Nov 19, 2025
4-5 minutes
AI and the Future of Data Centers: 3 Takeaways from infra/STRUCTURE 2025
Hosted by Structure Research, infra/STRUCTURE is one of the industry’s most focused and forward-looking gatherings for digital infrastructure professionals. Bringing together service providers, hyperscalers, data center operators, cloud platforms, and investors, the event serves as a think tank for the future of the internet’s physical backbone, from data centers to connectivity and edge innovation.
The Inflect Team on-site at infra/STRUCTURE Summit 2025. From left to right: Mike Nguyen, César Coelho-Oxley, Anna Wolfe, Chanyu Kuo and Cliff Martin.
Infra/STRUCTURE Summit 2025 By the Numbers
This year’s infra/STRUCTURE Summit in Las Vegas provided an intimate, high-impact setting for learning, partnership, and strategic discussions shaping the next phase of digital infrastructure growth.
Throughout the two-day event, AI-driven demand, sustainability, and global interconnection dominated the conversation. Sessions dove into how artificial intelligence is accelerating data center build-outs, reshaping power strategies, and driving a new wave of investment globally.
Our team had great conversations with service providers about their expansion plans and the rising demand for transparent, data-driven marketplaces that make it easier to connect customers with the capacity they need.
AI’s Impact on Global Market Expansion Patterns
During one of the most anticipated sessions, “AI’s Impact on Global Market Expansion Patterns,” industry leaders dove deep into the state of AI infrastructure and AI is changing the way infrastructure is rolled out globally. Conversation centered around how the rise of new AI companies is reshaping power dynamics, development strategies, and deal structures across the sector.
Our CEO, Mike Nguyen joined Craig Scroggie, CEO and Managing Director of NEXTDC, and Steven Lim, SVP of Marketing & GTM at NTT Global Data Centers, on the panel moderated by Swapna Subramani of Structure Research to discuss how AI is reshaping digital infrastructure and redefining not just demand, but who’s building the future.
For Inflect, the conversation echoed what we’re seeing firsthand across the marketplace: capacity demand is surging, geography is expanding, and business models are evolving faster than ever.
Here are our three key takeaways from the panel discussion
Takeaway #1: Exotic Deal Structures are Transforming the Market
New AI players are reshaping data center deal structures. As new AI companies, often less than five years old, emerge, they’re pursuing massive data center and colocation contracts with limited credit histories, prompting operators to rethink how deals get done. The result? A shift toward “ecosystem deal structures” where major backers like hyperscalers or chipmakers guarantee capacity or payments on behalf of younger AI firms. Some of the creative financial structures emerging include:
Hyperscalers backing smaller AI startups to guarantee contracts
Joint venture models that share risk and reward
Flexible leasing terms designed for AI’s fast-paced growth
These “exotic deal structures,” as Mike described them, are helping bridge trust gaps between providers and AI firms, fueling continued expansion despite market volatility.
“It’s been very interesting in the last 6 to 9 months. It’s not just leasing patterns changing, but also folks we didn’t expect to want to own and build settlements — and greater involvement from neocloud players. We’re seeing all sorts of exotic structures and deals emerge,” Mike said.
Takeaway #2: Power Availability is the New Geography
In today’s AI era, power and primary market proximity are dictating data center site selection.
Speakers highlighted a growing migration from traditional, but now oversaturated Tier 1 markets to emerging hubs in Thailand, Malaysia, and India, where large tracts of land and renewable energy sources are available.
The trend signals a fundamental shift from “follow the fiber” to “follow the power.” Operators are now prioritizing grid capacity, sustainability, and scalability over location alone and reshaping the global data center map in the process.
Takeaway #3: Scale and Speed are Redefining Hyperscale Development
AI’s demand curve is unlike anything the industry has ever seen. As panelist Craig Scroggie noted, “one AI year equals seven internet years.”
Facilities once considered massive (those of 10 MW or more) now pale in comparison to today’s 1,000 MW hyperscale campuses under construction.
Governments and utilities are scrambling to keep up with the energy requirements of these next-generation data centers. The panel emphasized that success now depends on speed, coordination, sustainability, and favorable geopolitical factors so that operators can scale quickly while maintaining resilience and environmental responsibility.
This surge marks the beginning of a new industrial revolution, where digital infrastructure becomes as essential as physical manufacturing once was.
Final Thoughts
The conversations at infra/STRUCTURE 2025 made one thing clear: AI is rewriting the playbook for digital infrastructure. Power sourcing, financing, and geography are all in flux, and the industry is adapting in real time.
For Inflect, this transformation reinforces our mission to simplify and accelerate how organizations connect to capacity. Through a transparent, data-driven marketplace, we help service providers, hyperscalers, and enterprises find the right infrastructure to power the next generation of innovation.
As the AI revolution unfolds, Inflect remains your trusted guide in a rapidly evolving ecosystem. Visit IT Infrastructure Marketplace today to see the entire market, faster.
About the Author
Trevor Hopkins
Account Manager at Inflect
Trevor is an expert in the digital infrastructure industry with a proven track record of helping buyers navigate complex markets—whether building next-gen data centers, expanding global networks, or evaluating compliance-heavy workloads like blockchain. He shares insights and observations drawn from practical experience and real cases, writing at the intersection of technology, regulation, and the systems that keep the internet running.
Contact:
Email:
trevor.hopkins@inflect.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-hopkins-2ab3ba201/