Corporate Venturing Backing the AI Transformation
Ji Hoon Kwon of Samsung Ventures on where AI infrastructure really chokes, and how a corporate investor can move at venture speed.
With Ji Hoon Kwon
From The Corporate Venturing Podcast, brought to you by Open Road Ventures
4 things this conversation gets into
- 01Power, heat and networking: where AI data centres really choke
- 02Why always-on AI favours baseload energy
- 03Running technical and financial diligence in parallel
- 04Value after the cheque: opening doors across business units
Ji Hoon Kwon is Managing Director at Samsung Ventures. He brings an operator's lens to AI infrastructure investing, from where AI data centres really choke to how a CVC can move at VC speed while creating value beyond capital.
Davide Ritorto is a management engineer from Italy with an international MBA, currently working at Lamborghini. He is what some call an intrapreneur, passionate about open innovation and corporate venturing, and driven by curiosity about how things work and how to make them work even better. Through Open Road Ventures he sets out to inspire and inform other innovators, intrapreneurs and dreamers.
He founded Open Road Ventures as a weekly publication on open innovation and corporate venturing, and The Corporate Venturing Podcast grew out of it. He also mentors startups at Motor Valley Accelerator and sits on the Open Innovation Advisory Board at UC Berkeley Haas.
The Corporate Venturing Podcast is made by Open Road Ventures. The Bundl Venture Club is a partner of the show.
Read the full show notes
🎙️ AI Infrastructure, minus the buzzwords.
In this episode, Ji Hoon Kwon (Managing Director, Samsung Ventures) explains where AI data centers really choke (power, thermal, and networking) why baseload energy matters, and how a CVC can move at VC speed while creating value beyond capital. He also pressure-tests “future” ideas like floating and space data centers with an operator’s lens.
Highlights
🔌 Power is bottleneck #1. GPU draw jumped to ~1–1.2 kW per chip; racks push ~120 kW, and lost power turns into heat.
🌡️ Thermal follows power. More watts mean more heat; rethink electrical and cooling together.
⚙️ Next wave: power electronics. Efficiency in conversion and distribution becomes the lever.
🔋 Baseload beats intermittency. 24/7 AI favors SMR nuclear and geothermal over variable-only supply.
🧪 Diligence that saves time. Run technical and financial checks in parallel; decide fast or pass fast.
🤝 Value after the check. Open doors across BUs—manufacturing, customers, and design-ins—not just capital.
🛟 Future formats, reality check. Floating and space DCs have promise, but corrosion, maintenance, connectivity, and launch costs are tough.
📈 What makes a “good” CVC deal. Strategic fit matters, but financial returns still keep the engine running.
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