The QTS Experience

Mark Gusakov is back, and told me about a town hall where the EMS guy fighting the data center didn't know it answers his 911 calls. Mark’s answer isn’t a better argument. It’s listening first, and he’s got a Lamborghini story to prove it.

Chapters:

00:00:06 Mark's road back: Uptime, nine months around the world, and founding the Digital Infrastructure Alliance

00:05:42 CONN3CT DATA, Cristo Rey students, and a Miss America who is a nuclear engineer

00:08:18 Why data centers are suddenly in the public conversation

00:10:19 Listen, talk, understand: why the pushback is appropriate

00:13:18 Is fear fair when the facts are wrong? The rake story

00:18:03 Lamborghinis for dirt-road folks: find out what a community needs

00:20:30 Amateur hour, not malice: when it stopped being engineer to engineer

00:25:42 The EMS worker who didn't know a data center answers 911

00:30:11 SWAT in the data center, “please come with your concern,” and being understood

00:33:29 Skeptics, cynics, and Ken at the town hall

00:38:02 Who wins the AI race? The town that asks you to come back

00:44:34 “It's just no”: John Dutton, the Amish, and Mr. Ford's softer seats

00:53:50 Ego, mentors, and the pushback inside the industry

01:01:08 Forcing functions, PUE, and why the lava is soft again

01:06:54 Two concrete actions, and “We are not the enemy”

Links:

• Mark Gusakov on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gusakov-a5b4741/
• The Digital Infrastructure Alliance: https://www.thedigitalinfrastructurealliance.com
• CONN3CT DATA event series: https://conn3ctdataevents.com
• Kirk Busch, Arizona Data Center Alliance: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirkbusch/
• Brian Smith, Idaho National Laboratory: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-smith-65469121/
• Grace Vanderhei, Miss America 2023: https://www.gracevanderhei.com
• Infrastructure Masons: https://imasons.org
• QTS Community Commitments: https://q.com/commitments

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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

 

Ana Tardio grew up a picky eater in Spain. Then her aunt in Mexico served her ant eggs. Her TEDxAtlanta talk is about food as a bridge, so I asked how a company like ours earns a seat at the table. Listen more than you talk.

Chapters:

00:00 From the south of Spain to a Chicago winter

01:33 Food as a way in, and a plate of ant eggs

08:15 Food is for sharing: tapas, raciones and sobremesa

09:59 How a company talk became a TEDxAtlanta talk

21:31 What this has to do with data centers

26:36 How does a company earn a community's trust?

29:30 Listen more than you talk, and ask about allergies

34:11 What the red dot taught her

Links:

Ana Tardio's TEDxAtlanta talk, “From Cocido to BBQ. What Food Taught Me About Empathy”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds6hQXVpUCs

Ana Tardio's TEDxAtlanta speaker page: https://www.tedxatlanta.com/ana-tardio/

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

Former Ranger Regiment psychologist Jeremy Noble is the stranger on a plane who talked me through a racing heart. He swears by the good guy factor, and joins a couple of our crew, Greg Wuestner and Jeff Sangillo, two veterans, to talk leaving the military and asking for help.

Chapters

00:00 A stranger on a plane: "Hey, how's the heart?"

06:24 Greg Wuestner: from Army infantry to QTS through SkillBridge

08:09 Jeff Sangillo: from Navy nuclear propulsion to the QTS energy team

10:00 What nobody tells you about leaving the military

11:10 207 hours walked at West Point

16:08 Autonomy, mastery and belonging: what disappears overnight

24:12 Googling "what is a data center?"

29:30 When a mistake can cost a life

33:11 Picking the right people first

35:54 Psychological safety: more mistakes, or more honesty?

42:18 Why asking for help is the hardest part

46:10 Nobody calls a torn ACL weak

52:20 The sergeant major who stopped in the rain

57:02 What people need to flourish

1:02:46 What a veterans group can do for new vets

1:15:33 If you feel cut off from your team

1:21:52 Parting words: ask for help, and be a good dude

Links

Jeremy Noble: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-noble-phd-abpp-b93a7617a/

Noble Organizational Consulting: https://www.psychology.consulting/home

Greg Wuestner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregory-wuestner/

Jeff Sangillo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsangillo/

QTS Data Centers: https://qtsdatacenters.com

Dan Ferriter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danferriter/

Darrian Winston: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrian-winston/

"Why You Should Hire a Ranger," Jeremy Noble: https://www.psychology.consulting/post/why-you-should-hire-a-ranger

More articles from Jeremy Noble: https://www.psychology.consulting/blog

Amy Edmondson, "Learning from Mistakes Is Easier Said Than Done" (1996): https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0021886396321001

DoD SkillBridge: https://skillbridge.osd.mil/

VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline on Suicide Risk (2024 synopsis): https://scholar.usuhs.edu/en/publications/assessment-and-management-of-patients-at-risk-for-suicide-synopsi/

Also mentioned: self-determination theory (Ryan and Deci), Good to Great by Jim Collins, The Assessment of Men (OSS)

Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe!

For more information, go to https://www.Q.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

Henrico turned people away from White Oak for years — the crypto guys, companies waving billions. Anthony Romanello had a hand in most of those calls, and he retired from Henrico in January, so he can finally tell me how they made them. Turns out the community was vetting us the whole time.

Chapters:

00:00:06 Chapter Two After 34 Years

00:08:56 Frito-Lay Chips, Not Semiconductors: How White Oak Happened

00:11:57 When the Conversation Turned Political

00:14:58 The Landscape Changed and Nobody Explained Why

00:17:47 Communities See What You Say Yes To

00:20:19 Fencing Off the Revenue for Affordable Housing

00:25:13 Why Henrico Added a Conditional Use Permit

00:27:59 The Photo on His Phone

00:32:05 Stop Talking and Listen

00:41:41 Who's Actually Paying for the Power

00:52:50 Half the Calls, People Need a Neighbor

Links and References:

Anthony Romanello — LinkedIn — linkedin.com/in/anthony-romanello-510723157

S.I.R. — Richmond — sirhq.com

Henrico Economic Development Authority — henrico.com

DE-CIX Richmond — de-cix.net

Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe!

For more information, go to https://www.Q.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

José Luis Friebel got into data centers by accident — second job interview in London, start tomorrow, we've got a conference in six months. Best accident of his life, he says. He told me the thing slowing this whole build-out down isn't power. It's plumbers. I did not expect that.

Chapters

00:00:00  From a sunny coastal town in Spain to the global data center business

00:07:13  Why an industry that built the cloud still doesn't talk to itself

00:12:08  The panel where somebody says "you're full of crap" — and nobody's offended

00:17:03  The human capital crunch, and the unsung heroes of modern civilization

00:19:57  Scholarships, electricians and plumbers: not charity, industry survival

00:29:26  What communities actually say when you ask them

00:34:11  Water, energy, and what it takes to be a good neighbor

00:38:50  Why the industry got caught by surprise on transparency

00:43:55  AI as infrastructure, and 90 billion in Aragon

00:48:16  Radiologists, drones, and why AI creates more jobs than it destroys

00:54:41  AI cities, and the jobs question: direct, indirect, and induced

01:02:22  "You're not an island, you're a peninsula"

01:04:49  What José wants you to remember

Links & References

José Luis Friebel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jose-luis-friebel-dcd/

InfraXmedia: https://www.infraxmedia.com/

DatacenterDynamics: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/

AI Cities Summit Europe 2027: https://www.aicitysummit.com/europe/2027

AI Cities Summit launch: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/marketwatch/infraxmedia-launches-ai-cities-summit-series-to-support-governments-navigating-ai-infrastructure-growth/

SPAINDC (Spanish Data Center Association): https://spaindc.com/

MEXDC (Mexican Data Center Association): https://asmexdc.com/

Infrastructure Masons: https://imasons.org/

Lays Rodrigues: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lays-rodrigues/

George Rockett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-rockett-b18a3b4/

Dan Loosemore: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-loosemore-marketing-specialist/

Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe! For more information, go to https://www.Q.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

Jake Dukes runs programs at Zac Brown's camp for veterans and kids. Years ago he came to me and said he didn't want to talk about money or sponsorship — he wanted us to show up. I stayed till one in the morning. Their chef is also unreasonably good.

Chapters

00:00:06 Pastor, camp, and a friendship that started on a beach

00:04:29 The mission: find what makes a person unique, then magnify it

00:07:30 What a data center has to do with a camp in Georgia

00:12:22 Warrior Week, Warrior Path, and the invisible wounds of war

00:16:56 A lumpy first eighteen months, and the go/no-go stations

00:21:23 Why trust is the hardest thing to rebuild

00:26:31 Don’t scrap who you were — reforging instead of starting over

00:35:39 What the week is actually for: making one real friend

00:39:41 Zac Brown’s heart for veterans and at-risk kids

00:42:07 Who pays for it: 93% of the kids are on scholarship

00:43:35 The light in the eyes, and a cucumber that tasted like a Kit Kat

00:45:50 Why kids and veterans belong in the same place, and what neurodiversity means

00:50:28 What a hiring manager should know about the veteran across the desk

01:06:48 Twenty years of building in communities, hiring from them, and being welcomed

01:09:30 How to tell whether a company that says it hires vets actually does

01:20:52 “I don’t want to talk to you about money”

Links & References:

Camp Southern Ground: https://campsouthernground.org/

Camp Southern Ground staff: https://campsouthernground.org/staff/

Jake Dukes, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jachindukes/

Mike Caimona, incoming CEO: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbcaimona/

Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe! For more information, go to https://www.Q.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

When James told me the best early warning for a job-site injury isn’t a safety number, I said what you’re probably thinking — that’s ridiculous, and how would you even measure it? What came next changed how I look at it. Come find out what the number is.

Chapters:

00:00:00 A Gaelic footballer walks into a data-center podcast

00:02:07 Culture as bedrock: measure the inputs, not the score

00:05:30 Scaling culture when you’re hiring thousands

00:06:34 What PepTalk does: feedback from the field, and morale as a leading indicator

00:11:57 The blind spot: why the once-a-year survey misses it

00:16:18 The data: low-morale stretches vs. high-incident stretches

00:19:43 People leave unsafe sites: retention as the early warning

00:36:14 Construction vs. operations: human error and reinforcement

00:40:19 Staying alert in a “fully operational Death Star”

00:45:39 Reading the site like a body: must-have or nice-to-have?

00:51:11 Measuring the truth, and the one big takeaway

Links / References

James Brogan (guest) — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesbrogan1/

Bernard Brogan (co-founder) — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernardbrogan/

PepTalk — website: https://www.peptalk.com

Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe!

For more information, go to https://www.Q.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

Rob Hopewell’s been in data centers so long I keep accusing him of starting at 11 — UUNET, EdgeConneX, now running QTS sales. We get into why this AI moment isn’t the dot-com bust, why the phone in your hand is a data center, and how our industry can finally explain itself.

Chapters:

0:00  From UUNET to now — the early internet, peering, MAE East/West

5:44  “Unprecedented” — solving first-time problems (spiky AI load, the utility)

7:47  Selling power, not square feet — the model that changed the industry

11:48  A day in the life running QTS sales — deals at the C-level

14:16  What the dot-com bust taught him — strategy, relationships, hustle

15:29  The 2016 hyperscale pivot — the Freedom Design and the availability zones

19:04  “Plan B: make plan A work” — the first deal, and Blackstone

24:09  EdgeConneX and what “the edge” really is

30:37  Building speculatively — the formula that won Atlanta

36:04  The messaging problem — what a data center actually is

40:09  Why AI isn’t a bubble (and meeting OpenAI in 2017)

45:08  “One throat to choke,” building sales talent, and the takeaway: culture

Links:

Rob Hopewell on LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/robhopewell/]

QTS Data Centers: Q.com

Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe! 

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

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

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