University of Kwazulu-Natal

Power Ai Security And The Future The Game Changing Data Center

Bonisiwe Shabane
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power ai security and the future the game changing data center

Leaders worldwide are moving fast to deploy AI at scale. But scaling AI means more data centers—and data centers consume vast quantities of energy. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey’s Jesse Noffsinger and Pankaj Sachdeva speak with Global Editorial Director and Deputy Publisher Lucia Rahilly about what needs to happen to build new, bigger data centers... The McKinsey Podcast is cohosted by Lucia Rahilly and Roberta Fusaro. The following transcript has been edited for clarity and length. Roberta Fusaro: Hey, Lucia.

It’s great to see you. Coming up, we’ll hear a conversation you had about data centers. They’re critical for scaling AI, but they require so much power and investment, so there are a lot of challenges. But before we get into all that, let’s talk about what’s new on McKinsey.com. Lucia Rahilly: We have an article about the future of foreign aid and the kind of impact a decrease of many billions of dollars will have on recipient countries and organizations.1“A generational shift: The... And we have another article about five geopolitical-risk questions that all chief information officers [CIOs] should consider.2James Kaplan, Jan Shelly Brown, and Tucker Bailey, “Risk rebalancing: Five important geopolitical-risk questions for CIOs,” McKinsey, May...

Both articles can be found on McKinsey.com and in our show notes. AI agents are fundamentally reshaping data center design, infrastructure, and operations. As these agents grow more sophisticated and widespread, traditional data centers must evolve to meet unprecedented demands—from escalating computational power and cooling needs to advanced networking capable of handling dynamic, high-volume traffic. This report examines how data centers are adapting to support AI workloads, highlighting innovations in technology, design, and operations that will drive the future of digital infrastructure. At its core, a data center integrates three fundamental elements: Compute Resources: The processing power required to run applications and manage data.

Networking Infrastructure: Systems enabling data transmission and communication. Storage Systems: Solutions for data retention and management. Global live and planned data center capacity by ownership In the golden hills of Puglia, a southern region of Italy known today for its olive trees, white cliffs and turquoise mediterranean coves, Lorenzo Avello has artificial intelligence on his mind. Avello’s relatively unknown company, Adriatic DC, is looking to develop three massive data centers in the area, including a campus capable of turning 1.5 gigawatts of electricity into computing power for artificial intelligence services... A single gigawatt is enough to power up to 750,000 US homes at any given time.

The goal, he said, is to establish “a Mediterranean AI hub.” Avello has never built a data center. Before this, he worked on renewable energy projects. Thousands of newcomers with little to no computing capacity today are hoping to claim a piece of the AI infrastructure gold rush. If every data center in the trillion-dollar pipeline gets built, a Shark Tank television show host will own a computing empire in the oil- and gas-rich province of Alberta, and a five-year-old Bitcoin mining... Avello’s year-old company, meanwhile, would soon be running Europe’s largest computing operation.

These are the new faces behind the mega-campuses being developed globally to power the artificial intelligence boom. Their emergence marks a fundamental shift in data center dominance away from Big Tech and points to a new set of heightened risks from the global infrastructure buildout as less experienced firms join the... TechTarget and Informa Tech’s Digital Business Combine.TechTarget and Informa Together, we power an unparalleled network of 220+ online properties covering 10,000+ granular topics, serving an audience of 50+ million professionals with original, objective content from trusted sources. We help you gain critical insights and make more informed decisions across your business priorities. Insight and analysis on the data center space from industry thought leaders.

Amid unprecedented data center growth, data center security measures are evolving to protect critical infrastructure, writes Rick Focke. The unprecedented rise in AI and data-driven technologies has led to a growth of data centers that shows no sign of slowing down. AI workloads consume 10 times more power than traditional search queries, meaning more data center space than ever is required. The accelerating growth of this backbone of digital innovation brings heightened security risks. Amidst widespread outages and evolving global regulations, data centers, vital hubs for business operations, are facing growing pressure to stay resilient, compliant, and future-ready. As AI and digital transformation occur, security has become a protective measure and a strategic advantage.

Staying resilient in a world of growing risks requires a shift in mindset toward predictive technology, digitalization, and specialized security strategies. In this blog, Milton Plet, Senior Vice President of Global Clients for Data Centers, shares his perspective on the trends shaping the future of data centers, the role of AI, and how security must... While many security providers still operate under a traditional guarding services model, Securitas USA is not only a guarding company but a solutions-driven security partner. It understands the specialized environment of data centers and helps meet modern challenges with modern tools. “If you look at the industry today, any company that is still looking at security through a purely traditional lens—focused solely on officers and guarding hours—is already facing a difficult conversation,” says Milton. “The industry has shifted.

AI is here now and rapidly advancing.” To stay relevant to data center clients, it’s no longer enough to rely on outdated models. “It takes a strategic combination of specialized guarding supported by AI, digitalization, and technology today.” For data center clients, that value includes delivering value through deep specialization in data centers, AI and digital platforms, and flexible, proactive security solutions. Enterprise AI is still in its infancy, with emerging use cases poised to drive fundamental shifts across industries that are comparable to the transformative effects of the internet, mobile, and cloud technologies. The internet changed everything about how business was done. AI is going to change everything about how business is done.

It’s just that fundamental. What we’re seeing is a similar pattern to the dot-com era, where there are companies trying to capitalize on the early wins and others that are in it for the long term. Those with a long-term view are taking a more structured and strategic approach to build a solid foundation. I’ve been skeptical about many past technology waves—blockchain, far-edge computing, 5G—largely because their practical applications didn’t seem compelling enough at the time. But AI is different. This is a technology I truly believe in, and the potential for it to drive profound economic impact and solve real-world challenges is what excites me most.

The acceleration of AI adoption will require unprecedented levels of computational power, data storage, and networking. The criticality of purpose-built, sustainable data center infrastructure cannot be overstated. These facilities are essential for supporting the massive workloads that drive AI applications, and will help pave the way for a smarter, more connected future. Until recently, developing AI training models was the primary focus for most of the infrastructure built in the first wave of AI. But that’s changing. Now that models are more mature, vertical-specific, and trusted, we expect to see enterprises spending more time on AI inference in 2025.

These sophisticated models are being applied to use cases that go beyond chatbots and funny photos to tackle complex problems and create tangible value across nearly all industries.

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