Aaron L. Ruffin

Site Selection & Infrastructure Development Lead
OpenAI
Seattle, Washington

Aaron Ruffin is an infrastructure strategist specializing in hyperscale AI and data center expansion. He currently leads site selection and readiness initiatives at OpenAI, where he supports the deployment of next-generation compute environments across the United States.

With nearly two decades of experience across public policy, municipal governance, and global technology organizations, Aaron operates at the intersection of strategy, infrastructure delivery, and public-private negotiation. He directs multidisciplinary diligence spanning environmental constraints, geotechnical risk, title and mineral rights, utility coordination, and entitlement strategy translating complex technical findings into executive-level investment decisions.

Prior to OpenAI, Aaron held senior land development leadership roles at Microsoft, guiding land prepositioning, development agreements, and infrastructure coordination for large-scale technology campuses. Earlier in his career, he served in municipal planning leadership, overseeing land use and environmental review for major redevelopment initiatives.

Trained in both landscape architecture and public policy, Aaron brings a systems-level perspective to infrastructure growth aligning communities, utilities, and technology organizations to responsibly enable the next era of digital infrastructure.

Disclosure information not submitted.

Presentation(s):

• Dear Workplace: Burning Questions Answered

  Saturday, April 25, 2026
  1:30 PM - 2:15 PM CT