In this episode, Raymond Hawkins, host of Not Your Father's Datacenter, sits down with Dr Sai Shivareddy, CEO and founder of Niable. Dr Shivareddy shares his fascinating journey from India, through his academic pursuits in physics and nanomaterials at Cambridge, to founding Niable with a focus on revolutionary battery technology.
The discussion centers around the dramatic rise in power density within data centers, the historical shift from lead acid to lithium-ion batteries, and their respective challenges—especially in the face of rapidly spiking AI and GPU workloads. Sai explains Niable’s breakthrough material, enabling batteries to recharge in minutes while maintaining safety and high power density.
The pair explore the urgent industry need for new solutions to manage dynamic, unpredictable power loads and introduce Niable’s dynamic response power systems as a novel bridge between supercapacitors and batteries. The episode offers practical insights on how innovative materials science can redefine power management in the next-generation data center.
Timestamped Overview00:00 Intro & Dr Shivareddy’s background
04:51 From lab to real world
06:38 Data centers growing power demand
10:23 Energy Storage Capacitors vs Batteries
15:22 UPS vs BBU power comparison
17:27 Battery stress at full capacity
20:13 GPU power surge trends
25:33 Voltage conversion in power systems
27:56 Dynamic Power Regulation System
30:17 Power System Design and Optimization
34:43 Optimizing GPU power efficiency
36:06 Power solutions for dynamic workloads