Episode 15

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Published on:

7th Aug 2023

From Hands-On Beginnings to Strategic Success

In this episode, Nabeel Mahmood and Phillip Koblence are accompanied by Paul Peterson, Senior Director Facilities Manager at JLL overseeing operations at multiple data center locations in the Northeast on the CyrusOne account.

In this position, Paul is a major piece in the puzzle to ensure that customers have uptime, availability and connectivity with their data set and data set requirements. Nabeel digs deeper asking, “What's your day-to-day job? Are you just keeping the data center active in life?”

 “We'reboots-on-the-ground engineers at the facilities, keeping everything going. We deal with the maintenance plans, budget forecasts, everything that operationally needs to happen at that data center from the critical side all the way to the carpets and the paint on the walls - It runs through our team.”

Paul never really had an interest in school growing up. He shares some insight with our co-hosts on how that played a role in his journey:


“I remember what it was like coming out of high school as not a great academic, not really knowing where I was going. I had to learn the hard way. I had to kind of figure things out and it was concerning…this is why I'm doing what I'm doing with you guys and I'm talking to trade schools, visiting students, and having these conversations.”


Nabeel asks Paul, "What's next for you? What are you thinking?"


“I'm very, very happy where I'm at. I think things again kind of fell into place for a reason and timelines worked, and I think that the success of the [CyrusOne] account is that we're heading in the right direction.”


Paul leaves us with advice for the younger generation beginning their own career journeys in the industry:


“The best thing I can say for the students is to follow their passions. Find your aptitudes, do things, and you have to enjoy what you're doing. I had to learn a lot of hard mistakes before I figured out how to get from A to B. But I think this is a great industry. Everybody I've met in this industry always has a positive trajectory about them and we're booming, it's getting bigger, faster every day. If we can get these students in the right mindset, give 'em the skills they need, I think there's gonna be some really tremendous players.”

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About the Podcast

Nomad Futurist
The #nomadfuturist show is a true tech podcast phenomenon. The two hosts are technologists and futurists, so they really know their stuff, and following their in-depth conversations feels like you have a backstage pass to a gathering of the best of the
The nomads put a new spin on the tech genre by shining a light not only on technology but also on the human side of the digital age. Tune in if you find yourself thinking about how to integrate into the digital landscape and be a part of the evolving industry.

For over two decades, Phil and Nabeel have provided a powerful catalyst for organizations to create a vision of the future and the will to innovate. As futurists, they deliver a dynamic and entertaining vision of change, blending technology, economics, demographics, culture, and human nature.

With real business experience and a deep understanding of technology, the two nomads know the difference between science fiction and useful forecasting. Rather than focusing on the distant future, they devote themselves to scanning the horizon for emerging technologies and disruptive shifts in human behavior, thereby sharing a compelling vision of tomorrow’s opportunities.