Episode 224: Dagi Berhane – Building Data Centers Where There’s No Power, Water, or Patience from The QTS Experience

Episode 224: Dagi Berhane – Building Data Centers Where There’s No Power, Water, or Patience

1 hour 26 minutes Posted Jun 19, 2025 at 2:00 pm.

Introduction to Dagi Berhane

From Ethiopia to engineering: Dagi’s origin story

Evolution of hardware obsession and data center deployments

The Red Fox Data Center story begins

Building modular data centers in the wild

Getting corporate and government buy-in

Lessons in philanthropy and “positive attrition”

What Dagi would do differently next time

The ”Digital Infrastructure Democratization” initiative

Salesforce’s hybrid data strategy & Hyperforce

Planning for uncertainty at scale

The importance of listening and cross-industry dialogue

Practical training and the role of trust

Digital twin technology for real-world training

How Salesforce preserves culture through transparency

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Show notes

What do you get when you mix solar panels, shipping containers, and sheer willpower? A data center in the wild. Dagi Berhane joins me to talk trust, technology, and why availability should come before sustainability. Also, what happens when your cloud has no internet? (Spoiler: Dagi builds one.)

Guest Links

Dagi Berhane’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dagi-berhane/

Salesforce Website: https://www.salesforce.com/

References & Studies Mentioned

Salesforce 1-1-1 Philanthropic Model: https://www.salesforce.com/company/philanthropy/

Red Fox Data Center Initiative: https://redfoxsolutionsgroup.com/

The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=46

Habitat for Humanity: https://www.habitat.org/

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