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Insights

Notes from the data hall, the substation and the stage.

Field notes on planning compute against power, running AI safely in critical facilities, and recaps of the conversations our founder leads across the industry.

Field notes

How we think about the problem.

Electrical substation with transformers and power lines against a blue sky
Field notesOct 2026 · 6 min

The most expensive megawatt is the one you are waiting for

In a staged AI build, the largest avoidable cost is not energy. It is compute that arrives before the power does. Here is the math, and how to plan it out.

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Aisle between rows of equipment racks in a data hall
Field notesOct 2026 · 7 min

Two verbs are enough: designing AI agents for critical infrastructure

The safest way to let AI help run a data center is not a better model. It is a smaller interface: agents that can observe and propose, and people who approve.

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Speaking

In the room where AI infrastructure gets decided.

Four panelists seated in white chairs in a Tesla showroom, with an Optimus robot and a wall-sized image of Tesla vehicles behind them; Karishma Mandal is speaking into a microphone.
Event2026 · 5 min

Compute for the next generation of data centers: notes from our panel at Tesla

Karishma Mandal joined a panel at Tesla to discuss what it takes to bring compute online in the new generation of AI data centers, and why the answer starts at the substation.

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Karishma Mandal speaking into a microphone alongside four other speakers in front of a screen reading Built Different, Auth0 x Stripe Hackathon, with participants at laptops in the foreground.
Event2026 · 6 min

Who gets to touch the data center? Access systems for people and AI agents, notes from Okta

At the Auth0 x Stripe "Built Different" hackathon at Okta, Karishma Mandal spoke about the many access systems a data center depends on, and what changes when AI agents need access too.

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Talks & demos

Founder appearances.

VenueTopicFormat
TeslaCompute for the next generation of data centersPanelRead
Okta · Auth0 x Stripe hackathonAccess systems for people and AI agents in the data centerTalkRead
HackerSquad · Hack Day at AWSAI analytics tool: hackathon-winning live demoWinner · live demoRead
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