One of Minnesota's younger public companies is in the right place at the right time. It plays a key role in keeping things cool in the red-hot world of AI and data centers.

Every day, millions of people use AI applications like ChatGPT that require power from data centers where chips and servers run the digital world. The process generates massive amounts of heat. If it gets too hot, circuits melt, so the data center must be cooled. That's where nVent comes in.

At its Anoka, Minnesota, plant, nVent makes products that carry water to cool data centers. The products are laser-measured to meet exacting standards.

nVent CEO Beth Wozniak is spearheading the effort from the headquarters in St. Louis Park.

"nVent is an electrical manufacturing company. We spun out of Pentair around seven years ago, and we had to invent our name," she said. "And when you look at what we've done over 100 years of innovation, so we're in data centers, we're in utilities, we're really part of the electrification of everything."

 nVent is a public company whose stock has risen about 50% in the last year.

It employs about 12,000 people worldwide, including the Canadian-born CEO who came to Minnesota decades ago to work at Honeywell.

"I have a background in engineering physics, and I started my career doing aircraft simulators, but, you know, then got into all kinds of different products within aerospace and also in automation and controls, and that led me to where I am today," Wozniak said.

Today, she is leading a company in a field where most CEO's are men, but Wozniak sees more opportunities.

"One of the things I'm very proud of nVent is that we have a lot of women executives. And when I look at the board for nVent, over half of our board are women," Wozniak said.

Business is hot right now, in part, because AI demand is booming. nVent faces challenges most companies would welcome.

"It's taken us 100 years to build out the electrical grid capacity that we have today. That needs to double in the next 25 years. And then you see the rate of growth of data centers. So, one of our challenges is, quite frankly, expanding our capacity to serve all the needs that we have from our customers," Wozniak said.

Enough customers to increase revenue from $2 billion when the company started to nearly $4 billion in 2025.

No one knew who they were at first, but you get the sense that it won't last long.

"I think it's a great place for people to grow their careers, and we just want to ensure that more employees join us as we're on this fun journey," Wozniak said.

nVent is building a new manufacturing facility in Blaine that will open next year.