Scott Stillings, Ph.D. Business, M.B.A., B.S. Nuclear Engineering Technology, has spent 20+ years in critical infrastructure operations: U.S. Navy submarine reactor operator and senior nuclear maintenance technician (2002–2008), commercial nuclear operator, reactor operator, senior-reactor-operator-certified instructor, and nuclear operations training manager, and now a critical operations manager for a large hyperscale data center campus. He is the author of Where AI Lives: Inside the Hyperscale Data Centers Powering the AI Boom and the founder of Data Center Strategies.
Career
- U.S. Navy (2002–2008): submarine reactor operator and senior nuclear maintenance technician.
- Commercial nuclear: instrumentation and controls technician, reactor operator, senior-reactor-operator-certified instructor, and nuclear operations training manager, including at the Vogtle 3 and 4 plant.
- Data centers: critical operations manager for a large hyperscale data center campus, heavily liquid-cooling centric, where he built the operations function from scratch, hiring the team, writing the procedures, setting shift expectations, and taking over at turnover.
Two threads run through all of it: high-reliability operations, things that must not fail, and the discipline that keeps them from failing, and teaching. Scott has built training programs from scratch and spent years as an instructor. He thinks in systems, procedures, and root causes.
The book
Scott is the author of Where AI Lives: Inside the Hyperscale Data Centers Powering the AI Boom, part of the Inside Hyperscale series, published by Data Center Strategies. The book explains, in plain language, how hyperscale data centers work, who operates them, and how they power AI. About the book →
What Scott does
Scott advises operators, owners, and developers on the transition from construction and commissioning to operations: readiness checks before the signing moment, procedures and drills, and structured support through the first year. Services →
Scope: advisory help from an operator. Design, commissioning, and operations remain with the engineer of record, the CxA, and the site team. Examples in his writing are anonymized and generalized.
Credentials
- Ph.D., Business; M.B.A.; B.S., Nuclear Engineering Technology.
- Senior-reactor-operator-certified instructor (commercial nuclear).
- 20+ years in critical infrastructure operations, from submarine reactors to hyperscale data centers.
Credentials below are publicly verifiable.
Writing on this site
Scott writes the guides, the training, and the case studies on this site. How data centers work → · Guides → · Case studies →
Contact
Contact Scott / Data Center Strategies →, Email: info@datacenterstrategies.com. LinkedIn: LinkedIn, Scott Stillings.