Sustainability in Data Centers is Seeing Short-Term Setbacks

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1. 

   E51 · 22 May 2026 · 3 min

   Inventory Problems When Hyperscalers 'Buy Everything Out'

   When hyperscalers dominate supply chains by buying out available inventory and capacity, mid-market data center builders are left scrambling, says Kristen Sanderson, SVP at Duos Technologies Group. Sanderson is head of Duos Technologies' newly formed Infrastructure Solutions Group, which operates as a more flexible, nimble alternative to traditional big-box distribution, taking a strategic, project-specific approach to sourcing rather than speculative stocking. Sanderson, speaking on the sidelines of the 2026 Pacific Telecommunications Council, tells Cool Vector sees a significant market gap…

2. 

   E50 · 20 May 2026 · 5 min

   In Hawaii, Digital Infrastructure is a Public-Private Mandate

   Hawaii is embarking on a major upgrade of its digital infrastructure, intended to make the Aloha State more competitive as a digital hub, according to Garret Yoshimi, VP for Information Technology and CIO of the University of Hawaii. "This is a really big investment for the state," Yoshimi tells Cool Vector. "It's public funds going into this space, really intending to lift all boats in terms of infrastructure." The University of Hawaii's role in this build-out is to leverage its deep research and education partnerships to position the state as a regional hub, making resilient, multi-path…

3. 

   E49 · 20 May 2026 · 4 min

   Hawaii Studies Mainland Data Center Trends to 'Stay Ahead of the Curve'

   Rosa White, CFO and Co-founder of DR Fortress, Hawaii’s largest data center company, says Hawaii's position as a tier-three market allows her company to see what unfolds on the mainland and globally first. DR Fortress owns a 65,000-square-foot data center in Honolulu, and is now pursuing a three-megawatt expansion, paced deliberately to stay one step ahead of incoming demand from the hyperscalers and AI providers that are increasingly eyeing Hawaii as an edge market. Access the transcript and a searchable archive of content on the Cool Vector Substack:…

4. 

   E48 · 19 May 2026 · 4 min

   Bullish About the Tier-Two Data Center Opportunity

   Demand for co-location from local enterprises remains strong in second-tier US cities, says Kevin Bostik, CFO of DartPoints, in an interview with Cool Vector. Speaking on the sidelines of the 2026 Pacific Telecommunications Council, Bostik says smaller cities will remain in play as enterprise customers need to push workloads closer to the edge. Bostik also describes the unique role that a CFO plays at a digital infrastructure company in securing the best capital structures with the right partners up front, given the typically large capital commitments required at the outset of a development.…

5. 

   E47 · 12 May 2026 · 8 min

   Oracle's '300 Miles Per Hour' AI Tailwind

   From his vantage point advising 15,000 Oracle enterprise customers, Scott Charter sees AI being rapidly integrated into the operating systems of modern business. Speaking on the sidelines of the DCD New York event in March, Charter, Director of AI Strategy for North America at Oracle, tells Cool Vector how AI is reshaping everything from hiring and benefits management to quarterly financial closes — and believes the demand curve has no ceiling. "I remind you: today's AI is the worst AI you'll ever see,” Charter tells Cool Vector. “A month from now, two months from now, a year from now, it…

6. 

   E45 · 5 May 2026 · 7 min

   MIT Grads Build 'S&P 500, But For Compute'

   Two recent MIT graduations have launched “the S&P 500 for compute” in order to allow digital infrastructure market participants to better hedge against price fluctuations. Having graduated last year, Kush Bavaria, Co-Founder and CEO, and Wayne Nelms, Co-Founder and CTO, launched ORNN as an index fund for components necessary for compute fed into the infrastructure. Nelms spoke with Cool Vector on the sidelines of the DCD New York event in March. “If compute costs drop too much, [vendors] go underwater,” Nelms told Cool Vector. “So they sell futures. And then enterprises, if compute costs…

7. 

   E44 · 24 Apr 2026 · 11 min

   In the Digital Infrastructure Deal Market, 'Most of 2026 is Spoken For'

   Suffice it to say that Richard Lukaj has been busy - the Co-Founder of digital-infrastructure focused investment bank Bank Street has advised on a torrent of transcations accross data centers and fiber networks, and says the deal pace and complexity is such that "most of 2026 is spoken for." Speaking at a Bank Street networking event in Honolulu, Hawaii, during PTC 2026, Lukaj shares with Cool Vector a number of market insights, including these key takeaways: Digital infrastructure laggards will be absorbed by stronger players: "There will be folks who drive into what is currently an…

8. 

   E43 · 20 Apr 2026 · 10 min

   Hydrogen Will Fuel the First Zero-Emission Gigawatt Data Center

   Is a zero-emission, gigawatt data center possible? The CEO of EdgeCloudLink says yes, but only if developers are capable of substituting hydrogen for natural gas as a source of energy. Speaking on the sidelines of the DCD New York event in March, Bachar tells Cool Vector his company already runs a zero-emission data center in Mountain View, California. The success gave ECL and partners the ambition to aim for a gigawatt project in Texas. Bachar estimates pipeline hydrogen runs at roughly six to seven cents per kilowatt hour, on par with natural gas, making the economics more competitive than…

9. 

   E42 · 16 Apr 2026 · 10 min

   'The Use Cases are There, the Infrastructure is Not'

   Hyperscalers increasingly will realize they don’t need mega data centers, which, by the way, are becoming targets in military conflicts, according to industry veteran Tony Grayson. As the former President of Compass Datacenters and then Northstar Enterprise and defense, Grayson has long been at the forefront of modular data centers that serve the edge compute needs of the digital infrastructure landscape. On the sidelines of the 2026 PTC event in Honolulu, Grayson spoke with Cool Vector about a range of topics. As a former commander of a US Navy nuclear submarine, Grayson has strongly…

10. 

    E29 · 1 Oct 2025 · 43 min

    The Modular Future of Data Centers is Coming to a Parking Lot Near You

    Agentic 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…