Shows
Cool VectorLike Data Centers, Real Estate Once was Absent From Institutional PortfoliosThe future of the digital infrastructure asset class can be seen in the history of the real estate asset class, experts from PREA and Five Point Infrastructure tell Cool Vector.
A mountain of institutional capital is eyeing data centers, but investors - including US pension funds - can often spend years studying a new asset class before beginning to allocate to it. Real estate is a good example of this journey from a niche opportunity, deemed uninvestable by institutional capital, to an enormous, universally embraced, mature asset class.
Cool Vector spoke with two institutional investment ex...
2025-11-1021 minCool VectorECP Was Buying Power Plants When They Were Out of StyleEnergy Capital Partners, among the most dominant energy players in the global data center market, now sees an upside potential to its many power-plant sites that did not exist during decades of zero-growth in the electricity markets, says Andrew Gilbert, a Partner at ECP.
Gilbert recently sat for an interview with Cool Vector, during which he described ECP's response the surging demand for energy out of the digital infrastructure and manufacturing spaces.
ECP has become a highly sought-after power-infrastructure partner for the data-center industry by financing and operating generation platforms that directly underpin hyperscale and cl...
2025-11-0329 minCool VectorThor Equities' New Data Center Head Learned a Lot at GoogleWhile at Google, where he led data center acquisitions across North America, Raj Vohra learned "we're just scratching the surface of what the world needs for compute capacity," says Vohra, now the head of data center investing for Thor Equities.
"We'll see evolutions of different product types," Vorha tells Cool Vector in a wide-ranging interview. "There's going to be a lot of demand in a lot of different forms over the foreseeable future."
Vorha speaks with Cool Vector's David Snow about what he learned at Google about data centers, and what Thor Equities' approach will...
2025-10-1016 minCool VectorThe Modular Future of Data Centers is Coming to a Parking Lot Near YouAgentic AI is driving the use of modular data centers, according to Tony Grayson, former President of Compass Datacenters, and now President and General Manager of Northstar Federal and Northstar Enterprise & Defense, where he has innovated modular data centers designed to bring flexibility and efficiency to a market in which technology evolves faster than traditional large-scale data centers can keep up with.
Grayson is a well-known leader within the data center world. In a lively conversation with his friends and industry sojourners Phillip Koblence and Nabeel Mahmood, Grayson talks about the frustrating history and bright future of...
2025-10-0143 minCool VectorEQT, DigitalBridge and Zayo See 'Gargantuan' Upside in Fiber NetworksTwo of the world's biggest digital infrastructure investors - EQT and DigitalBridge - are bullish about fiber networks, and tell Cool Vector why.
The long-term bet on fiber began in 2019, when EQT and DigitalBridge jointly took Zayo private in a $14 billion transaction. In March 2025, the group announced another wave of investment - Zayo's acquisition of Crown Castle's fiber solutions business for $4.25 billion, and EQT Active Core Infrastructure's acquisition of the Crown Castle small-cells business for $4.25 billion.
In a recent interview, Cool Vector's David Snow and Phillip Koblence caught up with Arnav Mitr...
2025-09-1135 minCool VectorRetrofitting Old Data Centers is Harder Than You ThinkThe moment its construction begins, a new data center becomes an old data center, given how fast technology and use-cases are evolving. Retrofitting an existing data center is the only way to save it from obsolescence. But retrofits are more difficult than you might imagine, a panel of experts tell Cool Vector.
This episode of Cool Vector includes Bo Bond, Vice Chair of Cushman & Wakefield, Brian Jabeck, VP Business Development at Bennett & Pless, Phillip Koblence of NYI, Critical Ventures, UIA and Nomad Futurist, and Nabeel Mahmood an industry Top 10 Influencer, CXO and co-founder of Nomad Futurist.
2025-09-0930 minCool VectorConstrained by Grid and Politics, Ireland Looks for a New Era of Data Center GrowthDespite its relatively small size, Ireland is a heavyweight among global data center hubs. But that advantaged position has been thrown into doubt amid political gridlock.
In this episode of Cool Vector, four Irish data center veterans explain why Ireland's continued leadership in data infrastructure will require close cooperation between government and industry, as well as awareness among the general public that, despite energy challenges, data management is among the nation's most important growth industries.
The fascinating conversation includes Christopher Brown, Partner, Global Strategy Group KPMG in Ireland, Garry Connolly, Founder, Digital Infrastructure Ireland, Eugene Finn...
2025-07-2119 minCool VectorHow Crypto Brought Innovation to the Data Center IndustryThe future of the data center industry is being shaped by a use-case pivot among crypto miners, as well as by energy innovations within the crypto industry that make compute more efficient, say two Macquarie Group analysts.
In an interview with Cool Vector, Macquarie senior equities analyst Paul Golding and Charles Yonts, Head of Sustainability Research for Asia at Macquarie, describe the recent evolution of major crypto mining players like CoreWeave, Galaxy Digital, Applied Digital and Core Scientific, and speak on the history of how these companies evolved into data center industry players.
The conversation is...
2025-07-1722 minCool VectorEurope's Tier-Two Data Center Markets Look Increasingly Attractive: DTCPPower constraints in major European data center hubs is driving investment to second-tier markets like Berlin, Madrid and Manchester, says Zahl Limbuwala, Operating Partner at Germany-based investment firm DTCP.
In a Cool Vector interview, Limbuwala explains the evolved landscape for data center investing across Europe, and stresses that knowledge of individual market regulations is critical for success.
Among Limbuwala's key takeaways:
• Europe's fragmented markets are driving investors toward tier-two data center locations. With tier-one hubs like Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin increasingly constrained by power distribution challenges and growing residential encroachment, DTCP sees...
2025-06-1016 minCool VectorData Centers in India 'Very Strategic' for Hyperscalers and Investors, Says CapitaLand InvestmentCapitaLand is building four major data centers in India, taking advantage of what Managing Director Surajit Chatterjee describes as a huge population underserved by digital infrastructure, a supportive government and keen hyperscaler interest in the country.
In an interview with Cool Vector, Chatterjee details the thesis behind CapitaLand's data center strategy in India as well as the macro conditions he argues make the country a prime destination for digital infrastructure investment.
Among the key takeaways from the interview:
• CapitaLand is pursuing a large-campus, hyperscaler-first strategy in India, leveraging its real estate and energy expe...
2025-05-2718 minCool VectorRBC: To Monetize Data Centers, Investors are 'Ring-Fencing' Stabilized AssetsThere is a greenfield development boom in the data center market, and the capital markets for digital infrastructure have rapidly evolved to keep up, drawing attention to risk factors of the many data centers already up and running, says the head of RBC Capital Market's influential data center advisory business.
In a wide-ranging interview with Cool Vector, Shivek Ratnasamy paints the picture of a "booming" but "nuanced" market offering different opportunities to investors across the risk-appetite spectrum. The most pronounced trend, says Ratnasamy, is the practice of securitizing pools of stabilized data center assets to free up...
2025-05-2129 minCool VectorThe Global Supply Chain for Data Centers is More Complicated Than You ThinkHow will the tariff imbroglio impact data center development in the US, which relies heavily on imported components? Cool Vector convened a panel of experts, including the CFO of a major data center company, to compare notes on supply chain disruptions, critical equipment and what happens to compute demand in economic downturns.
This episode of Cool Vector Hot Takes features a lively conversation between John Wilson, CFO of Sabey Data Centers, Philbert Shih, Founder of Structure Research, Nabeel Mahmood of Nomad Futurist Foundation, and Phillip Koblence of Critical Ventures and Nomad Futurist.
Among the key takeaways of the...
2025-05-1128 minCool VectorGI Partners, in Digital Infrastructure Since 2001, Has Advice for NewcomersThe private equity firm that created Digital Realty sees a "wealth of opportunities" in digital infrastructure, but avoids hyperscaler mega-projects, says Mark Prybutok, a Managing Director at GI Partners and Head of the Data Infrastructure strategy.
In 2001, GI Partners made its very first investment as a firm in a portfolio of distressed data centers reeling from the dotcom crash. In 2004, that portfolio was listed publicy as Digital Realty, now the world's largest data-center REIT.
Today, GI Partners has $45 billion in assets under management, and oversees three strategies: private equity, real estate and digital infrastructure. In a wide-ra...
2025-04-1425 minCool VectorFrom Schools to Cattle Ranchers, Demand for Edge Data Center 'Pods' is Surging, Says Duos Edge AIThe launch of a new data center 'pod' business is being met with surging customer demand, highlighting the need for edge digital infrastructure in remote areas, according to the leadership of Duos Edge AI.
In an extensive interview with Cool Vector, Doug Recker, President of Duos Edge AI, and Adrian Goldfarb, CFO of parent company Duos Technologies Group, describe how edge data centers offer an affordable, scalable solution to bring low-latency connectivity to remote regions underserved by traditional infrastructure. “When we drop one of our pods, you’re right around a million dollars," says Recker. "So you can jus...
2025-04-0315 minCool VectorStanford ETA Club Leaders: Interest Has 'Risen Exponentially'Interest in ETA careers is rising "exponentially" among MBA candidates at what is widely regarded as the intellectual birthplace of Entrepreneurship-Through-Acquisition, according to three leaders of the Stanford Graduate School of Business' ETA club.
In a joint interview with Search Party, president Michelle Nguyen and vice presidents Ruby Au and Laura Kiehl share details of the club's mission to prepare students for the rigors of ETA search, in which post-MBA entrepreneurs, backed by investors, have two years to find and acquire a high-quality, lower-middle-market business, and, if successful, take the reins as CEO.
According to A...
2025-04-0123 minCool VectorDenmark's Winning Formula for Sustainable Data CentersHow is it that Denmark, with a population of 6 million, has become a major nexus for sustainable data centers? Cool Vector convened a lively, in-depth conversation with CEOs from Digital Realty, atNorth and Danish Datacenter Industrien to learn the country's formula for public-private collaboration and digital infrastructure success.
Joining the conversation are Pernille Hoffmann, CEO of Digital Realty (Denmark & Nordics), Magnus Kristinsson, CEO of atNorth and Henrik Hansen, CEO of industry advocate Danish Datacenter Industrien.
Some key takeaways from the episode:
Denmark’s proximity to major European markets and multiple subsea cables make it a...
2025-03-2520 minCool VectorHow AVAIO Builds Data Centers with 'Just-in-Time' CapitalData center investment strategies that focus on ground-up development in unconventional locations are more complex, and therefore more likely to generate stronger returns, says Mark McComiskey, a partner at AVAIO Capital.
In an extensive conversation with Cool Vector, McComiskey explains that many private capital firms active in digital infrastructure invest in existing assets, or compete for sites in overheated hubs like Northern Virginia. By contrast, AVAIO is simultaneously developing six sites in less competitive markets, positioning itself as data center provider of choice to large customers.
“The best returns come from building infrastructure where it do...
2025-03-1037 minCool VectorCool Vector Hot Takes: Microsoft’s Contracts, Building in Johor, RE Allocations, Blackstone’s UtilityThis episode of Cool Vector Hot Takes tackles four hot topics in the global digital infrastructure market: 1) Has Microsoft been oversupplied data centers? 2) Inside the plan for Southeast Asia’s largest data center 3) Real estate investor love for data centers keeps rising 4) Blackstone’s low-carbon power move in Virginia’s data center alley.
This round, the Cool Vector editorial team of David Snow, Phillip Koblence and Nabeel Mahmood is joined by Obinna Isiadinso, Global Sector Lead for Data Centers at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a division of the World Bank.
In a lively exchange, our CVH...
2025-02-2826 minCool VectorInfranity, Sustainable Infrastructure Lender, Enters the North American MarketInfranity's ambitions to become a global player in the infrastructure debt market have advanced with the establishment of a US office. Cool Vector caught up with two Infranity partners to learn about the sustainable lending opportunity in North America, the risk-reward profile of co-location data centers and the limits of the energy transition.
Infranity, based in Paris, launched seven years ago in partnership with Italian insurer and asset manager Generali. The firm has a mandate to lend to the expanding infrastructure market in a way that supports sutainability goals, says Sacha Kamp, Investment Managing Director and Head o...
2025-02-1815 minCool VectorLabor Shortage is Bad for Data Centers, Good for Construction SalariesA shortage of construction workers with skills specific to data centers is hindering the growth of digital infrastructure, says Amazon Web Service's former Worldwide Head of Engineering, Construction and Real Estate.
In a wide-ranging Cool Vector interview, Sandra Benson, now Vice President of Industry Transformation at Procore Technologies, says of the global race to construct data centers: “ We literally can't build fast enough. The biggest reason we can't is we don't have the labor to build fast enough. And even if we had the bodies, there's also skill development” necessary.
The proliferation of data center project...
2025-02-0617 minCool VectorEnCap: 'Strange' Power Market Driven by Data Center 'Inelastic Demand'In his 35 years in the power business, EnCap Investment's James Hughes has never seen a market as "strange" as the current one, driven by data center inelastic demand as well as industrial projects across the US.
Hughes is a Managing Partner and head of the EnCap's energy transition business, which last May raised a $1.5 billion fund to invest in power, low-carbon fuels and carbon management. In a wide-ranging interview with Cool Vector, Hughes says hyperscaler demand for data centers has created an attractive supply-demand dynamic for his strategy. "I've never seen a large class of customer, a lar...
2025-02-0326 minCool VectorCool Vector Hot Takes: DeepSeek, Stargate, Private CapitalThe NEW Episode of Cool Vector delves into the sudden rise of DeepSeek, NVIDIA’s share swoon, the implications of overbuilding in the data center space, Stargate’s shock-and-awe, $500 billion digital infra announcement, tough sledding in the private capital markets, and why Phil, Nabeel and David enjoy the topic of data centers so much.
In “Cool Vector Hot Takes,” Phillip Koblence, Nabeel Mahmood, and David Snow engage in a lively, irreverent conversation, drawing on decades of experience in the data center and private capital industries.
Regarding DeepSeek’s more-with-less breakthrough, Koblence says, “ My in...
2025-01-3033 minCool VectorArdian's Nordic Data Center Platform Supports 'Sustainable Compute'Ardian's very first investment in a data center company shows it is "quite convinced on the AI opportunity in Europe," says Pauline Thomson, Head of Data Science and a Managing Director at the $176 billion investment firm Ardian.
In a Cool Vector interview, Thomson describers the thesis behind Ardian's $1.2 billion investment in Verne, an Iceland-based, green data center company with pan-Nordic growth plans. She notes that Iceland is the "only country in the world powered by 100% renewable energy." Verne's other operations in the UK and Finland are similarly focused on renewable power, as is an additional property under deve...
2025-01-2818 minCool VectorTo Bolster its Workforce, Data Centers Must Demystify the CloudThe data center industry is uniquely positioned to integrate workers from a broad array of backgrounds, which is good news, given the rapid aging of the industry's original workforce.
According to three veterans of the industry, more needs to be done to elevate awareness of careers in data centers among workers in other industries, as well as among young people raised in a digital world, but unaware of the physical infrastructure necessary to keep the data flowing.
This wide-ranging Cool Vector conversation includes Phill Lawson-Shanks of Aligned Data Centers, Nabeel Mahmood of Mahmood, and Phillip Koblence...
2025-01-1532 minCool VectorWest Texas Land is Perfect for Data Centers, Says LandBridge FounderDavid Capobianco's company, LandBridge, owns 270,000 surface acres in West Texas, and he's pleased to explain why the land's profitability has tripled in three years. The reason has to do with data centers.
LandBridge is a publicly traded affiliate of Five Point Energy, of which Capobianco is CEO. The company's share price is being carefully watched by investors looking for evidence of a new paradigm in land ownership. Acreage once used primarily for ranching or energy extraction in the Permian Basin is now seen as ideal for data centers.
n an wide-ranging interview with Cool Vector, Capo...
2024-12-1932 minCool VectorActis' Sustainable Strategy in Digital InfrastructurePrivate equity firm Actis is building data centers around the world while maintaining strict standards around sustainable energy, water and social impact. And the firm's impact is about to get bigger. Actis and General Atlantic recently merged to create an $87 billion investment platform, with Actis focused on the huge opportunity in sustainable infrastructure, largely in growth markets across Asia, Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe.
Digital infrastructure is a significant part of the investment mandate for Actis, with 17 offices across the world. The firm draws on its on-the-ground expertise in real estate, renewable energy and infra...
2024-12-1735 minCool VectorEquinix vs. Digital Realty: A Fitch Analyst Talks Data-Center REITsData center real estate investment trusts (REITs), like Equinix and Digital Realty Trust, differ from traditional REITs in their higher operational intensity and reliance on artificial-intelligence tailwinds for growth, says Harold Chen, Director of Commercial Real Estate at Fitch Ratings.
Chen, whose team has assigned investment-grade ratings to Equinix and Digital Realty, says the companies benefit from surging demand related to AI. Of the two, Digital Realty has a higher concentration of hyperscaler customers, defined as big-tech, data-center customers like Microsoft, Mega and Amazon. The upside of hyperscaler concentration is longer-term leases, while the downside is customer...
2024-12-0513 minCool VectorWhy Comp is Surging for Digital Infrastructure Investors and Operators"I kid you not. . . at least once a week, I've got a conversation going with somebody who sits in digital infrastructure private equity, and they say to me, 'If you know somebody, or a team, that does XYZ in the data center space, let me know. I'd love to meet them, because that is the type of business model that we could put hundreds of millions, if not not billions, into.'"
The amount of private capital available for deployment in digital infrastructure investments is far outpacing the supply of operational talent necessary to put i...
2024-11-2232 minCool VectorPartners Group Got the AI Timing Just RightPartners Group was already bullish on AI when, in 2022, the firm invested $1.2 billion in EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure. Then the debut of ChatGPT a few weeks later blew to lid off their initial assumptions of growth.
In the post-ChatGPT world, the hyperscaler market served by EdgeCore saw an "explosion of demand for capacity," says Diffendal who, in a wide-ranging interview, explains the criticality of strong management in responding to the unexpectedly strong leasing activity.
Two years later, the growth of EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure was such that "we basically ran out of money," says Diffendal. In September...
2024-11-1522 minCool VectorBuilding Scale in Wireless Towers, Fiber and Data CentersA conversation with Omar Jaffrey, founder of digital infrastructure private capital firm Palistar Capital, which is currently investing from a $1.9 billion fund.
Jaffrey gives a grand tour through the digital infrastructure investment opportunity, in which he says builders of scale will have advantages in winning customers. He cautions that some investors confuse the full stack of technology, services and human capital involved in the telecommunications industry with core infrastructure, the later of which has a history of more consistent performance.
Among other topics, Jaffrey also makes the case for the long-term durability of infrastructure hard asse...
2024-10-2934 minCool VectorThe Fiber Optic Future With John Siegel of Columbia CapitalJohn Siegel, a Partner at private equity firm Columbia Capital, offers a deep dive into the physical assets necessary to power an AI-driven internet, including the fiber optic cables that connect the growing population of data centers around the world, and the nations jockeying for position to build digital infrastructure hubs.
In a wide-ranging conversation, John shares his views on the demand drivers of information sharing, including not only AI but the massive proliferation of devices that connect to the internet. He details the data center build-out across Asia and explains why governments are so eager to...
2024-09-2652 minCool VectorHow Energy Became 'Existential' to Data CentersDigital infrastructure has a voracious appetite for energy, but the electric utility industry is filled with apprehension and lacks 'muscle memory' to 'build big things,' according to Brian Janous, co-founder of sustainable energy specialist Cloverleaf Infrastructure, as well as the former head of data center energy for Microsoft.
In a wide-ranging interview with Cool Vector, Janous describes how his mandate at Microsoft went from relative obscurity to a top-order concern among the company's leadership. He discusses how data center sites are identified, evaluated and the importance of finding a willing counter-party in the local utility.
2024-09-1836 min
Cool VectorCool Vector: A New Video-Podcast About Data Centers and Digital InfrastructureFinancial journalist David Snow introduces Cool Vector, a new video-podcast that will chart the rise of data centers and the digital infrastructure asset class.
On a regular basis, Cool Vector will convene expert conversations about the role that institutional investment capital will play in the build-out of digital infrastructure around the world, and focus on the overlapping long-term trends of digitalization, the rise of private capital, changing energy demand, changing land and real estate use, innovation in sustainability, national security, and many other topics.
Full video episodes of Cool Vector will live on the Cool...
2024-08-2202 min