gilead. Now Ojonimi builds the facilities where the next cure gets discovered. The CEO of Kaya connects construction chaos, AI-driven supply chains, and what it means to build something that outlasts you -- in under 90 minutes.
Chapters:
00:00:00 Introduction -- Ojonimi Bako, CEO of Kaya
00:00:53 From Accenture and Walmart Labs to Construction: The Origin Story
00:05:36 The Gilead Story -- Why Mission-Critical Infrastructure Is Literally Life and Death
00:10:44 Electricity, Night, and What the AI Transformation Actually Means
00:16:00 Practical AI: From Grocery Lists to Accelerating Human Expertise
00:19:08 Why People Resist AI -- and Why That Is Already Changing
00:26:35 Building the Pyramids Again: The Scale of the Data Center Revolution
00:28:41 Staying Relevant in a Rapidly Changing World -- The Full-Stack Operator
00:32:01 Foundation: Physics, Upward Bound, and Silicon Valley
00:35:55 Africa, London, Oslo -- How Global Experience Shapes Lateral Thinking
00:39:11 The Moment Ojonimi Saw the Problem: The Suffolk Accelerator
00:42:09 What Is Kaya and How Does It Work? 00:47:59 Choke Points -- The Real Challenges of Building Across Stakeholders
00:51:39 Japan, Trust, and the Single Plan
00:54:58 Buy, Track, Deliver -- The Kaya Platform Explained
00:56:38 Building Trust with Skeptical Customers -- Execution at Speed
01:04:00 Connecting Construction Work to Human Flourishing
01:04:40 The Base of the Economic Pyramid -- Supply Chain Responsibility in DRC and Africa
01:07:39 What Gives Ojonimi Hope -- Community, Gratitude, and What Comes Next
01:09:44 One Belief People Get Wrong About AI
01:13:04 The Leadership Habit He Is Still Developing -- His Father's Legacy
01:18:05 What We Didn't Get to Cover -- Real-World Results and 2026 Focus
01:19:26 How to Connect with Ojonimi Bako and Kaya
References:
Ojonimi Bako on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ojonimibako/
Kaya (company website): https://www.kayapays.com/
Accenture -- https://www.accenture.com
Walmart Global Tech (formerly Walmart Labs) -- https://tech.walmart.com
Gilead Sciences -- https://www.gilead.com
Suffolk Construction -- https://www.suffolk.com
Bootstrap Labs (Applied Artificial Intelligence fund, San Francisco) -- https://bootstraplabs.com
Nvidia -- https://www.nvidia.com
Amazon Web Services (AWS) -- https://aws.amazon.com
Kent State University -- https://www.kent.edu
Upward Bound Program / Ohio Wesleyan University -- https://www.owu.edu
Stanford Graduate School of Business (Executive MBA) -- https://www.gsb.stanford.edu
Procore Technologies (referenced as industry platform) -- https://www.procore.com
Autodesk Construction Cloud (referenced as industry platform) -- https://construction.autodesk.com
Architecture 2030 (carbon emissions from the built environment): https://architecture2030.org
Responsible Minerals Initiative (cobalt sourcing and the Democratic Republic of Congo): https://www.responsiblemineralsinitiative.org
Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe!
For more information, go to https://www.QTSDataCenters.com
Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters
Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to podcastoffice@q.com
Wednesday Apr 08, 2026
Wednesday Apr 08, 2026
I sat down with Ivo Ivanov to talk interconnection, AI, latency, resilience, and why digital infrastructure has to get closer to people. Airports, robots, sovereignty, and even space made their way into this one.
Chapters:
00:00:00 - Intro & Why Interconnection Matters Now
00:01:20 - Explaining Interconnection in Plain English
00:06:09 - Why the Internet Must Be Developed Further
00:08:45 - Latency, Eye Blinks, and Real-Time Robotics
00:14:10 - Why Digital Infrastructure Must Be Everywhere
00:17:10 - Reducing Complexity Through Interconnection
00:19:47 - AI-IX, Agent Routing, and GPU as a Service
00:24:42 - Teaching New Employees the Language of Interconnection
00:28:39 - Carrier Neutral and Data Center Neutral Explained
00:31:22 - What Neutrality Has Meant for New York and Dallas
00:38:19 - Resilience, Redundancy, and Operational Risk
00:41:09 - Latency Is the New Currency
00:45:39 - Data Sovereignty, Security, and National Power
00:51:44 - What the Industry Is Still Underestimating
00:56:22 - Space Connectivity and the Digital Divide
01:01:01 - What Data Center Leaders Need to Hear
01:06:15 - Final Takeaway: Why This Industry Matters
References and External Links
DE-CIX corporate website: https://www.de-cix.net/en
DE-CIX North America: https://www.de-cix.net/en/north-america
DE-CIX Academy: https://www.de-cix.net/en/resources/de-cix-academy
Interconnection Academy: https://www.interconnectionacademy.net/
DE-CIX AI-IX press release: https://www.de-cix.net/en/about-de-cix/media/press-releases/de-cix-launches-worlds-first-fully-integrated-ai-internet-exchange-ai-ix-to-support-model-training-and-inference
DE-CIX neutrality study / US IX release: https://www.de-cix.net/en/about-de-cix/media/press-releases/80-of-us-internet-exchanges-are-now-data-center-and-carrier-neutral
DE-CIX Space IX: www.space-ix.net
Ivo Ivanov on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivo-ivanov-de-cix
Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe!
For more information, go to https://www.QTSDataCenters.com
Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters
Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to podcast@qtsdatacenters.com
Wednesday Mar 25, 2026
Wednesday Mar 25, 2026
Last year, I grabbed lunch with Rob Coyle and his son, Reid. While Reid was easily the most entertaining person at the table, the conversation regarding the Open Compute Project (OCP) stayed with me for months. We finally sat down in the studio to discuss how we facilitate the tools that will enable humanity to thrive. From 800-volt power to open standards for Artificial Intelligence (AI), we are exploring how to make the technology pie bigger for everyone. Because let's face it: secret sauce is overrated when you can feed the whole industry.
Chapters:
00:00:00 – Welcome & Rob’s BBQ Explanation of OCP
00:02:58 – The “Bigger Pie” Story That Sold Leadership
00:05:06 – Rob’s 10-Year Journey from Member to Foundation
00:07:48 – Core Mission: Multi-Vendor Ecosystem + Accelerating Innovation
00:09:04 – Safe, Fast Conversations: How OCP Actually Works
00:12:24 – Biggest Wins: 21-Inch Rack & Liquid Cooling
00:15:51 – Real Aha Moments at Events & Demos
00:21:53 – Why OCP Events Feel Different (Continuum of Innovation)
00:28:23 – Efficiency at the Core + Server Re-Engineering Story
00:33:13 – AI Shift: From Components to Full Open Systems
00:39:53 – 800-Volt Power & the New Power Distribution Project
00:55:22 – New Open Data Center for AI Initiative
01:01:48 – Surprise Conversation: Education & NIMBYs
01:07:25 – How Anyone (Even Students) Can Jump In for Free
01:14:44 – What Excites Rob Most About the Future
Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe!
For more information, go to https://www.QTSDataCenters.com
Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters
Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to podcast@qtsdatacenters.com