In Episode 14 of The Punch List Podcast, Jon Wright, Kanav Hasija, and Tanmaya Kala take on Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s claim that data centers take three years to build in the US while China can build a hospital in a weekend. They break down why US construction moves so slowly, how some general contractors are already delivering data centers in 11 to 14 months, and why permits, fragmented contracting, and broken supply chains have become a national security issue.

The episode opens with TK’s story of how a limited engineering branch choice in India turned into a career in buildings, then moves into the speed problem, regulation, and the Tesla Roadster reveal. Three operators inside the AEC industry, talking about what it would actually take to build faster.

What You’ll Hear

• TK’s path from civil engineering in India to designing power plants, Stanford, and turning down software and McKinsey to stay in construction
• Why China builds faster: early BIM adoption, thousands of trained modelers, and prefab at scale
• How the US won World War II by out-producing everyone, and why that capacity still exists
• Kanav’s two root problems: too many companies with competing incentives, and a supply chain the US no longer controls
• How three large GCs delivered data centers in 11 to 14 months by controlling design and subcontractors
• The telemedicine story: software built in seven days once non-safety regulation was dropped
• Jon’s modular homes requiring 24 permits and inspections, and a city that demanded a truckload of printed data center plans
• The Tesla Roadster, Elon Musk’s push to build physical things, and the cost of working at that pace

This Episode Is For You If You’ve Ever Asked

• Why does it take three years to build a data center in the US?
• How does China build infrastructure so much faster?
• Is data center construction speed a national security issue?
• How are some general contractors building data centers in under a year?
• Does fragmented contracting slow down construction projects?
• How much of construction regulation is actually about life safety?
• Why do modular homes still need so many permits and inspections?
• What can the private sector do instead of waiting on government to fix permitting?
• What does the Tesla Roadster tell us about building ambitious physical products?

Connect with us:

Connect with Tanmaya Kala on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanmaya-kala-pe-3324a13/

Connect with Jon Wright on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonpwright/

Connect with Kanav Hasija on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kanavhasija/

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