The Open Compute Project Podcast

Challenges, Metrics, and Allies in Women in OCP with Shruti Sethi

In this second installment of the Women in OCP series, host Rob Coyle goes deeper with Shruti Sethi, Sr. Product Manager on Azure Storage at Microsoft, OCP Sustainability Steering Committee rep, and Women in OCP Co-Lead. Where Part 1 covered the founding and structure of the group, this conversation digs into the harder questions: the real challenges the initiative faces, how it measures progress, what it will take to scale, and, critically, why male allies and non-women supporters are not just welcome, but essential. Shruti's perspective bridges her sustainability work with Microsoft Azure and her leadership at Women in OCP, making this a rich and candid conversation about what meaningful inclusion actually looks like in the data center industry.What You'll LearnThe real operational challenges of running a geographically distributed community — and how Women in OCP is adaptingWhy keynote abstract submissions are the most tangible, front-and-center metric for measuring women's representation at OCP Global SummitHow Women in OCP tracks membership growth as a leading indicator of community health (230+ members and climbing)Plans to collaborate with external women's groups such as Women in Tech and Women in Mission CriticalWhy scaling across all OCP technical domains — networking, security, sustainability, cooling, and more — is a deliberate priorityA clear and direct message: Women in OCP is open to all supporters, regardless of genderHow the group plans to build internal alliances with OCP domain sub-groups to ensure representation across the boardChapters0:00 — Introduction — Meet Shruti Sethi, Microsoft Azure PM and Women in OCP Co-Lead1:00 — Real Challenges — Geography, Virtual Events, and Bridging the Personal Connection Gap2:59 — Representation on Stage — The Keynote Abstract Problem and How to Fix It6:34 — Measuring Impact — Membership Growth, Summit Momentum, and Key Metrics7:58 — What's Next — External Partnerships, Industry Collaboration, and Scaling Across OCP Domains12:15 — Allyship and Open Invitation — Why Women in OCP Welcomes EveryoneAbout Shruti SethiShruti Sethi is a Senior Product Manager on the Azure Storage team at Microsoft, where her work centers on the intersection of cost efficiency and carbon efficiency — end-to-end environmental and economic impact across cloud infrastructure. At OCP, she serves on the Sustainability Steering Committee and is Co-Lead of Women in OCP alongside Sung Kim of bp Castrol. Shruti brings a systems-level perspective to both her technical product work and her community leadership, approaching inclusion as an industry-wide challenge that requires cross-organizational solutions.About the Open Compute ProjectThe Open Compute Project (OCP) is a collaborative community committed to redesigning hardware technology to efficiently support the growing demands of data centers. Its members span the entire data center value chain — from hardware manufacturers to hyperscalers — sharing open designs and best practices that advance the industry as a whole.Connect with the OCP Podcast:Join our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/opencompute/Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/OpenComputePrjJoin our LinkedIn Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4152886/Follow our Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/4284419/

Building Community and Breaking Barriers: Women in OCP with Sung Kim of bp Castrol

In this episode, host Rob Coyle sits down with Sung Kim, Global Head of Technology for Data Center Liquid Solutions at bp Castrol and Co-Lead of Women in OCP, to discuss how a simple observation at an OCP summit sparked a thriving initiative that is reshaping how women are represented across the data center industry. From founding the Women in OCP group to hosting its first Women and AI luncheon co-sponsored by Nvidia and Lenovo, Sung shares the journey, the challenges, and the collective energy that is driving real change at the industry level.What You'll LearnHow Women in OCP was founded and why the timing was rightThe mission to address gender representation at the industry level — not just within individual companiesHow the group is structured, governed, and organized through a bi-weekly planning committeeKey events including the Global Summit breakfast, regional networking sessions, and the Women and AI luncheonInsights from community feedback: mentorship programs, safe spaces vs. inclusive allies, and geography as a challengePlans for 2026 including expanding mentorship and regional chaptersHow to get involved and subscribe to Women in OCP updatesChapters0:00 — Introduction — Meet Sung Kim, Global Head of Data Center Technology at bp Castrol0:33 — What Is Women in OCP? — Origin Story and Why It Was Needed1:44 — Mission and Goals — Driving Industry-Level Inclusion Across the Value Chain3:38 — Structure, Events, and Community Building — How the Group Operates6:23 — Challenges and Surprises — Geography, Feedback, and Navigating Inclusion9:08 — Successes, Looking Ahead, and How to Get Involved with Women in OCPAbout Sung Kim Sung Kim is the Global Head of Technology for Data Center Liquid Solutions at bp Castrol, where she oversees product development, research, testing, and technical partnership activity across a global team spanning the United States, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. At OCP, Sung serves as a Sustainability Co-Lead and is the founder and Co-Lead of Women in OCP, a community initiative dedicated to increasing the visibility, representation, and leadership of women across the data center and technology industry.About the Open Compute ProjectThe Open Compute Project (OCP) is a collaborative community committed to redesigning hardware technology to efficiently support the growing demands of data centers. Its members span the entire data center value chain, from hardware manufacturers to hyperscalers, sharing open designs and best practices that advance the industry as a whole.Connect with the OCP Podcast:Join our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/opencompute/Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/OpenComputePrjJoin our LinkedIn Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4152886/Follow our Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/4284419/

Solving Data Center Demands: Australia's Macquarie and OCP

Rob Coyle sits down with David Hirst, CEO of Macquarie Data Centres, for a deep look at the rapid changes shaping data centers in the age of AI. David shares why Australia’s sovereign approach matters, how AI workloads are shifting design from “real estate” to “chip-out thinking,” and why early collaboration across hyperscalers, government, and the supply chain is becoming essential.They explore the unique nature of the Australian market, the rise of liquid cooling and megawatt-per-rack designs, what it takes to build IC3 Super West, and how culture, regulation, and geopolitics all influence where and how AI infrastructure gets built.A thoughtful conversation for anyone working in AI infrastructure, colocation, hyperscale strategy, or global data centre planning.Chapters00:00 – Introduction00:27 – Why Australia Is a Prime Data Centre Hub01:52 – How AI Changed Everything03:23 – Planning for Bursty, Unpredictable AI Workloads04:28 – Liquid Cooling and Blurred Boundaries06:17 – What Makes the Australian Market Different08:35 – Building in Dense Cities and Working With Communities10:12 – AI, Culture, and Data Sovereignty11:22 – Local Requirements and Power Challenges12:57 – Long-Term Operators vs Short-Term Developers16:20 – Compliance as a Market Advantage18:45 – The Critical Role of Data Centres in Modern Life20:22 – Inside IC3 Super West21:56 – Designing for a Fast-Changing Future23:51 – Why AI Behaves Differently Than Cloud26:43 – The Rise of CDU Innovation28:09 – Building for 2030 and Beyond33:27 – What Keeps David Optimistic

TI and the Future of AI Power: Smarter Systems from Grid to Gate

Texas Instruments is known for semiconductors, calculators, and decades of design expertise. In this episode, Chris Suchoski shows how TI is becoming a full grid-to-chip partner for the next wave of data center growth. Rob and Chris break down what it takes to power AI, how architectures are shifting, and why TI’s deep experience outside the four walls of the data center matters now more than ever.Chris outlines the pressure facing the industry. AI workloads are growing at a rate the traditional design cycle cannot match. Time-to-market has gone from years to months, yet the expectations for density, power, sustainability, and reliability continue to climb. TI’s response is to support the entire power path from the grid to the GPU. Their goal is to help customers move faster and build systems that can take on the new wave of compute demand.They discuss the shift from conventional rack design to high-voltage architectures like 800V, the rise of megawatt-class racks, and what happens when unpredictable AI workloads collide with an aging set of power assumptions. Chris explains why this shift impacts every part of the ecosystem, from AC distribution to cooling to storage systems. He also talks through how TI’s decades of work in automotive, industrial, and grid power translate directly into the needs of hyperscale and AI operators.The conversation also highlights how collaboration through OCP speeds progress. Standards development, shared learning, and early visibility into architectural trends help companies build aligned solutions. Chris explains why TI participates heavily in OCP working groups and why he sees it as one of the best ways for operators and engineers to keep up with rapid change.Chapters:00:00 Introduction01:00 Meet Chris Suchoski and TI’s data center focus03:00 Why timelines are shrinking04:00 AI workloads and unpredictable power demand06:00 TI’s role beyond the compute tray08:00 Grid-to-chip: TI’s end-to-end approach10:00 Lessons from automotive and grid power12:00 Why OCP collaboration matters14:00 The shift to 800V architectures17:00 What Gen4 power architectures may look like19:00 Cooling, reliability, and emerging risks21:00 TI’s latest hardware and reference designs24:00 Hidden bottlenecks and future challenges26:00 What operators and engineers should prepare for28:00 How to engage with TI and get involved in OCP

Power must change or data centers stall

AI clusters are exploding in size and pushing the limits of today’s data center power and network designs. In this episode, host Rob Coyle sits down with JP Buzzell, VP and Data Center Chief Architect at Eaton, to break down why power architecture has become the next big bottleneck and how the industry can respond.JP explains how data center design has hit a turning point. Density jumped from a few kilowatts a rack to more than 100 kW almost overnight. The move from many small, varied workloads to massive, synchronized GPU clusters has changed everything from physical layouts to network physics. Packet loss now dictates rack layout. Space inside the rack has run out. Cooling had to evolve not just for efficiency, but simply to fit the gear. And power distribution needs a complete rethink.The conversation covers the shift toward direct current power, why AC inside the rack cannot scale to the clusters coming next, and the role OCP is playing in driving standards, regulation, and cross-industry cooperation. JP also shares the human motivation behind this work, from medical breakthroughs to a cleaner, safer grid.This is a clear and practical explanation of a topic that will shape the future of data centers for years to come.00:00 – Why data center design is changing02:15 – The jump in rack density04:20 – Liquid cooling’s real driver06:50 – Power congestion inside the rack08:30 – JP Buzzell’s background10:45 – Building hyperscale GPU clusters14:40 – The power bottleneck hits18:00 – Training vs inference reliability20:40 – We’re still in the “light bulb era” of AI22:10 – What slows DC adoption25:00 – Inside the OCP power distribution effort29:30 – Grid stability and load drops34:00 – Modular power and offsite build38:45 – The next wave of power tech41:00 – Global standards and interoperability51:55 – Final message: feed the good wolf