The Operations Challenges for Leaders to Fix Root Causes, Not Symptoms Using Systems with Eli Henson

In this episode of Built to Scale Podcast, host Paul Koetke sits down with Eli Henson, Director of Operations Engineering at CyrusOne, to discuss his journey from the U.S. Marine Corps to leading operations engineering in the data center industry. Eli shares how his experiences in military service, engineering, and technical leadership shaped his approach to building reliable teams and operating mission-critical infrastructure.The conversation explores how CyrusOne is building a foundation for global scale, creating consistent operations across data centers, and using data, AI, and engineering practices to improve reliability. Eli also discusses leadership, root cause analysis, developing stronger teams, and why organizations need builders who solve systemic problems instead of simply reacting to issues.Expect to Learn:How military experience can shape leadership and decision-making in mission-critical environmentsWhat it takes to build consistent operations across a global data center networkHow teams can balance standardization with flexibility across different marketsWhy improving data quality is critical for operational reliability and decision-makingHow AI can help engineers focus less on data collection and more on problem-solvingThe difference between reactive “patchers” and proactive “builders” in engineering teams Episode Breakdown with Timestamps:[00:00] – Eli Henson’s career journey from the Marine Corps to CyrusOne operations engineering[04:35] – How military experience develops leadership skills for mission-critical environments[06:04] – Building a foundation for consistent global data center operations[08:13] – Balancing standardization, scalability, and local operational flexibility[10:13] – Building operations engineering teams around readiness, reliability, and resilience[13:29] – Improving data quality and turning operational data into meaningful insights[16:17] – Using AI to support data analysis while keeping human judgment in decision-making[18:30] – Creating connected teams and operating as one organization across locations[21:03] – Developing “builders” who solve systemic problems instead of only fixing issues[24:58] – Why root cause analysis often fails and how leaders can address systemic gaps[29:18] – Success goals for scaling operations engineering and aligning teams[31:40] – Closing reflections on leadership, engineering, and building reliable operations Connect with the Guest, Eli Henson: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eli-henson-04680267/Company’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cyrusone/Company’s Website: https://www.cyrusone.com/ Open roles at CyrusOne:Capacity & Risk (New Capacity and Readiness) Team Manager https://lnkd.in/gbxq_VZaCritical Power Systems Specialist (NC&R) https://lnkd.in/gJ5UtwD7Critical Mechanical Systems Specialist (NC&R) https://lnkd.in/gzg7cHCnCentral Operations Resilience & Engineering Team Manager https://lnkd.in/gqhvtpbQSr Operations Engineering Program Manager https://lnkd.in/g7kvvbZtMechanical Engineer (Central Operations Engineering - CORE) https://lnkd.in/gu5k89C4Connect with the Host, Paul Koetke: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkoetke/ More from Koetke Consulting: Website: https://www.koetkeconsulting.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/koetke-consulting/