Welcome back to Liftoff with Keith, the show where we sit down with the founders, operators, and industry leaders building the future in real time.

Today’s guest is one of the most respected voices in digital infrastructure — Dean Nelson.

Dean has spent nearly four decades at the center of the internet economy, helping build more than $10 billion in digital infrastructure across four continents for companies like Sun Microsystems, eBay, PayPal, and Uber.

He’s also the founder of Infrastructure Masons, a global community uniting the builders of the digital age, now celebrating its 10-year anniversary.

In this episode, we unpack the explosive growth happening across AI infrastructure and data centers — including staggering projections that the industry could spend $500 billion this year alone, scale toward $3 trillion by 2028, and potentially hit $7 trillion by 2030.

The conversation explores:

• Why the industry could spend $7 trillion by 2030
• The explosive rise of AI infrastructure
• The shift toward inference and edge computing
• Community and environmental pressures facing data center growth
• The labor and construction challenges slowing deployment
• Why Texas has become ground zero for AI infrastructure expansion
• And how power availability may become the defining constraint of the AI era

If compute scaled like this but power didn’t… are we effectively bottlenecking the AI era on energy infrastructure?

This is a fascinating conversation about the future of AI, data centers, infrastructure, and the physical systems powering the next generation of innovation.

Let’s lift off.

Connect with Dean Nelson:

• Website: https://imasons.org/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannelson/

• Publication: https://imasons.org/publications/

Sponsor Info: We are strategic business advisors with decades of leadership experience and a proven track record of driving businesses’ growth. We specialize in creating custom-tailored strategies to introduce your company, drive growth, build leadership teams, and ensure companies implement appropriate compensation programs. Our mission is to utilize our expansive network to benefit your company https://www.compass-strategic-advisors.com/

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• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cFpLXfYvcUsxvsT9MwyAD?si=f5a14e779777487d
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/liftoff-with-keith-newman/id1560219589
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• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/liftoffwithkeith

From the Host:

A Special Shout out to our Great Host of the Ignite Studios: https://www.ignitegtm.com/ and Producers of AI Infra5 @ Plug and Play World HQ in Sunnyvale, CA

Liftoff is Sponsored by - Strategic Consulting firm and the M&A specialists at Compass Strategic Advisors - https://www.compass-strategic-advisors.com/ and The GTM Firm - https://www.thegtmfirm.com/

#AIinfrastructureexpansion #Digitalinfrastructuretrends #Datacentergrowth #Powerandenergyconstraints #Waterstewardship #Skilledlaborshortages #Communitypushback #Digitalsovereignty #dgecomputingandAIinference #PrivateAImodels #Largescaleinfrastructureconstruction

In this episode, Keith speaks with Anthony Vinci, CEO of VICO, about how AI is changing decision-making for founders, investors, governments, and financial institutions.

Anthony’s background spans intelligence, national security, investing, and artificial intelligence. Before founding VICO, he worked at Cerberus Capital Management, Bridgewater Associates, and served as the first Chief Technology Officer at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

The conversation explores how AI is moving beyond chatbots and becoming a real decision-making layer for businesses.

Anthony explains why the future is not about replacing human judgment, but improving it through better frameworks, probability forecasting, and scenario planning.

They discuss:

• Why AI alone is not enough without human judgment
• How VICO combines LLMs with mathematical forecasting
• The difference between information and decision intelligence
• Why founders need better frameworks for uncertainty
• How AI is reshaping risk assessment and strategic planning
• The future of building companies in the AI era

This episode is a thoughtful look at what happens when AI moves from generating answers to helping people make better decisions.

Connect with Anthony Vinci:

• Website: https://vico.io/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-vinci/
• Book: https://www.anthonyvinci.com/

Sponsor Info: We are strategic business advisors with decades of leadership experience and a proven track record of driving businesses’ growth. We specialize in creating custom-tailored strategies to introduce your company, drive growth, build leadership teams, and ensure companies implement appropriate compensation programs. Our mission is to utilize our expansive network to benefit your company https://www.compass-strategic-advisors.com/

Subscribe for more founder insights and hit the bell for notifications!

Follow us on our channels for exclusive startup content and behind-the-scenes insights from interviews like this one.

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cFpLXfYvcUsxvsT9MwyAD?si=f5a14e779777487d
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/liftoff-with-keith-newman/id1560219589
• Substack: https://keithnewman.substack.com/
• Newman Media Studios: https://newmanmediastudios.com/

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/liftoffwithkeith

For sponsorship inquiries, please contact: sponsorships@wherewithstudio.com

#ArtificialIntelligence #AI #DecisionMaking #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #RiskManagement #FounderMindset #MachineLearning #StartupGrowth #FutureOfWork

Steven Pivnik scaled his company to 200+ employees across 12 countries before executing a strategic acquisition to a $4B competitor. Along the way, he completed 17 IRONMAN triathlons and climbed at extreme altitude — including Everest.

In this episode of Liftoff with Keith, we break down:

• The difference between growth and disciplined growth
• Why founders should design their exit years in advance
• How endurance training builds better leadership
• Avoiding burnout while scaling under pressure
• What it really means to “finish strong”

This is a conversation about commitment, structure, and the mindset required to endure when quitting would be easier.

If you’re building, scaling, or thinking about your long-term exit — this episode is for you.

Connect with Steven Pivnik:

• Website: https://stevenpivnik.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenpivnik/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevenpivnik/

Sponsor Info: We are strategic business advisors with decades of leadership experience and a proven track record of driving businesses’ growth. We specialize in creating custom-tailored strategies to introduce your company, drive growth, build leadership teams, and ensure companies implement appropriate compensation programs. Our mission is to utilize our expansive network to benefit your company https://www.compass-strategic-advisors.com/ Subscribe for more founder insights and hit the bell for notifications!

Follow us on our channels for exclusive startup content and behind-the-scenes insights from interviews like this one.

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cFpLXfYvcUsxvsT9MwyAD?si=f5a14e779777487d
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/liftoff-with-keith-newman/id1560219589
• Substack: https://keithnewman.substack.com/
• Newman Media Studios: https://newmanmediastudios.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/liftoffwithkeith

For sponsorship inquiries, please contact: sponsorships@wherewithstudio.com

#Entrepreneurship #Ironman #FounderMindset #Leadership #Endurance #StartupGrowth #BusinessLeadership #MentalToughness #PersonalGrowth