The QTS Experience

Hosted by Dave McCall

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100

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Aug 2026

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About the show

The most valuable commodity on earth today is data. How we make it, use it, move it & protect it. Join David McCall as he invites guests from all industries to talk about how they use data to drive their business & innovation in their market.

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August 5, 2026Episode 2561 hr 23 min

Ep. 256 - Jake Dukes: On Good Neighbors and Cucumbers That Taste Like Kit Kats

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

July 22, 2026Episode 25558 min

Ep. 255 - James Brogan: The Most Important Number on a Job Site That No One Is Measuring

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

July 9, 2026Episode 2541 hr 0 min

Ep. 254 - Rob Hopewell: It’s Not a Bubble, and Your Phone Is a Data Center (Yes, That One)

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

June 25, 2026Episode 2531 hr 40 min

Ep. 253 - Luke Saladyga: The Power Ran Out. Here’s Who’s Racing to Build More.

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

June 12, 2026Episode 2521 hr 46 min

Ep. 252 - Why Saying “Diesel” Now Feels Like Yelling “Mufasa” — Jim McDonald on Backup Power

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

June 10, 2026Episode 25155 min

Ep. 251 - Rahul Kar: The Power We Need Is Already Here — We’re Just Not Using It

We’re all chasing the same thing: safe, affordable, local power. Rahul Kar thinks we keep overlooking the easiest source of it — the power already sitting unused inside our own data centers. He’s convinced it’s hiding in plain sight, and he explains it with a kids’ story. Chapters: 00:00:00 From Boston to Redwood City: an engineer’s “five grand challenges” 00:06:53 Hammerhead AI for non-engineers: the two-toy-car rule 00:09:49 Why data centers run at 30–40% capacity (and why it’s by design) 00:15:41 Plain English: training vs. inferencing, and what a “token” is 00:21:06 Visibility first: how operators stop over-building 00:24:43 Turning stranded power into net-new, flexible workloads 00:28:14 Reliability, community trust, and being a good steward 00:31:56 Resilience by distribution: many sites, one brain (the 60-millisecond point) 00:35:07 From virtual power plants to AI orchestration 00:41:46 Small Is Beautiful vs. The Bitter Lesson: the tension driving the company 00:49:08 The “easy button,” and the one big idea: a utilization crisis, not a power crisis References and Links: Rahul Kar (guest) — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rahulkar Hammerhead AI (guest’s company): hammerheadco.ai AutoGrid — Rahul Kar’s prior company; pioneered software-defined “virtual power plants” and was later acquired by Schneider Electric E. F. Schumacher, “Small Is Beautiful” (1973) — the economics-of-scale idea Rahul cites as a guiding influence Richard Sutton, “The Bitter Lesson” (2019) — the essay arguing that brute-force compute tends to beat hand-designed methods; Rahul calls Sutton “the father of reinforcement learning” Dean Nelson — named as a longtime champion of the do-more-with-what-you-have mindset; associated with Sun Microsystems Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC) — the industry conference where David spoke on a panel Rahul attended 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

June 4, 2026Episode 2501 hr 31 min

Ep. 250 - Why a Finance Professor Calls Data Centers the New Railroads — Saurav Roychoudhury

Most people think the cloud floats. Saurav Roychoudhury, a Capital University economist, ran the numbers on Ohio’s data centers and found concrete, copper, and a whole lot of jobs. We get into ripple effects, why community trust is the real bottleneck, and whether any of this is zero-sum. Chapters: 00:00:00 From Calcutta to Capital University: the unlikely data center economist 00:02:31 How the Ohio Chamber’s data center study came to be 00:04:58 “It’s not ethereal”: what the cloud is actually made of 00:05:44 Inside the method: IMPLAN modeling and 30-plus interviews 00:07:53 The real bottleneck — power and water are solvable, trust is harder 00:08:42 “We want it, just not in our backyard”: the clean-water parallel 00:10:58 The mystery box: what’s really running inside a data center 00:19:11 Why the job count lags: a federal code updated only every five years 00:25:09 Ripple effects, and why above-median wages matter 00:35:06 Ohio, the third-largest data center market in the U.S. 00:40:11 Data centers vs. the dot-com boom and the railroads: a GDP comparison 00:47:48 A view from India: 1.4 billion people, less capacity than New Albany 00:50:04 Send an evangelist, not just engineers: how to earn community trust 01:08:00 New Albany’s tax innovation and the Chromebook check 01:24:05 Behind-the-meter power and a stronger grid for everyone 01:28:05 “What are we for?” Why this isn’t a zero-sum game Links: Saurav Roychoudhury — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sauravrc Capital University — Economics: capital.edu/academics/majors-and-minors/economics The Economic Impact Study of Data Centers in Ohio — by SRC EvalMetrics LLC (the guest’s firm) for the Ohio Chamber of Commerce Research Foundation: ohiochamberfoundation.com — data center study PwC, “Economic, Environmental, and Social Impacts of Data Centers in the United States” — commissioned by the Data Center Coalition (referenced ~00:27:32): datacentercoalition.org/reports-and-publications IMPLAN — the input-output economic modeling system used in the study (~00:05:44): implan.com 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

May 22, 2026Episode 24936 min

Ep 249. The Atlanta Conn3ct Data Summit 2026

Join us for a live discussion from Truist Park at the 2026 Atlanta Conn3ct Data Summit where we discuss the very real challenge of educating and attracting the work force of the future. 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

May 20, 2026Episode 2481 hr 31 min

Ep. 248: Cosme Garcia - A Wrench Still Beats a Backflipping Robot, and Other Useful Truths

Cosme Garcia didn't plan to work in data centers — a project manager got sick, somebody asked him to fill in, and three decades later he's still here, still curious, and still trying to be the least smart person in the room. We talk about wrenches, weather, and what to tell your kid. Chapters: 00:00 How Cosme Accidentally Ended Up in Data Centers 02:00 Exodus Communications and Learning Power and Cooling the Hard Way 08:30 Why Being the Least Smart Person in the Room Is the Goal 10:30 The Question Cosme Is Asking: When Do We Use AI on Ourselves? 14:00 From a Refrigerator-Sized Gigabyte to a 250-Gigabyte Phone 18:40 Even the Lineman on the Pole Now Depends on a Massive Building 22:00 The Cold War Between IT Teams and Facilities Teams 29:30 Jim Gao, DeepMind, and the Variable Nobody Predicted 35:00 Why Humans Are Bad at Patterns and Casinos Are Good at Them 41:30 Too Many AI Tools, Not Enough Time: Where Do You Even Start? 46:30 Agentic AI: Beyond Prompts, Toward Work That Does Itself 54:00 Trust, IBM, and Picking a Partner When the Market Is Crowded 59:30 Are Our Jobs at Risk? Which Ones, and Why a Wrench Still Wins 1:06:00 QTS Grew 20-Fold; Staffing Didn't. Here's What Happened. 1:14:00 What Will Force the Next Wave: Power, Competition, and One Senior Leader 1:21:00 Advice for the 26-Year-Old: Be Fearful or Be the Person Who Figured It Out Reference Links: Google / DeepMind data center efficiency work — the project Jim Gao led that applied machine learning to data center cooling optimization. Public reference: https://deepmind.google/discover/blog/deepmind-ai-reduces-google-data-centre-cooling-bill-by-40/ Cosme Garcia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosmegarcia/ 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

May 6, 2026Episode 2471 hr 5 min

Ep. 247: The Gigawatt Era Is Here: Bill Kleyman on Power, Bravery, and Fearless Curiosity

Bill Kleyman, CEO of Apolo, says the gigawatt era is here, and our industry has to grow up fast. We get into power as a relationship, the new physical security frontline, why every data center is becoming an AI data center, and what bravery actually looks like in this market. Chapters: 00:00 Cold Open: The Energetic Chipmunk on a Barrel of Oil 01:20 Welcome to the Gigawatt Era - Why It Is Already Here 06:31 The Outsider Reaction: When Trillions of Chips Sound Like a Threat 09:06 Listening to the Skeptics: A High School DECA Lesson and a GDC Backstage 23:36 Plant Seeds, Do Not Win Arguments - The Communication Playbook 24:50 Power Is Not a Line Item, It Is a Relationship 32:23 Bravery Defined: Big Decisions With Eyes Wide Open 38:14 Cloud, AI, and the Electrification Moment for Digital Infrastructure 44:02 The New Frontline: Physical Security in the AI Era 54:42 Tools of the Adversary: Drones, Wireless, and What Comes Next 59:38 The Catalyst, the Targets, and the Closing Charge of Fearless Curiosity Links and References: Bill Kleyman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billkleyman Apolo (Bill’s company): https://www.apolo.us Bill Kleyman personal site: https://billkleyman.com AFCOM article — "2026: The Gigawatt Era Begins" (Bill’s monthly AFCOM piece referenced at the top of the episode). Read it here AFCOM State of the Data Center 2026 — the 10th-anniversary edition of the report Bill authored. The "human threats overtaking ransomware" and "84% changing physical security" figures both come from this report. AFCOM resources AFCOM forthcoming security article — "The New Frontline: Securing Data Centers in an AI Era," scheduled for AFCOM publication the Friday of the recording week. AFCOM news feed Bastille Networks (referenced for wireless / drone-based facility security): https://bastille.net Volta Grid (referenced for behind-the-meter natural gas generation): https://www.voltagrid.com Schneider Electric Innovation Summit (where Bill heard the 200 GW projection): https://www.se.com/us/en/work/campaign/innovation/summit.jsp NVIDIA GTC 2026 (Jensen Huang trillions-of-chips and 600 kW rack reference): https://www.nvidia.com/gtc Game Developers Conference (GDC) - Bill’s Luminary Stage talk: https://gdconf.com Nomad Futurist (industry talent and education organization Bill is on the board of): https://nomadfuturist.org Infrastructure Masons (where Bill chairs the Education Committee): https://imasons.org AFCOM (where Bill is Data Center World Program Chair): https://afcom.com 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