Preston Grisham

Public policy executive working at the intersection of technology, infrastructure and government. I also build software.

Columbia, South Carolina
34.0007° N / 81.0348° W

VP, Policy & External Affairs
Cologix

LinkedIn
GitHub

Preston Grisham on a cobblestone street in a European old town

About

I run policy and external affairs at Cologix, a data center and interconnection company. That means the rules, permits, power and politics that decide where digital infrastructure gets built. Before Cologix I led U.S. policy communications at Amazon and AWS, and before that I spent more than a decade on Capitol Hill, starting with Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina.

I wrote my first programs in the third grade and never really stopped. These days I build iOS apps in Swift, mostly to keep my hands on the technology I spend the workday talking about. Two are on the App Store and two more are on the way.

More about my background

Areas of work

Digital infrastructure policy

Data centers, power, permitting and the local politics of building the physical internet.

Public affairs & communications

Government relations, stakeholder engagement and communications strategy, in Congress and in industry.

Technology policy

Artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, energy and economic development at the federal, state and local level.

Software

iOS apps in Swift, plus web tools and a few hardware experiments.

Writing

Notes on infrastructure, technology, policy and whatever else I’m thinking about.

Experience

2026 – presentCologixVice President, Policy & External Affairs
2022 – 2026Amazon / AWSLead, U.S. Public Affairs & Policy Communications
2020 – 2022APCO WorldwideVice President, Technology Policy
2017 – 2020TechSCExecutive Director
Full résumé, back to 2002

Apps

PLNS home feed showing friends who are free, a check-in at a coffee shop and a trivia night plan PLNS create menu with options for a plan, an I'm Free post, a check-in, an event and an Are You Free question

PLNS

For years I sent the same text every Friday afternoon, copy-pasted to a dozen friends one at a time. PLNS replaces it. Say you’re free, see who else is, and make a plan without starting a group chat.

In development · SwiftUI · CloudKit · iOS

plns.app  ·  Why I built it

College Football 2026

Live scores and schedules without the clutter, built by a fan who got tired of the alternatives.

On the App Store · Swift · UIKit · iOS  ·  Details

College Football 2026 home screen

Capital DC Metro

Live train arrivals and line status for commuters who care more about reliability than flair.

On the App Store · Swift · WMATA API · iOS  ·  Details

Capital DC Metro showing the closest train arrivals

Shot List

A daily photo scavenger hunt: four everyday objects and 24 hours to find and shoot them. The puzzle you have to go outside to solve.

In beta · SwiftUI · CloudKit · iOS  ·  dailyshotlist.com

Outside work

Saturdays in the fall belong to South Carolina football. The rest of the year I’m usually on a Midlands river with a kayak, in the kitchen attempting something I have no business attempting, or out with a camera and more lenses than I need. I’m a sucker for well-designed travel gear. My wife and daughter are the reason for most of it.

Contact

Policy, public affairs, software, or a good conversation. Email is the surest way to reach me.

info@prestongrisham.com