Data Center Engineers: But What about AI?
February 6, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
I read “Engineers Rush to Master New Skills for AI Data Centers.” I came away confused. I believe the AI revolution will change technology-anchored work. That means work in, for, and around data centers. AI is improving by leaps and bounds. Human-type intelligence is just around the corner.
Engineers at a consulting company learn they are to be retrained for data center jobs. Thanks, Venice.ai. Good enough.
Why, then, did the write up present this paragraph to my AI saturated eyes:
More than half (51%) of data center operators reported difficulty finding qualified candidates to fill job openings in 2024, according to Uptime Institute. The biggest challenge was filling junior and mid-level operations jobs, with 39% of data centers reporting shortfalls. This was followed by electrical jobs, at 33%, operations management at 32% and mechanical at 30%. Electrical labor climbed to the second highest concern last year since outfitting data center space for high-powered, high-density IT for AI and similar applications requires electrical distribution skills for both IT and cooling.
Let’s think about the headline. “Engineers” are trying to learn “new skills.” The shortages in the paragraph above span:
- “Operations jobs”. This is undefined, but I assume it is someone who rides around in a golf cart checking when an anomaly is detected, uses a small or flip down terminal, and tries to solve the problem. If a cable is the problem, the “operations job person” retrieves a replacement, plugs it in, and rides the golf cart back to his cube in the “operations” center. Okay, this is a human task and “engineers” want to be retrained to handle this work. Does this mean a civil engineer more familiar with sewage treatment will be retrained? Interesting but engineers choose fields of study due to love, aptitude, or parental input.
- “Electrical jobs”. I am not sure what this means. An electrical engineer, based on my experience, usually suggests he or she has the expertise to handle circuits and such. I worked with an electrical engineer who told me when I asked about a problem with a laptop, “Just buy a new one.” Granted the fellow was a Georgia Tech graduate who was an electrical engineer. But my recollection is that “Buy a new one” was his standard response to an electrical problem. However, fiddling around with one of those nifty electrical panels and super special circuit breakers and fusers might not lend itself to the “Buy a new one solution.” I do know that if a 440 power line is severed, exciting things happen to those panels. Would a mechanical engineer want to retrain to handle micro electronics and the industrial scale electrical installations usually located outside of a data center and shrouded with louvered panels to keep prying eyes out?
- “Operations management.” How many engineers rush to learn how to be a manager. Once again I have to fall back on my experience at the so so nuclear engineering firm at which I worked for a number of years. Most nuclear engineers are not too keen on becoming managers. In fact, most of the nuclear enigneers wanted to do nuclear things. That did not include sitting in meetings with other types of engineers, executives in suits and ties, lawyers, or PR / marketing people. My hunch is that the “rush” will not include too many of the nuclear engineering category. Perhaps engineers who are really bad at their job or who miss the camaraderie of hanging out with engineers building robots might show a flicker of interest. But “rush.” Hmmm.
- Mechanical.” This suggests to me an engineer who can design, test, and maybe map out the production process for a “thing.” I worked with a very capable mechanical engineer who specialized in stress analysis. He liked making testing devices and pushing objects to be tested to their limits. One example was this person’s ingenious solution to a problem involving ejecting spent cartridges from an automatic weapon suitable for use in a helicopter assault. He did get the ejection method worked out, but he told me, “Yeah, this approach worked, but I got a kick out of trying dozens of clips and ejection mechanisms. That was fun. Now the job is over. Bummer.” Would he rush to learn how to do data centers? Answer: Only if he could break things and then figure out how to make the “thing” more robust. Oh, he didn’t categorize himself as a “mechanical.” He was a “stress analysis expert.” Retraining him? Might be a tough sell.
I suppose my stupid idea that data center funders and leadership types would rush to use AI software, robots, and other state of the art methods to build their multi-million dollar data centers. But the write up makes clear that I was indeed a dolt. Humans are needed.
Does this suggest that the hyperbole about smart software and related break throughs is baloney?
Answer: Yep.
Stephen E Arnold, February 6, 2026
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