Marking 25 years of unparalleled performance and technical excellence, CoolIT Systems continues to drive global AI infrastructure
CoolIT Systems is the global leader in liquid cooling solutions for AI and high-performance computing. Over the past quarter-century, the company has evolved from a niche gaming liquid cooling provider into a global leader in liquid cooling technologies for AI and high‑performance computing.
AI is driving massive increases in compute density. Server racks, once considered dense at 12 kW and cooled by forced air, are being replaced with 120 kW liquid-cooled systems. CoolIT’s solutions enable high-density workloads where air cooling cannot no longer keep pace.
Today, CoolIT is trusted by the world’s top chipmakers, server manufacturers and hyperscale cloud companies to keep their most demanding systems running at peak performance. CoolIT’s technology cools in seven of the top ten supercomputers, including the #1 El Capitan 1.8 exaFLOP system.
CoolIT offers the industry’s most extensive portfolio of liquid cooling technologies, products and services. The portfolio spans various coolant distribution units (CDU) and server coldplate loops along with the connecting manifolds and piping systems.
Through its Global Professional Services organization, CoolIT also assists customers in engineering liquid-cooling designs suited to each unique data center environment and computer cluster, and in installing, commissioning and maintaining these systems with on-site support in more than 80 countries worldwide.
To understand how CoolIT continues to scale for the AI era, Manufacturing Today spoke with Senior Vice President of Operations, Hamid Rafiei. He sees CoolIT’s edge as a combination of deep liquid cooling expertise, a comprehensive product line and a culture that prizes speed and collaboration, all focused squarely on customer success.
“At CoolIT, we foster a fast-paced, dynamic and highly collaborative environment. We have built our reputation by solving real-world engineering challenges. This problem-solving approach drives everything from product design to manufacturing automation and process improvement, and commitment to innovation continues to be at the forefront of our culture and operations,” Hamid says.
That mindset shows up in the way CoolIT’s teams approach quality.
Hamid continues, “Part of our customer focus stems from a strong culture of continuous improvement and quality. Every employee at CoolIT follows one mantra: ‘Nothing comes back.’ This commitment means deploying products without defects or issues – a standard the company has maintained in installations across the world. We encourage the team to innovate, whether in terms of product design, manufacturing automation or process improvement.”
Scaling manufacturing for AI demand
This pursuit of innovation forms a core part of CoolIT’s wider investment program. In particular, the company is substantially enhancing its manufacturing capabilities to meet the rising demand for AI solutions and support hyperscale capabilities. As Hamid details, technology plays a key role in supporting CoolIT’s scale and consistency, along with further augmenting its overall performance and operational efficiency.
“CoolIT is adopting the use of automation and AI inspection technologies. We have a dedicated automation and robotics team that continuously develops production cells to automate parts of our process,” he elaborates. “The rationale behind these investments is to scale quality and reliability as the company grows. As a fast-paced firm experiencing rapid expansion, we want to ensure that we’re growing in a safe way and can guarantee the same high standards of quality across all products.”
In 2024, CoolIT significantly expanded its manufacturing footprint in Calgary with two new facilities: a 113,000‑square‑foot manufacturing site and a 37,000‑square‑foot Innovation Center. These sites strengthen the company’s ability to deliver liquid cooling products at scale. The next phase of expansion adds an ISO Class 7 cleanroom to support the precision and cleanliness required to manufacture next‑generation coldplates for high density AI compute. CoolIT is also further doubling its Calgary site with an additional 90,000 square feet of manufacturing coming online early this spring.
“Our manufacturing site in Calgary supports the production of CDUs, server coldplates, coldplate loops, manifolds and technology cooling system piping,” Hamid continues. “The reason that we have been able to make these investments and grow so rapidly is largely due to the strong financial backing from our owners, KKR and Mubadala. KKR is one of the largest private equity firms in the world, while Mubadala is UAE’s sovereign wealth fund. The deep-pocketed and strategic support from both these investors has been invaluable and has allowed us to make significant advancements in our operations.”
CoolIT’s commitment to high performance and reliability is global. The company is expanding its manufacturing operations in China and Vietnam, with significant investments in both. CoolIT is also actively investing in its global supply chain to further strengthen its supplier relationships and bring on new partners with the same values and international reach.
CoolIT’s ‘in-region-for-region’ approach supplies customers from nearby manufacturing sites, while providing greater certainty and flexibility by producing in multiple geographies. This strategy reduces risk, shortens lead times and supports consistent delivery as AI demand accelerates.
25 years and the next chapter
The year 2026 marks CoolIT’s 25th year in business. This milestone reflects consistent delivery and customer‑centric innovation across multiple generations of computing. The company will continue to uphold this legacy as it moves into its next chapter.
“Our priority for the future is to continue building on our strong track record of execution and delivery,” Hamid affirms, optimistic for the years ahead. “We focus on scaling manufacturing to meet continued market demand whilst doubling down on quality, supply chain resilience and automation.
“In the next five years, we see CoolIT continuing to grow as a top-tier liquid cooling technology provider, serving as a technology partner to world-leading AI and cloud computing companies,” he says, concluding our conversation.
“CoolIT’s success comes down to its people. World-class engineers, technicians and manufacturing teams develop the technologies, refine the processes, and deliver for customers. Our team is our greatest asset.”
For AI data center customers, that combination of deep experience, broad product coverage and disciplined execution translates into something simple and powerful: a partner that makes liquid cooling a confident choice for the next generation of compute.