The Godfather of AI Ready Data Centers | OCOLO CEO & Founder Tony Rossabi

Jun 16, 2026

AI is reshaping digital infrastructure, but the biggest challenge isn't always building bigger data centers, it's finding the power to run them.

In this episode of Uplink, Michael Reid sits down with Tony Rossabi, Founder & CEO of OCOLO, to discuss how AI is changing the data center industry and what it takes to deliver the next generation of infrastructure.

Tony shares insights from decades of experience as an operator, builder, and investor across the data center ecosystem. The conversation explores power availability, liquid cooling adoption, retrofit opportunities, permitting challenges, infrastructure planning, and the realities of bringing new capacity online in an increasingly constrained market.

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Chapters:

00:00 Welcome And Guest Backstory

04:10 Ocolo And The Data Center Marketplace

10:15 The Scramble For Space And Power

15:00 Liquid Cooling And Rushed Builds

21:20 Why Beyond Builds 10MW Sites

26:45 Permitting Pushback And Public Myths

32:40 Land, Grid Access, And Redundancy

41:30 AI Demand, Cloud Growth, And Capital

46:50 Electricians, Workforce, And Real Jobs

52:00 PTC, Boards, And Industry Community

56:10 Stranded Power, Fiber, And Inference

59:30 Final Thoughts And Wrap