Tesla Taps New Leader to Expand Energy Data Center Push

The appointment follows the deployment of 168 Megapacks at the Colossus data center and a trademark filing for Megapod hardware.

Updated on Oct. 26, 2026 in Data Centers

Industrial energy storage battery units arranged in a line at a power infrastructure site during golden hour. — Tesla has appointed Jessy Rivest to lead its energy division as the company increases its deployment of modular energy storage for data center facilities. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Tesla has appointed former Khosla Ventures partner Jessy Rivest to lead its energy programs division. This move follows Tesla's recent infrastructure activity, including the deployment of 168 Megapacks at the Colossus data center.

Why it matters

The appointment signals a continued effort by Tesla to integrate its energy storage systems more deeply into the data center infrastructure market. The firm is increasingly positioning its hardware as a critical component for power-intensive computing facilities.

Tesla deployed 168 Megapack units at the Colossus data center. The company also recently filed a trademark for Megapod, a proposed modular data center hardware system.

The players

Tesla

An automotive and energy firm that manufactures electric vehicles, utility-scale battery storage, and solar hardware.

Jessy Rivest

The newly appointed head of Tesla energy programs who previously served as an investment partner at Khosla Ventures.

Khosla Ventures

A venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments in climate, energy, and deep technology.

The details

Tesla builds the Megapack as a utility-scale battery energy storage system designed to manage peak power demands. The Megapod is described in company filings as a modular data center hardware system intended to package compute resources with energy storage. Rivest joins this effort after a four-year tenure at the venture capital firm Khosla Ventures, where she focused on investment strategy.

In 2025, Tesla deployed 168 Megapacks at the Colossus data center.
In 2026, Tesla filed a trademark for the Megapod modular hardware system.
In October 2026, Jessy Rivest was appointed head of Tesla energy programs.

The Tech Race

The Megapod announcement marks an expansion of the Tesla Megapack utility-scale battery beyond traditional grid storage into the dedicated data center power market. This initiative places Tesla in direct competition with traditional power infrastructure providers seeking to capitalize on the surge in AI-driven data center demand.

The shift toward modular systems like the Megapod could accelerate deployment timelines for high-density computing facilities by bundling power and server infrastructure. Operators of large-scale data centers should monitor potential pilot programs for Megapod hardware throughout 2027.

The takeaway

Tesla is aggressively transitioning from a grid-storage provider to a data center infrastructure integrator. Watch for initial customer sign-ups or pilot specifications for the Megapod system, which will clarify whether this hardware becomes a standard component in modern high-performance clusters.