Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast

Ep. 156 Martin Renkis, Executive Director of Data Center Infrastructure Services at Johnson Controls | Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast

Written by Joshua Feinberg | Dec 10, 2025 2:25:07 AM

Episode 156 of the Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast features an interview with Martin Renkis, Executive Director of Data Center Infrastructure Services at Johnson Controls.

  • Discover how cooling as a service and behind-the-meter power help data center developers accelerate ROI and mitigate risk  
  • Trace Martin Renkis’ journey from serial tech entrepreneur to Executive Director of data center infrastructure at Johnson Controls  
  • Understand how performance contracting works across design, build, finance, operate, and maintain for digital infrastructure  
  • Examine a real-world example of a bitcoin miner adding 50MW of Gen AI capacity and what they need from a cooling/power partner  
  • Explore why large, financially minded decision-makers (COOs, CFOs, CIOs) are often the best internal champions for these projects  
  • Analyze how guaranteed KPIs and financial penalties create accountability for uptime, power performance, and cooling reliability  
  • Break down the collaboration between sales, engineering, and partners in complex deals  
  • Evaluate how Johnson Controls structures long-term (15–20 year) lifecycle, maintenance, and optimization packages  
  • Contrast buying on price versus buying on value in multi-million-dollar data center infrastructure decisions  
  • Investigate how time-to-market pressures are reshaping power and cooling strategies for data centers and bitcoin miners  
  • Learn how to ask better discovery questions about client pain points, capital allocation, and risk tolerance  
  • Identify what makes an effective value proposition for mission-critical cooling and power solutions  
  • Unpack the talent and labor challenges facing the data center industry and why experience is at a premium  
  • Apply Martin’s networking and relationship-building tactics for earning trust with enterprise buyers  
  • Leverage conferences, panels, and trade shows more strategically for both business development and career growth  
  • Consider practical career-entry strategies for students and early-career professionals exploring the data center ecosystem  
  • Map out mid-career pivot options for sales, marketing, and business development pros moving into data centers  
  • Clarify where cooling as a service delivers the most value (hyperscale vs. colo vs. enterprise vs. edge)  
  • Quantify the long-term financial impact of outsourcing cooling using examples like 30-year NPV savings  
  • Review how modular design and rapid rack-density changes (toward liquid and megawatt racks) affect cooling strategy  
  • Anticipate how AI and agentic tools will change the day-to-day work of data center-focused leaders
  • Reflect on the enduring importance of human relationships in an industry being transformed by automation and AI 

Host:

Joshua Feinberg, CEO
DCSMI

 

Special Guest:

Martin Renkis, Executive Director of Data Center Infrastructure Services

Johnson Controls

 

Martin Renkis, Executive Director of Data Center Infrastructure Services at Johnson Controls, discusses his career trajectory from entrepreneurial ventures to leading datacenter infrastructure services. He highlights Johnson Controls' unique performance contracting model, which includes cooling as a service and behind-the-meter power. Renkis shares a case study of a 11 million square feet EV battery facility, emphasizing risk mitigation, labor management, and financial benefits. He also discusses the importance of building trust and relationships in sales, the value of mentorship, and the evolving role of AI in enhancing efficiency. Renkis advises young professionals to leverage networks and industry events for career growth.

Action Items

  • Provide financial models and financing program for a bitcoin miner looking to add 50MW of Gen AI capacity.
  • Design, build, operate, and maintain infrastructure for the bitcoin miner's power and cooling needs.

 

1. Introduction  

- Briefly introduce the Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast and this episode  

- Introduce guest: Martin Renkis, Executive Director of Data Center Infrastructure Services at Johnson Controls  

- Tease key themes: cooling as a service, behind-the-meter power, value-based selling, and career paths in the data center ecosystem  

 

2. From Tech Entrepreneur to Johnson Controls Executive  

- Martin’s background in software and hardware startups  

- Founding, scaling, and exiting two B2B technology companies  

- Acquisition by Johnson Controls and transition into the global products division  

- Move into the data center infrastructure services division and why the data center space appealed to him  

 

3. What Johnson Controls’ Data Center Infrastructure Team Actually Does  

- Overview of performance contracting: design, build, operate, finance, maintain  

- Focus on digital infrastructure within a 140-year-old company  

- How their division differs from traditional HVAC/product-only business units  

 

4. Cooling as a Service and Behind-the-Meter Power  

- Definition of cooling as a service  

- Definition of behind-the-meter power as a service  

- Ideal customer profiles: data center developers, colo, enterprise, edge (and when hyperscalers are/aren’t a fit)  

- Example: bitcoin miner with 100MW of mining adding 50MW of Gen AI  

- Typical deal sizes (>$10M) and why these are board-level, CFO/COO conversations  

 

5. Financial Models, KPIs, and Risk Mitigation  

- How Johnson Controls structures long-term contracts (15–20+ years)  

- Guaranteed KPIs for power and cooling performance  

- Financial penalties for downtime or underperformance  

- Capex vs. Opex: taking infrastructure off balance sheet and financing options  

- Case example: 30-year NPV savings (e.g., $85M) versus doing it in-house  

 

6. Day-in-the-Life: Customers, Engineers, and Partners  

- Martin’s typical week:  

  - Time with customers (requirements, financial models, timelines)  

  - Time with internal engineering and solutions teams  

  - Time with strategic partners (Bloom Energy, Tesla, York, Silent-Aire, etc.)  

- Complexity of packaging hardware, services, lifecycle, and maintenance into one offer  

- Importance of modularity given rapidly changing rack densities and liquid cooling  

 

7. Value-Based Selling and the “Ideal” Champion  

- Why customers buy on value, not just price, for mission-critical infrastructure  

- Key internal champions: COO, CFO, CIO, facilities/enterprise infrastructure leaders  

- How to ask discovery questions about:  

  - Power constraints  

  - Cooling challenges (e.g., first-time Gen AI cooling)  

  - Capital allocation and time-to-market  

- Building trust by consistently delivering useful insights, not just pitches  

 

8. Talent, Mentorship, and Breaking into the Data Center Ecosystem  

- The data center talent shortage and why experience is scarce  

- Martin’s role as a master mentor of entrepreneurship at Vanderbilt  

- Advice for students and early-career professionals:  

  - Reach out on LinkedIn with clear, specific asks  

  - Use industry events and conferences to learn and network  

  - Explore non-technical roles: sales, marketing, BD, strategy  

- Why the data center world today feels like early-stage software did decades ago (collaborative, open, fast-growing)  

 

9. Mid-Career Pivots into Data Centers  

- Challenges for burned-out or displaced mid-career sales/marketing/BD professionals  

- Why applying via job portals alone rarely works  

- How to leverage existing networks with high-signal, specific asks  

- Using trade shows, local mission-critical groups, and panels to build real relationships  

- Practical examples of how a pivot can work from adjacent industries  

 

10. The Future of Cooling, AI, and Industry Routines  

- Rapid changes: liquid cooling, megawatt racks, and ever-faster hardware refresh cycles  

- Designing modular, future-ready cooling systems  

- Martin’s view as a techno-optimist about agentic AI  

- How AI tools already support research, summarization, and content digestion  

- Why human relationships will remain central, even as automation expands  

 

11. How to Learn More and Connect  

- Where to learn more about Johnson Controls’ data center solutions (JCI website / sustainable infrastructure pages)  

- How to connect with Martin Renkis (LinkedIn)  

- Call-to-action: subscribe to the Data Center Sales & Marketing Institute (DCSMI) newsletter and the Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast 

Guest Resources

Resources

 

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