Disclaimer: The article has been provided by Kirk Offel and Mike Sarraille.
The fifth industrial revolution is here, and it’s being built around the country, and especially right here in Texas.
Behind every AI breakthrough, cloud platform, and digital connection is a data center. And behind every data center are the electricians, welders, HVAC technicians, fiber installers, and commissioning engineers who make the digital world possible. At Overwatch Mission Critical, headquartered in Austin, we see it every day: the future of technology doesn’t just depend on machines; it depends on the people who build, power, and sustain them.
But two scarcities are threatening that future, people and power; let’s focus on the people.
Data Center Workforce Challenge
Analysts estimate that by the end of next year, the data center industry will need 300,000 additional skilled employees by 2025 nationwide to meet exploding AI demand. The challenge is especially acute in Texas, where growth is outpacing the availability of trained electricians, fiber specialists, and commissioning technicians.
At the same time, thousands of veterans and career changers across the state are searching for meaningful work that uses their leadership and technical skills. Many of them are exactly the kind of “mission-ready” talent our industry needs.
Unfortunately, rigid hiring standards, like requiring multiple years of IT experience, are keeping this workforce on the sidelines. It’s time for the tech industry to modernize how it recruits, trains, and recognizes talent.
At Overwatch, we’re proving what’s possible: more than a third of our team members are veterans, many of them service-disabled. They thrive because the data center industry rewards precision, teamwork, and purpose, the same qualities that defined their military careers.
Overwatch is proud to partner with projects like Stargate in the Texas Panhandle, where technology and infrastructure meet Texas ingenuity to expand global connectivity while creating good-paying jobs for local residents.
Turning Protest into Partnership
Around the country, and increasingly here in Texas, residents are voicing frustration over new data center construction. Some cite noise, dust, or strain on local utilities. Others simply don’t want large industrial buildings in their backyard.
Those concerns deserve respect. But they also deserve balance. Each new facility represents hundreds of high-paying jobs and millions in local economic benefit. For small towns across Texas, these are the types of opportunities that can revive a middle class built on skilled labor and self-reliance.
Instead of saying “not in my backyard,” the question should be: how can this industry invest in our backyard?
A Human Future for a Digital World
The truth is, “the cloud” doesn’t exist in the sky. It’s built right here on Texas soil, in concrete, copper, and calloused hands.
Texans love their independence, but we also believe in doing the work. The data center industry embodies that spirit. It’s the place where technology, talent, and tenacity meet, and where the next generation of six-figure skilled-trade careers will be forged.
As Austin and Texas lead the way in building America’s digital backbone, we must solve our twin scarcities of people and power together. Because the machines may be smart, but the future will always belong to the humans who keep them running.
Author Bio:
By, Kirk Offel is a Navy veteran and the CEO of Overwatch Mission Critical, a Texas-based talent incubator that trains and hires future leaders for high-skill jobs in the data center industry.
Mike Sarraille, a retired Navy SEAL and former Recon Marine, is the Chief Talent Officer of Overwatch Mission Critical. He is also host of Fox Nation’s “The Unsung of Arlington.” He is a Global Gurus Top 30 Leadership Speaker, author of two Amazon best-selling books, “The Talent War” and “The Everyday Warrior.
