DCF Trends Summit: Strategies for Ensuring Future Cloud and AI Data Center Workloads

One of the more highly anticipated panels at this year's inaugural Data Center Frontier Trends Summit (Sept. 4-6) was titled “Ensuring Future Cloud and AI/ML Workloads at the Juncture of Power, Land, Regulation, and Communications Infrastructure.” 

Moderated by Scott Bergs, CEO of DF&I, this session brought together a lineup of experts from a range of data center operations to speak to the challenges and strategies necessary to meet explosive demand, while probing the crucial intersection of power, land, regulation, and communications infrastructure, the better to support perennially rising cloud and AI/ML workloads. 

As data center providers chase power, finding the right locations that have, or can develop, all of these aforementioned elements in a synchronized fashion is a substantial challenge. This panel session shared examples of where striking this balance has worked well, and where it has not worked as well. 

Led by DF&I's Bergs, the session's panelists included:

• Jeff Wabik, Chief Development Officer, DC BLOX
• Scott Willis, CEO, DartPoints
• Brett Lindsey, CEO, ark data centers

From securing power to redefining edge computing, the discussion illuminated the multi-faceted challenges facing the data center industry, with the panelists offering a roadmap for navigating the complexities of a rapidly evolving landscape. Overall, the panel agreed that with demand for data centers continuing to outstrip capacity, innovation and collaboration will be the keys to success.

A Generational Demand for Infrastructure Development

DF&I's Bergs began the panel's proceedings by framing the discussion thusly: "We’re witnessing a generational demand for infrastructure development, driven by unprecedented growth in workloads, particularly in cloud and AI/ML."

He added, "This compressed timeline is reshaping how we approach data center development, necessitating innovation and collaboration across the ecosystem."

Also in his introduction, Bergs noted DF&I’s evolution from a dark fiber infrastructure provider to a more integrated role as “dark conduit” infrastructure developers, highlighting the increasing complexity and scale of data center projects.

"Meeting the needs of these workloads now requires more than simply increasing fiber strand counts," Bergs said. "It demands a rethinking of established processes to enable faster and more efficient development."

Each panelist then outlined their organization’s role and perspective in the discussion.

Jeff Wabik of DC BLOX stated, "We are a data center infrastructure provider focused on the Southeast U.S., serving smaller markets and increasingly partnering with hyperscalers like Google and Meta. The scale and speed of their demands have reshaped how we approach our projects."

"We focus on retail enterprise colocation and hybrid cloud services across 11 data centers in the Midwest and Southeast," said DartPoints' Scott Willis, adding, "Our priority is scaling while addressing the unique challenges of enterprise workloads, which differ from hyperscalers’ needs."

Brett Lindsey of ark data centers noted, "With 10 data centers across the U.S., we’re increasingly focused on edge computing." He added, "For us, the edge is where workloads from 500 kW to 20 MW are housed—bridging the gap left by traditional regional data centers."

Compressed Development Timeline Challenges

As the discussion unfolded, DF&I's Bergs posed the central challenge for data center stakeholders: "Current demand for infrastructure is multiplying exponentially, driven by AI/ML workloads and hyperscale cloud. And traditional linear processes—finding land, securing power, and enabling communications—can no longer keep pace."

In response to this challenge, Bergs emphasized a need for cross-sector collaboration to avoid bottlenecks and accelerate development. He noted, "We’re working proactively with all stakeholders to avoid delays, whether caused by communication infrastructure or other factors."

The panel determined that major pinch points in the development ecosystem for data centers include power availability, challenges surrounding land and cooling of facilities, and the growing role of edge computing.

DC BLOX's Wabik identified power as the most significant bottleneck: "It’s difficult enough to build data centers or telecom networks, but securing adequate power from utilities has become the defining challenge. Regulatory and capacity constraints mean it can take years to bring new power online."

Wabik further noted how hyperscalers are adapting: "They’re reconsidering locations they wouldn’t have previously chosen, simply because it’s the only place with available power."

Dartpoints' Willis highlighted land and data center cooling as persistent issues, though less critical than power. "Land availability and the ability to meet cooling requirements remain challenges. But compared to the power issue, these feel almost manageable now."

ark data centers' Lindsey described the growing significance of edge deployments in alleviating some pressures. "Edge computing allows us to handle workloads in smaller, distributed centers, reducing the strain on larger regional hubs," he said. "This shift is redefining how we think about workload placement and infrastructure needs."

The Future of Collaboration and the Power Predicament: Balancing Supply, Demand, and Cost

Overall, the panel discussion emphasized closer collaboration across the data center ecosystem as a key to ensuring its future. 

As ark's Lindsey remarked: "This is no longer a single-player game. Utilities, regulators, and infrastructure developers need to be aligned from the outset to meet the demands of hyperscalers, enterprises, and the end-users who depend on this infrastructure."

DF&I's Bergs concurred on a note of optimism: "While challenges abound, this is also a moment of incredible innovation. The partnerships and strategies we forge today will define the future of data center development for decades to come."

The panel then moved on to a recurring theme in data center industry discussions: power as both a cornerstone and challenge. 

For instance, DC BLOX's Wabik candidly described the intricate negotiations with utilities, where operators must commit to paying for power capacity—sometimes hundreds of megawatts—regardless of usage. 

Highlighting the high costs of alternative energy, Wabik remarked, “You need to get your costs of green energy and alternative energy down by like 70% ... Nobody's going to pay double or triple for it.” 

This sentiment underscored the tension between data center sustainability goals and market realities. DF&I's Bergs wryly commented on the industry's fascination with the long-touted promise of nuclear energy: “Nuclear is definitely the power source of the future - and it always will be.”

The discussion then shifted focus to how power intersects with elements of capital and time. 

The panel noted that current builds are dramatically larger than those of the past, with capital investments for new facilities sometimes exceeding $360 million. Participants attributed this dynamic to hyperscalers absorbing much of the available investment, creating opportunities for private equity funds to target smaller, differentiated edge or enterprise-focused facilities.

Expanding Data Center Capacity to Meet Future Demand

The pressure to adapt isn’t limited to power. Panelists also delved into the evolution of data center design and capacity planning. 

Willis explained, “What we’re building now is 45,000 square feet with six data halls, each supporting different workloads. This is a dramatic shift from the 10,000-square-foot, 2-megawatt facilities of a few years ago.” 

The conversation also highlighted the challenge of scaling infrastructure to meet rising demand, particularly as enterprise customers and AI-driven workloads demand higher power densities.

 As Ark's Lindsey noted, “Even to stay relevant three to five years from now, we must evolve platforms to support 12 to 18 kilowatts per rack.” 

He further pointed out that the demand for higher power and cooling densities often necessitates retooling entire platforms - requiring capital, technical foresight, and collaboration with vendors like Dell, whose AI stacks are pushing rack densities to unprecedented levels.

Strategic Innovation in Design and Deployment

The panel also emphasized how operators face the dual challenge of innovating to meet diverse workload demands while mitigating risks associated with misaligned investments. 

Dartpoints' Willis described a modular approach to facility design, accommodating varied power and cooling requirements for hyperscale and enterprise customers. He emphasized flexibility: “If we’re not prepared to have conversations about liquid cooling or scalable designs, the enterprise customer will suffer the most.”

Others on the panel echoed the complexity of anticipating market needs. Willis further noted, “If you miss the right configuration for future workloads, it can be costly.” 

The group acknowledged how data center operators are now balancing diverse customer demands—from AI and high-performance computing (HPC) to traditional enterprise needs—by investing in specialized halls and advanced cooling technologies, including direct-to-chip solutions for workloads exceeding 50 kW per cabinet.

Connectivity: The Unsung Hero of Scale 

The panel agreed that the scale and innovation required to meet both power and connectivity demands put the present industry in an exciting yet challenging era. 

As Bergs summarized, “There are the established pain points in getting this done—power, cooling, capital, connectivity. But the scale of it all is what makes it compelling.”

The panel emphasized how connectivity is a vital yet often overlooked component of the data center ecosystem. 

The discussion also touched on how, with hyperscalers deploying their own subsea cables and fiber networks, the traditional roles of telecom providers are arguably being upended. 

DF&I's Bergs remarked, “Data centers can’t be islands. Connectivity is the synergist." He cited Google’s subsea cable to South America as an illustration of this paradigm shift.

The panel concluded that connectivity and data centers are deeply intertwined, driven by the demands of enterprise workloads and hyperscalers. 

As Bergs noted, “Connectivity and data centers are inextricably linked together,” while emphasizing the importance of aligning network infrastructure timelines with data center construction. 

Deployment and Scalability for the Changing Landscape of Connectivity

The discussion then touched on how a major hurdle to data center development lies in securing permits, especially for fiber installations. 

DC BLOX's Wabik highlighted the bureaucratic challenges surrounding fiber digs, sharing: “You have never been through hell like…when you’re dealing with jurisdictions…small counties with 2,000 people…it’s like being deposed by the CIA.”

The panel acknowledged how such delays add complexity to projects already burdened by an explosive growth in scale.

Another example of how the growing ecosystem of data centers requires massive amounts of bandwidth was then cited, whereby in Duluth, Minnesota, SpaceX demanded multiple 400-gigabit connections, prompting rapid fiber deployment. 

The panel said such accounts demonstrate how customer-specific requirements can justify infrastructure investments and attract additional carriers to an area.

Meanwhile, panelists agreed that while some aspects of connectivity remain consistent, the rise of hyperscalers and evolving customer needs have shifted dynamics in the following ways:

• Hyperscalers Becoming Telecoms: Hyperscalers are creating private networks and demanding “terabytes and terabytes” of bandwidth, which alters traditional data center-network relationships.
• Carrier Hotels vs. Data Centers: Traditional telecom hotels are being supplanted by modern data centers, which provide robust interconnectivity within regional ecosystems. 

As ark's Lindsey remarked “The telecom hotel of old is dead… replaced by the data centers.”

Approaches to Fiber and Carrier Neutrality, Site Selection and Regional Challenges

Participants also shared differing strategies in approaches to fiber and carrier neutrality.

Some companies, like Brett’s Lindsey’s ark data centers, prioritize data center investments over building fiber, relying instead on partnerships with carriers.

Others, like Scott Willis’ DartPoints, maintain carrier neutrality to attract diverse customers. Willis articulated this approach: “We’re not trying to get into the fiber business…We want fiber companies to come into our ecosystem and enable them,” he said.

The panel's final consensus was that expansion decisions hinge on balancing power availability, network capacity, and cost. 

And while second and third tier markets demonstrate the potential for growth even in challenging locations, infrastructure constraints—particularly in power—can be significant.

Developers are exploring neutral infrastructure models to mitigate these challenges, focusing on powered shells near power hubs and other critical resources.

In terms of broader implications and future outlook, the panelists expressed enthusiasm about the evolving cloud and AI data center landscape, despite challenges. 

As Wabik noted: “It’s crazy exciting… seeing ecosystems from small to large to huge and trying to synergize those in the same ecosystem.”

Conclusion

Highlighting the critical role of communications, innovation, and strategic site selection in addressing roadblocks like power density, cooling architecture, and fiber availability, the panel's final assessment was that the dynamic, fast-growing data center industry will continue to adapt as hyperscalers, enterprises, and developers shape the future of connectivity and digital infrastructure.