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AI Data Centers

Author:

Phill Lawson-Shanks

Chief Innovation Officer
Aligned Data Centers

Phill has more than 25 years of experience identifying new opportunities for further growth of leading data center infrastructure, network architecture, and cloud solutions in the U.S. and abroad.

As Chief Innovation Officer at Aligned, Phill is responsible for the management of revenue generation and profitability objectives, as well as championing key innovation, technology, and sustainability strategies aimed at maximizing new business development.

Prior to joining Aligned, Phill served as Chief Innovation Officer at EdgeConneX, where he was instrumental in driving strategies focused on creating the next generation of network edge-based data centers for the digital content ecosystem. Throughout his career, Phill has also served in numerous senior executive-level positions at Virtacore, Alcatel-Lucent, Savvis (now CenturyLink Technology Solutions), and MCI (now Verizon Digital Media Services). He currently holds eight active technology patents and serves on the Board of Directors for Netrality Data Centers as well as the Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA) Advisory Board.

 

Phill Lawson-Shanks

Chief Innovation Officer
Aligned Data Centers

Phill has more than 25 years of experience identifying new opportunities for further growth of leading data center infrastructure, network architecture, and cloud solutions in the U.S. and abroad.

As Chief Innovation Officer at Aligned, Phill is responsible for the management of revenue generation and profitability objectives, as well as championing key innovation, technology, and sustainability strategies aimed at maximizing new business development.

Prior to joining Aligned, Phill served as Chief Innovation Officer at EdgeConneX, where he was instrumental in driving strategies focused on creating the next generation of network edge-based data centers for the digital content ecosystem. Throughout his career, Phill has also served in numerous senior executive-level positions at Virtacore, Alcatel-Lucent, Savvis (now CenturyLink Technology Solutions), and MCI (now Verizon Digital Media Services). He currently holds eight active technology patents and serves on the Board of Directors for Netrality Data Centers as well as the Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA) Advisory Board.

 

Author:

Tom Traugott

SVP, Strategy
EdgeCore

Tom spearheads EdgeCore’s understanding and adoption of emerging technologies with a current focus on the impacts and demands of AI on the data center ecosystem.  While interacting with a broad spectrum of technologists, industry thought leaders, and community stakeholders, Tom ensures that EdgeCore stays at the forefront of innovation, geographic expansion, and future trends in order to deliver on the company’s promise to provide safe, sustainable, and futureproof data center solutions to the world’s largest cloud and technology companies. Tom’s industry experience began in the post-dot com early 2000s period and stretches through the rise of enterprise wholesale colocation in the 2000s, through the rise of hyperscale cloud in the 2010s, and now generative AI driven world.

Prior to joining EdgeCore, Tom worked for Amazon Web Services, where he was accountable for strategy and execution for new and existing regions across EMEA, APAC, and the Americas, along with diligence and strategy for additional regions under evaluation. Prior to Amazon, Tom was co-practice leader of Cassidy Turley’s (now Cushman & Wakefield’s) Data Center Advisory Practice, focused on end-user representation and capital markets transactions. Tom previously worked at CoreSite Realty Corporation as Regional VP of Sales.

Tom holds a B.A. in Social Studies from Harvard College, with honors.

Tom Traugott

SVP, Strategy
EdgeCore

Tom spearheads EdgeCore’s understanding and adoption of emerging technologies with a current focus on the impacts and demands of AI on the data center ecosystem.  While interacting with a broad spectrum of technologists, industry thought leaders, and community stakeholders, Tom ensures that EdgeCore stays at the forefront of innovation, geographic expansion, and future trends in order to deliver on the company’s promise to provide safe, sustainable, and futureproof data center solutions to the world’s largest cloud and technology companies. Tom’s industry experience began in the post-dot com early 2000s period and stretches through the rise of enterprise wholesale colocation in the 2000s, through the rise of hyperscale cloud in the 2010s, and now generative AI driven world.

Prior to joining EdgeCore, Tom worked for Amazon Web Services, where he was accountable for strategy and execution for new and existing regions across EMEA, APAC, and the Americas, along with diligence and strategy for additional regions under evaluation. Prior to Amazon, Tom was co-practice leader of Cassidy Turley’s (now Cushman & Wakefield’s) Data Center Advisory Practice, focused on end-user representation and capital markets transactions. Tom previously worked at CoreSite Realty Corporation as Regional VP of Sales.

Tom holds a B.A. in Social Studies from Harvard College, with honors.

Author:

Priya Kesavan

Principal, Azure AI Systems Strategy
Microsoft

Priya Kesavan is an AI Strategy Principal at Microsoft. In her current role, she leads the development of long-term strategies and roadmaps for Microsoft's in-house AI hardware systems. In the past, Priya held several leadership positions in product management for SoC and systems development at Intel and Cisco. Driven by a passion for harnessing AI to address complex real-world challenges and improve user experiences, she is a strong advocate for "AI for good." Priya is also committed to empowering women in technology and AI, spearheading initiatives to foster their growth and advancement. She holds a degree in Computer Engineering from Madras University.

 

Priya Kesavan

Principal, Azure AI Systems Strategy
Microsoft

Priya Kesavan is an AI Strategy Principal at Microsoft. In her current role, she leads the development of long-term strategies and roadmaps for Microsoft's in-house AI hardware systems. In the past, Priya held several leadership positions in product management for SoC and systems development at Intel and Cisco. Driven by a passion for harnessing AI to address complex real-world challenges and improve user experiences, she is a strong advocate for "AI for good." Priya is also committed to empowering women in technology and AI, spearheading initiatives to foster their growth and advancement. She holds a degree in Computer Engineering from Madras University.

 

Author:

Raul Martynek

CEO
Databank

Raul Martynek joined DataBank in 2017 as the Chief Executive Officer. In this role, he defines the strategic direction of the company and its operations. Raul is a 20+ year veteran in the telecom and Internet Infrastructure sector. He most recently served as a Senior Advisor for Digital Bridge Holdings LLC. Prior to Digital Bridge, he served as CEO for New Jersey-based data center and managed services operator Net Access, LLC. Net Access was acquired in 2015 by Denver-based data center operator Cologix. 5Prior to Net Access, he was the CEO of Voxel dot Net, Inc., a global managed hosting and cloud company, which was acquired by Internap Network Services Corp. in 2012. Mr. Martynek also served as the Chief Restructuring Officer of Smart Telecom, a Dublin, Ireland-based fiber carrier which was acquired by Digiweb in 2009.

Before that he evaluated investment opportunities in the telecommunications and Internet sector as a Senior Advisor at Plainfield Asset Management, a $4B hedge fund. Prior to Plainfield, Mr. Martynek spent 13 years with telecom and Internet provider InfoHighway Communications Corp; first as Chief Operating Officer of Eureka Networks and then as President and CEO of InfoHighway. InfoHighway was acquired by Broadview Networks in 2007. Mr. Martynek earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Binghamton University and received a Master Degree in International Affairs from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

Raul Martynek

CEO
Databank

Raul Martynek joined DataBank in 2017 as the Chief Executive Officer. In this role, he defines the strategic direction of the company and its operations. Raul is a 20+ year veteran in the telecom and Internet Infrastructure sector. He most recently served as a Senior Advisor for Digital Bridge Holdings LLC. Prior to Digital Bridge, he served as CEO for New Jersey-based data center and managed services operator Net Access, LLC. Net Access was acquired in 2015 by Denver-based data center operator Cologix. 5Prior to Net Access, he was the CEO of Voxel dot Net, Inc., a global managed hosting and cloud company, which was acquired by Internap Network Services Corp. in 2012. Mr. Martynek also served as the Chief Restructuring Officer of Smart Telecom, a Dublin, Ireland-based fiber carrier which was acquired by Digiweb in 2009.

Before that he evaluated investment opportunities in the telecommunications and Internet sector as a Senior Advisor at Plainfield Asset Management, a $4B hedge fund. Prior to Plainfield, Mr. Martynek spent 13 years with telecom and Internet provider InfoHighway Communications Corp; first as Chief Operating Officer of Eureka Networks and then as President and CEO of InfoHighway. InfoHighway was acquired by Broadview Networks in 2007. Mr. Martynek earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Binghamton University and received a Master Degree in International Affairs from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

Author:

Richard Ho

Head of Hardware
OpenAI

Richard Ho is Head of Hardware at OpenAI working to co-optimize ML models and the massive compute hardware they run on. Richard was one of the early engineers working on Google TPUs. Before Google, Richard was part of the D. E. Shaw Research team that built the Anton molecular dynamics simulation supercomputer. Richard started his career as co-founder and Chief Architect of 0-In Design Automation, a pioneer in verification tools for chip design (acquired by Mentor Graphics/Siemens). Richard has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University and M.Eng, B.Sc. from University of Manchester, UK.

Richard Ho

Head of Hardware
OpenAI

Richard Ho is Head of Hardware at OpenAI working to co-optimize ML models and the massive compute hardware they run on. Richard was one of the early engineers working on Google TPUs. Before Google, Richard was part of the D. E. Shaw Research team that built the Anton molecular dynamics simulation supercomputer. Richard started his career as co-founder and Chief Architect of 0-In Design Automation, a pioneer in verification tools for chip design (acquired by Mentor Graphics/Siemens). Richard has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University and M.Eng, B.Sc. from University of Manchester, UK.