The Data Center Frontier Show

A look at the major trends shaping the data center and HVAC industries in 2026. Key topics include the growing role of high-voltage DC for improved power quality, the rise of liquid cooling, and how air-cooling technologies continue to play a critical part across the data center ecosystem. 

Industry discussions also touch on innovation momentum coming out of recent events, shifting demand toward high growth markets, and the increasing importance of localized manufacturing to reduce lead times, navigate tariffs, and strengthen supply chain resilience—especially as AI driven data center expansion accelerates. 

Themes such as energy efficiency, grid capacity limitations, hybrid cooling approaches, and system level optimization frame a broader question for operators and suppliers alike: Where do you fit within the data center system, and how are you preparing for what comes next?

Subzero Engineering is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Dissolvable Air Barrier (DAB) Panels product line from Cambridge R&D, further expanding Subzero’s portfolio of data center containment solutions and reinforcing its commitment to safety, performance, and turnkey system delivery. 

DAB Panels are a unique overhead containment solution designed to provide effective airflow separation during normal data center operation while dissolving within seconds when exposed to water during sprinkler activation. This dissolvable design helps eliminate falling panel hazards and supports safer fire suppression outcomes—addressing a critical challenge found in traditional rigid overhead containment systems. 

“With this acquisition, we’re strengthening our ability to deliver truly integrated, safety-driven containment solutions,” said Shane Kilfoil, President of Subzero Engineering. “DAB Panels complement our existing containment portfolio and give our customers another proven option to address airflow management and fire safety without compromise.” 

DAB Panels are engineered for both hot aisle and cold aisle containment applications and offer a combination of airflow performance, safety, and installation flexibility. Made from EPA-certified, plant-based cellulose materials, the panels achieve Class A fire and smoke performance, producing low heat and minimal smoke while maintaining visibility for emergency personnel. 

Despite their dissolvable design, DAB Panels remain durable during normal operation—withstanding high static air pressure and maintaining airflow separation where it matters most. Panels can be easily modified in the field to accommodate varying cabinet heights and existing infrastructure, eliminating the need to relocate sprinkler heads and reducing installation time and cost. 

DAB Panels integrate seamlessly across Subzero’s full portfolio of data center containment products, including aisle frames, doors, roofs, and airflow management systems. This unified approach enables Subzero to deliver turnkey containment solutions engineered for performance, safety, and long-term scalability—backed by a single partner and a coordinated system designed to work together.

In this episode of the Data Center Frontier Show, DCF Editor-in-Chief Matt Vincent speaks with Michael Siteman, President of Prodigious Proclivities and a long-time leader and board member within 7x24 Exchange International, about how data center development is being reshaped by AI, power scarcity, network strategy, and community resistance.

Siteman explains how site selection has evolved from a traditional real estate exercise into a far more complex infrastructure challenge.

“The business used to be a pure real estate play,” Siteman says. “Now it’s a systems engineering problem. It’s power, network topology, the real estate itself, and political risk.”

The conversation explores the growing dominance of power in development strategy, including the rapid rise of behind-the-meter generation as utilities struggle to keep pace with demand. Siteman notes that attitudes toward onsite generation have shifted dramatically in just the past few months.

“Six months ago, people would say, ‘If you don’t have grid interconnection, we’re not interested,’” he says. “In the last 30 days, it’s completely different.”

Vincent and Siteman also discuss the balance between network access and power access, the risks of pre-leasing capacity before buildings are completed, and the growing importance of local politics and government relations in getting projects approved.

The episode closes with a look at the widening gap between traditional hyperscale facilities and AI factories, the question of whether AI infrastructure is heading toward a bubble, and the industry’s urgent workforce shortage.

“Data centers don’t run themselves,” Siteman says. “We simply don’t have enough people to build and operate the infrastructure that’s coming.”

This is a grounded, field-level conversation about what is really driving data center development in the AI era, and what the industry will need to solve next.

The AI infrastructure boom is rapidly reshaping how the data center industry thinks about power. What was once a relatively straightforward utility procurement exercise is evolving into a complex strategy spanning onsite generation, fuel logistics, financing, and system architecture.

That reality framed a recent special edition of The Data Center Frontier Show Podcast, which recast and updated a pivotal DCF Trends Summit 2025 session: From Grid to Onsite Powering: Optimizing Energy Behind the Meter for Data Centers. 

Moderated by Fengrong Li, Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting, the panel explored how operators are responding as interconnection timelines stretch and AI workloads surge. Li’s framing emphasized a core shift: onsite power is moving from contingency planning to critical-path infrastructure.

From the OEM perspective, David Blank of Siemens Energy noted that behind-the-meter deployments have accelerated sharply over the past year as developers confront multi-year waits for firm utility capacity.

“Everyone would prefer grid power,” Blank said. “But in many cases, reliable access isn’t available for five, ten, even ten-plus years.”

Panelists agreed that AI’s scale and speed are driving a structural rethink. Brian Gitt of Oklo described the moment as a return to industrial roots, with large loads once again building dedicated generation to meet growth timelines.

At the same time, new technical pressures are emerging. AI clusters can produce sharp load swings, forcing developers to deploy fast-response buffering technologies such as batteries, flywheels, and supercapacitors to maintain stability.

Despite differing technology paths—including gas turbines, hydrogen fuel cells, and advanced nuclear—the panel aligned on one common theme: modularity. Phased power blocks increasingly mirror how AI campuses are actually built and financed.

The discussion also highlighted the growing importance of contract structures. Long-term offtake commitments, capacity reservations, and credit support are increasingly required to unlock equipment queues and fuel supply.

Other panelists included Marty Trivette of AlphaStruxure and Yuval Bachar of ECL. The event was hosted by Data Center Frontier’s Matt Vincent.

The takeaway was clear: in the AI era, energy strategy has moved to the critical path—and for many operators, that path now runs behind the meter.

The data center industry is racing into the AI era with bigger campuses, tighter timelines, and unprecedented infrastructure complexity. But in this episode of The Data Center Frontier Show Podcast, 7x24 Exchange International founding member and Mission Critical Global Alliance (MCGA) board member Dennis Cronin argues the industry’s biggest constraint may be the one it talks about least: people.

Cronin’s message is direct: the “talent cliff” isn’t coming; it’s already here. Based on recent research into open roles, he estimates 467,000 to 498,000 openings in core data center positions (facilities and ops leadership, electrical, generator/UPS, HVAC, controls), plus another ~514,000 emerging roles tied to AI infrastructure, sustainability, and cyber-physical security—bringing the total to roughly one million jobs the industry needs to fill.

A major driver is what Cronin calls the “five-year experience trap”: employers require five years of experience even for entry-level roles, but newcomers can’t get experience without being hired. The result is widespread talent poaching, involving workers jumping from site to site for 10–20% raises, without expanding the overall labor pool.

Cronin also highlights a frequently missed reality in public policy debates: the job multiplier effect. While data centers may have lean direct staffing, they support a much larger ecosystem of contractors, service providers, and manufacturers, from generator and UPS technicians to security integrators and the electrical/mechanical supply chain, many of whom are already scrambling to hire.

On training, Cronin explains why company-run programs and commercial training aren’t enough on their own. Internal academies often produce siloed specialists trained for a single operator’s environment, while commercial courses, often ~$1,000 per day per person, are typically designed to upskill people already in the industry, not onboard new entrants.

MCGA’s strategy focuses on community colleges as the most scalable on-ramp: affordable programs, scholarships, and hands-on labs that can produce strong technicians in two-year degrees. Cronin cites programs at Cleveland Community College (NC), Northern Virginia Community College, and Southside Community College (VA), noting that dozens of schools are exploring data center curricula but funding remains a barrier.

Cronin’s proposed solution is a true workforce ecosystem: outreach, standardized curriculum, certification labs, structured apprenticeships, and employer commitments. He also advocates replacing the “five years” requirement with an entry-level certification that proves foundational knowledge, i.e. acronyms and language, reading one-lines, SOPs/MOPs, and crucially, safety and situational awareness in electrical and mechanical environments.

Finally, Cronin tackles the money question. With $60B in data centers announced this year, he says the industry needs a major, shared investment across operators, vendors, contractors, and manufacturers to fund training and scholarships at scale. The stakes are operational: in an era of gigawatt AI facilities and shrinking margins for error, workforce readiness is now a mission-critical issue.