Brett Manning

Brett spent almost 20 years building the infrastructure that hyperscale data centers run on. At Silent-Aire, he helped scale the company to more than 2,400 employees, 10+ manufacturing facilities, and over 2.5 gigawatts of mission-critical cooling deployed globally before Johnson Controls acquired the company for approximately$870 million in 2021.

Brett is currently President of Tier Power Systems LLC, a custom low- and medium-voltage power distribution manufacturer serving critical infrastructure. Under his leadership, the company has tripled in size since 2024, and its growth is only accelerating. The market tailwind is real, and every AI data center being built right now needs exactly what Tier Power Systems makes.

How can telecommunications technologies help humanity?

BM: Telecommunications technologies serve as the primary vehicle for global equity by democratizing access to critical human resources. Through the expansion of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations and rural 5G networks, isolated communities gain immediate access to advanced telemedicine, virtual education, and real-time agricultural analytics. From our position as a critical infrastructure provider, these networks also form the backbone of disaster resilience. Connected sensors can predict grid failures, monitor environmental hazards, and coordinate emergency responses instantly. By bridging the digital divide, telecom technology doesn’t just transmit data; it elevates living standards, fuels local economies, and ensures that geographic isolation no longer dictates a community’s economic or physical survival.

How can corporations and researchers best serve the next generation?

BM: Corporations and researchers must move away from isolated, proprietary development and embrace open-access, collaborative ecosystems focused on sustainability. We owe the next generation an industrial foundation that doesn’t compromise their environment. This means establishing deep-tech partnerships between corporate manufacturing and academic laboratories to accelerate breakthroughs in circular-economy materials, such as bio-synthetic insulation fluids for electrical equipment and easily recyclable components. Furthermore, corporations must invest heavily in specialized apprenticeship programs and open-source research platforms. By equipping young engineers with hands-on experience in both heavy electrical hardware and advanced digital systems, we prepare them to successfully manage and evolve the highly complex, decarbonized infrastructure they will inherit.

Is it important for companies to continue to innovate their organizations or offerings, and why?

BM: Continuous innovation is a matter of survival, particularly as the boundaries between heavy electrical hardware and digital software blur. Historically, our industry relied on long product lifecycles and stable technology baselines. Today, the rapid evolution of smart grids and decarbonization demands that we innovate both our physical offerings and our internal structures. We are shifting from selling standalone hardware to delivering integrated hardware-as-a-service platforms, requiring agile, cross-functional organizational designs. Failing to innovate means risking commoditization. By relentlessly updating our technology and fostering an adaptable corporate culture, we ensure our equipment remains central to a rapidly changing energy landscape, securing long-term market leadership.

What values does PTC hold for you/your company?

BM: For an electrical manufacturer like Tier Power Systems, the Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC) serves as an essential nexus where hardware capabilities meet network demands. The primary value lies in the unparalleled regional access it provides to the chief architects of ICT infrastructure across the Pacific Rim. Engaging in this ecosystem allows our company to anticipate the shifting power, cooling, and structural requirements of tomorrow’s digital infrastructure. It converts abstract telecommunications trends into concrete manufacturing roadmaps, ensuring we design the exact power distribution and management systems the industry will require years before they are deployed.

What would you share with those interested in becoming a PTC member?

BM: You gain immediate access to cross-industry intelligence, enabling you to anticipate market shifts rather than merely reacting to them. If your organization’s growth relies on understanding how data moves, stores, and powers the global economy, PTC membership provides vital relationships and insights to make that happen. While the value of becoming a member of PTC seems obvious, we also wanted to highlight how seamless and collaborative the membership onboarding process is. Within a day of inquiring about a new membership, we not only received detailed information, but met with the membership management team and have been well taken care of since.

What industry mogul or emerging leader have you followed or are currently pursuing, and why?

BM: I’ve long been drawn to Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla, not because one was “right” and the other “wrong,” but because together they represent the two disciplines every great manufacturer needs. Tesla was the purist inventor, chasing the elegance of an idea. Edison was the systems builder, obsessed with turning a good idea into something that could be manufactured, scaled, and sold. History tends to crown the visionary and overlook the process-builder, but in manufacturing, that’s backwards. Invention without commercialization is just a patent on a shelf. The companies that last are the ones that treat innovation and operational discipline as equally essential, not as a tradeoff. That’s the lens I bring to work every day.

What is something that not that many people know about you?

BM: I was born in Australia and share the same birthday as James Madison, the fourth President of the United States, and Henry Royce, co-founder of Rolls-Royce automobile and engine builders.