Data Center Insights: Joe Capes, Trane Technologies/LiquidStack
The Data Center Frontier Executive Roundtable features insights from industry executives with lengthy experience in the data center industry.
Here’s a look at the Q2 2026 insights from Joe Capes, VP, Trane Technologies and Head of LiquidStack.
As CEO, Joe Capes helped establish LiquidStack as a leading provider of liquid cooling solutions for AI and high-performance computing, driving rapid growth, product innovation, and broad market adoption. Following LiquidStack's acquisition by Trane Technologies in March 2026, he was appointed VP, Trane Technologies and Head of LiquidStack.
Data Center Frontier: As rack densities, cooling demands, and power requirements accelerate simultaneously, where do you see the greatest disconnect today between AI infrastructure ambition and deployment reality?
Joe Capes, Trane Technologies/LiquidStack: Power is still the number one issue in the scale-up of AI. Whether it’s grid capacity, challenges with interconnects, or long lead times for transformers and switchgear, there are many headwinds affecting power availability and distribution. Beyond that, the biggest disconnect I see is that getting infrastructure shipped and getting infrastructure deployed are two very different things, especially when it comes to liquid cooling. There's a huge amount of focus on securing power, GPUs, and capacity.
All of those matter, but none of it creates value until the system is operating the way it's supposed to. What we're seeing across the industry is a push to bring capacity online as quickly as possible, even if it means that the general contractor, operator and tenant have to cut corners. The challenge is that power, cooling, controls, installation, commissioning, and IT all have to come together at the same time. If one piece isn't ready, the whole project can break down. Building the infrastructure is only part of the job. Getting it running reliably is what really matters.
Data Center Frontier: How tightly integrated must power, cooling, and facility operations become to support the next generation of AI deployments?
Joe Capes, Trane Technologies/LiquidStack: AI is changing how data centers are designed and operated. For years, power, cooling, facilities, and IT were often treated as separate areas of responsibility. That's becoming much harder to do. In high-density AI environments, everything is connected. Cooling affects compute performance and reliability. Facility design affects cooling performance. Operational decisions can affect both.
The projects that are being executed well are the ones where everyone is working from the same plan, and communicating efficiently. The more these systems are connected, the more important coordination becomes.
Data Center Frontier: The industry is moving from prototype AI environments toward industrialized deployment at scale. What becomes materially harder once AI infrastructure moves into live production?
Joe Capes, Trane Technologies/LiquidStack: Getting one deployment right is hard. Doing it repeatedly is harder. Most organizations can make a pilot project successful. The challenge starts when you need to deliver the same results across multiple sites while keeping performance, reliability, and timelines on track.
That's where things like standardization of infrastructure, installation, commissioning, and day-to-day operations become much more important. Small issues that don't seem significant in a single deployment can become major problems when you're building at scale.
The companies that will stand-out and prosper over the next few years won't just be the ones that build AI infrastructure, they will be the ones that can scale it, support it and repeat a positive user experience consistently, and do it globally.
About the Author
Matt Vincent
Matt Vincent is Editor in Chief of Data Center Frontier, where he leads editorial strategy and coverage focused on the infrastructure powering cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and the digital economy. A veteran B2B technology journalist with more than two decades of experience, Vincent specializes in the intersection of data centers, power, cooling, and emerging AI-era infrastructure. Since assuming the EIC role in 2023, he has helped guide Data Center Frontier’s coverage of the industry’s transition into the gigawatt-scale AI era, with a focus on hyperscale development, behind-the-meter power strategies, liquid cooling architectures, and the evolving energy demands of high-density compute, while working closely with the Digital Infrastructure Group at Endeavor Business Media to expand the brand’s analytical and multimedia footprint. Vincent also hosts The Data Center Frontier Show podcast, where he interviews industry leaders across hyperscale, colocation, utilities, and the data center supply chain to examine the technologies and business models reshaping digital infrastructure. Since its inception he serves as Head of Content for the Data Center Frontier Trends Summit. Before becoming Editor in Chief, he served in multiple senior editorial roles across Endeavor Business Media’s digital infrastructure portfolio, with coverage spanning data centers and hyperscale infrastructure, structured cabling and networking, telecom and datacom, IP physical security, and wireless and Pro AV markets. He began his career in 2005 within PennWell’s Advanced Technology Division and later held senior editorial positions supporting brands such as Cabling Installation & Maintenance, Lightwave Online, Broadband Technology Report, and Smart Buildings Technology. Vincent is a frequent moderator, interviewer, and keynote speaker at industry events including the HPC Forum, where he delivers forward-looking analysis on how AI and high-performance computing are reshaping digital infrastructure. He graduated with honors from Indiana University Bloomington with a B.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing and lives in southern New Hampshire with his family, remaining an active musician in his spare time.
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