The history of the Internet infrastructure sector has always been characterized by growth waves, propelled by technology innovation and operational efficiency, and accelerated by disruptive events (the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 global pandemic) that bring more urgency to the table, and over time, clarity and new insights. The sector has experienced two major waves - the transition to outsourced infrastructure and the rise of hyperscale cloud - that have pushed the sector forward on a consistent growth trajectory that has been exceedingly healthy and consistent, and even demonstrated counter-cyclical tendencies.
There is no question that hyperscale cloud has brought the sector to where it is today and the current growth wave is far from over. Hyperscale cloud is still developing in emerging markets around the world and the shift from traditional on-premise to outsourced off-premise infrastructure is still ongoing, even as it moves into its final stages. But while these waves continue to play out, the sector has approached yet another inflection point as AI looks to amplify what is happening with hyperscale, while laying the groundwork for something that is truly unprecedented. Instead of data centres, availability zones and interconnection, we are starting to talk about AI factories for training and inference locations and infrastructure. CPUs are making way for GPUs, while air cooling is now living alongside liquid cooling. And data centre infrastructure is not about bringing in power, but moving closer to where the power is.
Against this backdrop, there are a number of variables in motion. Resource constraints, supply chain challenges, growing capital requirements, financing complexity, new technologies, persistent legacy portfolios, geopolitics, forthcoming regulatory issues and infrastructure redesigns are all happening at once (2025 theme: concurrence), while being reconsidered (2024 theme: rethink), reevaluated and adjusted (2023 theme: recalibration) for the next-generation that is coming. And it is all happening at an accelerated pace (2022 theme: acceleration).
The sector is currently in a clear transitory period. Few will disagree that the next wave, driven by the rise of AI, is coming, and it is not a matter of if but when. We invite you to join us to explore and make sense of this time in between, the interlude between hyperscale cloud and AI, at infra / STRUCTURE 2026 in Las Vegas.