Cool Vector

david95a
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Investing
  • Updated Daily

Cool Vector covers the rise of data centers and the digital infrastructure investment asset class. Through interviews and panel discussion with leaders in operations, capital, energy, real estate and technology, Cool Vector offers in-depth, lively conversations with the entire ecosystem of the booming digital infrastructure world. Cool Vector is produced by financial journalist David Snow in partnership with long-time data center operators Phillip Koblence and Nabeel Mahmood.  Full episodes of Cool Vector live on Apple Podcasts and other podcast channels, and video clips are shared on LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram. The Cool Vector video-podcast homepage is here: https://coolvectormedia.com/ Socials: LinkedIn linkedin.com/company/cool-vector-media/posts/?feedView=all Instagram instagram.com/coolvectormedia TikTok tiktok.com/@coolvectormedia?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc Spotify podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/elatromme Website coolvectormedia.com

  1. 1d ago

    Emerging Markets Need More Data Centers

    Emerging and developing markets remain significantly underinvested in digital infrastructure, says Obinna Isiadinso, the global sector lead for data centers and cloud services investments at the International Finance Corporation (IFC). "India today has something like 1.7 gigawatts of capacity, compared to Northern Virginia that has 3 or 4 gigawatts," Isiadinso tells Cool Vector, citing the country as an example of an emerging market facing a compute constraint.  Isiadinso, whose team has invested in data centers since 2005 and now holds roughly $400 million in the sector out of a broader $3 billion digital infrastructure portfolio, walks through how the IFC identifies opportunity across roughly 20 priority markets, why its decades-long presence gives it credibility with regulators and governments other capital providers haven't yet reached, and which regions are pulling ahead in the race for capacity. Key Takeaways: • Asia leads IFC's regional exposure, followed by Latin America and Africa. India and Malaysia are the standout Asian markets, with recent IFC commitments including debt financing to expand NTT's platform in India and Yondr Group's 300-megawatt hyperscale facility in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. • Brazil, South Africa, and Poland anchor their regions. Brazil is IFC's top Latin American market, where it holds exposure through Scala Data Centers; South Africa holds roughly 60% of Africa's data center capacity; and Poland remains IFC's primary Eastern European focus, with growing interest in Romania and Bulgaria. • AI demand is emerging alongside cloud. While collocation and cloud demand still dominate, IFC is starting to see meaningful AI-driven demand in its largest markets — particularly Brazil, India, and Malaysia. • Projects above roughly 300 megawatts can outgrow the pool of institutional buyers able to acquire them once stabilized, though Isiadinso says those cases remain rare — most projects under 100 megawatts see strong acquisition interest. Access the full transcript and a searchable archive at the Cool Vector Substack. #digitalinfrastructure #datacenter #AI

  2. 6d ago

    Oracle’s Director of Construction Says Building Data Centers is Like Building Cities

    Building AI infrastructure at gigawatt scale means "developing city-sized machines,'" says Craig Deering, senior construction manager at Oracle.  Drawing on decades of experience — from dismantling AT&T and building the Baby Bells to leading cloud and now AI data center projects — Deering tells Cool Vector: "The challenges of developing a city-sized machine have been known for at least a century. We just need to realize that we're building at that scale." Deering shares his outlook on the economics of AI compute, the human toll of building at unprecedented speed, and why he remains bullish on AI's impact on jobs despite decades spent watching technology reshape his industry. Key Takeaways: • Job sites that once had 1,200 workers now have 6,000 to 8,000, split across multiple companies — a human resource challenge on a scale Deering compares to building the Panama Canal or Gilded Age company towns like Hershey, Pennsylvania • Driving down the incremental cost of AI token production is the industry's central equation, tying directly into Jevon's paradox: as compute gets cheaper, demand explodes • Structural job displacement is real, but Deering argues history — from hand-drafting to CAD to BIM — shows technology ultimately expands opportunity rather than eliminating it Access the full transcript and a searchable archive at the Cool Vector Substack. #digitalinfrastructure #datacenter #AI

  3. Jul 27

    Solutions for the Data Center ‘Power Bottleneck’

    Data centers have access to plenty of power, but it's often stranded rather than put to use, says Ken Sullivan, co-founder and CEO of Bay Compute. "Power is the bottleneck to AI growth," Sullivan says. "A lot of the 'colos' and data centers are operating at 30, 40, 50% average power utilization." Sullivan lays out how the shift toward AI inference is intensifying the power problem, why colocation operators are now being forced to optimize infrastructure they've never had to think about before, and why he believes the industry's component-by-component fixes are hitting diminishing returns. Key Takeaways: • Inference workloads create a much larger amplitude in power spikes than traditional cloud or training data centers, driving down average utilization and worsening the stranded-capacity problem — especially at edge and colocation facilities. • Bay Compute's customers are unlocking 10-20% more capacity. By reducing peak power events, the company says its customers are able to free up additional capacity and sell it on to their own customers. • Unlike hyperscalers, which have spent 20 years building tools to optimize dollar-per-token and watt-per-token, colocation facility operators historically passed power costs straight to tenants and had no incentive to optimize until new power became scarce. • Most data center projects aren't approved until a power contract is secured, a shift from the old land-first model, pushing developers into secondary and tertiary markets where power is available. Access the full transcript and a searchable content library at the Cool Vector Substack:  https://open.substack.com/pub/coolvector/p/solutions-for-the-data-center-power?r=4tjd55&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true #coolvector #datacenter #AI #inference #energy #power #colocation

  4. Jul 21

    For Hamilton Lane, Good Data Center Operators Are 'Harder and Harder to Find'

    The biggest constraint facing data centers is finding the people capable of operating those data centers, says Brent Burnett, Managing Director and Head of Infrastructure and Real Assets at Hamilton Lane. Burnett tells Cool Vector that as capital floods into digital infrastructure, the pool of management teams equipped to run complex, cap-ex-heavy platforms remains small, and the price of accessing them keeps growing. In an in-depth conversation with Cool Vector's David Snow and United Integrity Advisors' Eli Scher, Burnett explains how Hamilton Lane screens operators, why current valuations concern him, and how the firm structured its recent continuation vehicle investment in Flexential. Key takeaways: • Digital infrastructure now dominates infrastructure portfolios. What was 8-10% of a typical fund's allocation a decade ago has grown to 30-40% today, with most fresh capital targeting data centers specifically. • Valuation risk is "very acute" right now. Multiples that historically ran 16-18x have climbed into the mid-to-high 20s, and Burnett says he's seen irrational excitement among sellers with unrealistic expectations. • Hamilton Lane avoids speculative build-and-hope bets. The firm favors platforms where growth is backed by existing, already-contracted tenants and a powered, permitted land bank. • While many believe the biggest risk is technology disruption, it's actually execution. Burnett and Scher agree over-leveraged capital structures paired with growth plans that don't materialize pose a greater threat to the sector than any black-swan tech shift. • Community and political pushback are rising risks too. As data centers scale, "stroke of pen risk" is growing, and Burnett says operators need to get smarter about community engagement or risk political backlash to their build-out plans. Access the full transcript and a searchable content library on the Cool Vector Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/coolvector/p/for-hamilton-lane-good-data-center?r=4tjd55&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true #coolvector #datacenter #digitalinfrastructure #privateequity Note: Hamilton Lane has $1 trillion in assets under management and supervision, composed of $141.8 billion in discretionary assets and $905.3 billion in non-discretionary assets, as of March 31, 2026.

  5. Jul 14

    Nomad Futurist Helps Computer Science Student Discover Digital Infrastructure

    The digital infrastructure industry is incredibly diverse and needs talent of all types, says Harris Hamid, a computer science student at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, and a student advocate for non-profit Nomad Futurist Foundation.  "No matter what you're doing, you can find a spot here," Hamid tells Cool Vector.  Hamid emphasizes how the industry welcomes people from all backgrounds, recalling how he has already met graphic designers, engineers, and career-changers with different areas of expertise to offer. He encourages students to see Nomad Futurist as a resource for learning and networking, regardless of their major, emphasizing that there's a place in the industry for everyone. Access the transcript and a searchable library of content at the Cool Vector Substack. #datacenter #digitalinfrastructure #computerscience

  6. Jul 7

    The Saga Behind NYC's Free Public Wifi

    Walter Cannon helped create and implement LinkNYC, the project that brought free public Wi-Fi to all five boroughs of New York City. Cannon tells Cool Vector about how the project came to be under the Bloomberg Administration, as well as the logistical and political hurdles of rolling out thousands of Wi-Fi kiosks. Looking ahead, Cannon - a self-described "all-around technology guy" — discusses the growing need for low-latency infrastructure closer to end users, especially as AI adoption becomes more widespread. Access the transcript and a searchable library of content at the Cool Vector Substack:  #datacenter #digitalinfrastructure #newyorkcity #wifi

  7. Jul 7

    Bringing AI into Construction Management

    Artificial intelligence tools are being adopted across construction, including digital infrastructure construction, says Indigo Pinto, Co-Founder IBB Solutions, a management firm for digital infrastructure construction projects. Pinto is also an ambassador for Nomad Futurist, and she reflects on discovering Nomad Futurist and how the phrase "the future is now" resonated with her view of the industry's trajectory, particularly when it comes to the rising generation of talent entering the field. Access the full transcript and a searchable library of content at the Cool Vector Substack. #datacenter #digitalinfrastructure #constructionmanagement #coolvector

  8. Jun 24

    Optimizing Data Center Design from 'Chip to Chiller'

    The data center industry is leaving enormous value on the table by failing to apply chip-level simulation techniques to the full infrastructure stack, argues Sherman Ikemoto of Cadence. Closing the “chip-to-chiller” design gap is now an existential requirement, given the pace of AI compute density growth. In an in-depth Cool Vector interview, Cadence’s Group Director of Business Development describes how “the timescales to build chips, and to build the facilities that house the chips, are totally different. So there's this natural massive gap in the design chain.” Key takeaways from Ikemoto’s interview: • If data center developers are able to compress a 24-month AI factory standup to 18 or 16 months, that translates directly into billions of dollars of accelerated return. • For three decades, rack power density grew ~10% annually. In the AI era, it has jumped to 60–100% per year—an order-of-magnitude acceleration that fundamentally breaks traditional data center cooling technologies and design methodologies. • Backing off GPU power utilization by 10–20% frees up enough headroom to add more GPUs to the same power envelope. Access the full transcript and a searchable content library at the Cool Vector Substack: https://coolvector.substack.com/p/from-chip-to-chiller?r=4tjd55 #datacenter #digitalinfrastructure #ai

See All (66)

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Cool Vector covers the rise of data centers and the digital infrastructure investment asset class. Through interviews and panel discussion with leaders in operations, capital, energy, real estate and technology, Cool Vector offers in-depth, lively conversations with the entire ecosystem of the booming digital infrastructure world. Cool Vector is produced by financial journalist David Snow in partnership with long-time data center operators Phillip Koblence and Nabeel Mahmood.  Full episodes of Cool Vector live on Apple Podcasts and other podcast channels, and video clips are shared on LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram. The Cool Vector video-podcast homepage is here: https://coolvectormedia.com/ Socials: LinkedIn linkedin.com/company/cool-vector-media/posts/?feedView=all Instagram instagram.com/coolvectormedia TikTok tiktok.com/@coolvectormedia?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc Spotify podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/elatromme Website coolvectormedia.com

Information

  • Creator
    david95a
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    66
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Cool Vector

You Might Also Like