Observer’s 2026 A.I. Power Index recognizes the individuals whose decisions are setting the terms for the rest of the artificial intelligence industry — not by scale or headcount, but by influence. DataBank CFO Kevin Ooley has been named to the list, recognized in the capital allocator category for the role he plays directing financing into the physical infrastructure that AI runs on.

The recognition comes at a pivotal moment for Ooley personally and for DataBank. Under his direction, the company recently expanded its development credit facility from $725 million to $1.6 billion, supporting a pipeline of nearly 20 projects that will grow capacity from 60 MW to 107 MW across priority U.S. markets. Ooley is also set to become DataBank’s CEO effective January 1, 2027, succeeding Raul Martynek.

“Being named to Observer’s 2026 A.I. Power Index is a meaningful recognition of the impact DataBank is having on the direction of artificial intelligence. It reflects our team’s work securing the capital that lets us build ahead of demand, and the influence that financing discipline has on how fast the industry can scale.”
— Kevin Ooley, CFO, DataBank

Observer’s index includes executives building leading AI models, infrastructure leaders powering them, figures in the open-source movement, and capital allocators determining which bets get funded. Ooley’s inclusion places DataBank squarely in that last category, reflecting the company’s growing influence as one of the most active financers of AI-ready data center infrastructure in the United States.

Read the full list at Observer.