Every technology has its pros and cons. Take artificial intelligence, for instance. As profound as the positive impact of the technology of AI has been on the world, equally concerning is the negative impact of the data centres powering it on our environment. Along with the enormous land scale of investment, time, energy, and labour AI demands, one of the biggest concerns after a data centre is being built is that of the massive amount of water required to cool the huge systems. A general estimate by the industry experts tells us that a single one megawatt AI data centre requires 25.5 million litres of water per year. In a world where many countries are facing severe water crises, fulfilling this demand is extremely unfeasible and unsustainable.
However, a promising technology like AI cannot be downscaled because of these issues. Vijay Sampathkumar, widely recognized in the industry as the ‘Liquid Cooling Man of India,’ always believed that every issue has a solution. Before joining ZutaCore as the Country Manager of India in 2023, Vijay possessed over three decades of solid leadership experience in the technology and IT infrastructure industry.
Today, as ZutaCore’s Vice President of India and Southeast Asia, Vijay leads the adoption of cutting-edge direct-to-chip liquid cooling technology. His sharp focus is on transforming data centres to meet the demands of high-performance computing, including AI, machine learning, and edge computing. Creating energy-efficient solutions is his specialty. His pragmatic solutions have enhanced scalability and sustainability in enterprise and hyperscale environments.
Upscaling a Global Mission
Vijay states his mission: to advance the adoption of innovative cooling technologies while championing sustainability and net-zero goals. At ZutaCore, he collaborates with industry leaders and stakeholders to optimize power usage, reduce operational costs, and deliver superior performance for ultra-dense workloads, ensuring a future-ready digital infrastructure for the region.
In Vijay’s journey, there came a time when cooling technovation had become central to his leadership. It happened when he realized that it was no longer a background engineering function, but a defining constraint—and opportunity—for the future of compute. As AI and HPC workloads began reshaping data centre design, power densities moved beyond what traditional air cooling could support efficiently or sustainably.
He recalls, “When I engaged deeply with ZutaCore’s direct-to-chip liquid cooling approach, what stood out was not just the technology itself, but the systemic shift it represented.” Cooling began to directly influence performance ceilings, energy efficiency, water usage, and ultimately, where and how AI infrastructure could scale. Over time, this work has led many in the industry to closely associate Vijay’s role with the mainstream adoption of liquid cooling in India—often referring to him as a key driving force behind the country’s transition toward direct-to-chip liquid cooling for AI and HPC.
From a leadership perspective, this realization reframed Vijay’s role. The focus shifted from selling a component to enabling an ecosystem—one where compute, cooling, power, and sustainability are designed together. At ZutaCore, cooling is not an add-on; “It is foundational to how we think about AI-ready data centers.”
The Turning Point
As Vice President for India and South East Asia, Vijay shares that turning a disruptive idea into an industry movement starts with shifting the conversation from technology novelty to business relevance. In regions like India and South East Asia, customers are pragmatic—they care about reliability, cost, scalability, and long-term viability, he informs, adding that his role has been to position direct-to-chip liquid cooling not as an experimental solution, but as a necessary evolution aligned with rising compute density, energy economics, and sustainability mandates.
Education at the right level is critical. This means engaging not only with data centre operators, but also with hyperscalers, enterprises, regulators, consultants, and ecosystem partners. When stakeholders clearly see how cooling affects PUE, WUE, rack density, and time-to-market for AI infrastructure, adoption becomes a strategic decision rather than a technical debate.
Equally important is localization. An industry movement cannot be imported wholesale. It must adapt to regional realities such as grid constraints, climate conditions, water availability, and regulatory frameworks, insists Vijay. “By working closely with customers and partners, we demonstrate how liquid cooling can be deployed incrementally, coexist with existing infrastructure, and deliver measurable outcomes,” he adds.
As liquid cooling moves from pilots to large-scale deployments, his focus has been on ensuring India leads rather than follows. That responsibility has increasingly positioned him as a visible advocate—and often a reference point—for liquid cooling adoption across the Indian data center ecosystem.
A Decisive Leadership Mindset
When leading at the crossroads of HPC, AI, and sustainability, the leadership mindset that keeps Vijay decisive is a bias toward first principles combined with long-term accountability. In fast-moving domains like AI, it is easy to be distracted by short-term benchmarks. Sustainability forces a broader lens—it asks whether today’s decisions will remain relevant five or ten years from now.
He consciously separates signal from noise. Not every innovation materially changes outcomes, but some fundamentally reset constraints around power, cooling, and scale.
Staying forward-looking means being comfortable making decisions before consensus forms, while remaining grounded in data, physics, and operational realities. Alignment is equally important. Decisiveness does not come from acting alone, but from ensuring teams, partners, and customers understand the long-term intent. When people align around building AI infrastructure that is both high-performing and responsible, execution becomes faster, and resistance naturally reduces.
At its core, this mindset is about stewardship—enabling growth while respecting energy, water, and environmental limits.
Remaining at the Forefront
Also, in a world racing toward scaling AI as soon as possible, Vijay has to ensure that ZutaCore stays ahead of the curve, rather than chasing it. To him, it begins with anticipating constraints before they become crises. In AI infrastructure, limitations are no longer just about compute availability, but about power density, thermal management, energy cost, and sustainability. “At ZutaCore, we design for where the industry is heading, not where it currently stands.”
This requires early engagement with silicon vendors, system OEMs, and hyperscale architects—often before architectures are finalized. “These insights allow us to align our cooling roadmap with next-generation CPUs and GPUs, ensuring readiness rather than reactive integration,” he explains.
Equally important is execution discipline. Innovation must translate into operational simplicity and predictable outcomes. By emphasizing modularity, reliability, and measurable efficiency gains, ZutaCore helps customers scale AI workloads with confidence.
Humility also plays a role. “Continuous learning from real-world deployments ensures we remain enablers of AI scale, not followers responding to it,” assures Vijay.
The Industry-Resonating Validations
Looking back, validating his mission to redefine energy-efficient infrastructure, there are many personal and professional recognitions and milestones. However, for Vijay, the validation has come less from individual titles and more from market behavior. One of the most meaningful milestones has been seeing customers move from skepticism to designing their AI environments around liquid cooling. When cooling becomes a strategic input rather than an afterthought, it confirms that the mission is resonating.
“Another milestone has been the trust placed in me to build and scale businesses in areas where I did not begin as a domain expert.” Successfully growing ZutaCore’s presence across diverse regions reinforced his belief that leadership is about learning quickly and enabling experts to succeed.
“Being invited into early architectural discussions—well before procurement—signals that customers view us as long-term collaborators in energy-efficient infrastructure.” Continuity of deployments and repeat references across regions remain the strongest validation.
The Sole Objective of Sustainable Performance
Data centres today demand more power than ever. When it comes to delivering performance without compromising sustainability, Vijay approaches this challenge by treating performance and sustainability as interdependent, not competing, objectives. Inefficiency directly translates into higher energy consumption and cost. The most effective sustainability strategy is to remove inefficiencies at the source.
Liquid cooling, when applied thoughtfully, enables far more efficient heat removal, lower power overhead, and significantly reduced water usage. His association with liquid cooling in India has always been rooted in sustainability—not as a branding exercise, but as a practical foundation for responsible AI growth.
“I strongly believe in measurable accountability.” Metrics such as rack density, PUE, WUE, and total cost of ownership must improve together. This data-driven approach ensures that performance-driven decisions naturally reinforce sustainability outcomes.
The Leadership Balance
Also, with high-impact responsibilities across regions, it is essential to preserve personal balance while sustaining leadership intensity. For Vijay, the balance starts with recognizing that intensity is seasonal. There are periods of deep focus and others of reflection and recalibration. Managing energy, not just time, is essential.
Clarity of priorities helps eliminate distractions. Trusting and empowering teams creates sustainable leadership capacity. “Delegation, for me, is about multiplying impact rather than stepping back.” On a personal level, routines such as reflection, physical activity, and time with family provide grounding. Sustained leadership intensity is only possible when personal wellbeing is treated as an enabler.
Furthermore, there is an inner discipline that helps Vijay navigate complexity and resistance while driving next-generation cooling adoption. Patience anchored in conviction is essential. Resistance often stems from responsibility for uptime and risk, not opposition to progress. Understanding this helps convert resistance into collaboration.
Listening deeply allows complexity to be addressed constructively. Consistency—remaining calm, transparent, and data-driven—builds trust over time. Next-generation cooling is about enabling a confident transition, not forcing abrupt change.
His Guiding Principles
For leaders entering the infrastructure and AI ecosystem, there are some crucial principles Vijay offers to guide them beyond technical expertise. ‘Beyond technical expertise, leaders must take responsibility for consequences, not just decisions. Infrastructure choices have long-term implications for energy, cost, and the environment. Systems thinking is critical. Compute, cooling, power, regulation, and economics are deeply interconnected. Humility and continuous learning ensure relevance in a rapidly evolving landscape.’
Scaling AI Ecosystem without Compromising Environmental Responsibility
As Vijay envisions the road ahead, he sees his leadership shaping ZutaCore’s legacy by embedding sustainability and scalability into the core of AI infrastructure design. The objective is to ensure AI adoption across India and South East Asia is built on efficient, resilient, and responsible foundations.
If his work has contributed to him being known as the ‘Liquid Cooling Man of India,’ Vijay would want that association to stand for something deeper—helping the ecosystem scale AI without compromising environmental responsibility.
“By strengthening local capabilities, partners, and talent, we enable regions to participate meaningfully in the global AI economy.” If ZutaCore is remembered for helping the industry balance AI scale with environmental limits, that will be a legacy worth building.
Striving for a Future of Global Collaboration
Finally, in his vision, Vijay feels that no single company or technology can address the challenges of AI scale and sustainability alone. Progress depends on collaboration across technology providers, operators, policymakers, and academia.
He explains, “Ultimately, my role—closely associated with liquid cooling in India—has been less about evangelizing a technology and more about enabling thoughtful, long-term infrastructure decisions.” That balance between ambition and responsibility is what will define meaningful progress in the years ahead.