AI is reshaping the data centre landscape and creating opportunities for experts in data centre development, construction and operation, with almost half of all new data centres expected to be dedicated to AI workloads over the next five years.
The meteoric rise of AI tools like ChatGPT over the last few years is fuelling a revolution in the way we work with millions of us now reliant on artificial intelligence for everything from summarising reports to managing our finances. But behind every innocuous question asked by a casual user to a generative chat tool, is billions of pounds worth of state-of-the-art networked computer systems running 24/7 to continuously adapt and train AI models to provide better, more accurate answers.
And as reliance grows, so does demand for more facilities that can run these systems, creating a huge opportunity for those investing in data centre construction and operation.
The UK is already home to nearly 400 data centres – with Slough designated as the “Data Centre Capital of Europe”. Ireland has also long established itself as a data centre hub, with the outskirts of Dublin home to enough data centre facilities to consume over a fifth of the country’s electricity.
Most of these data centres have been fuelling mission-critical operations across millions of businesses throughout the UK and Ireland – ensuring constant operations in everything from hospitals and military installations to laboratories and commercial operations. They’re an essential part of modern infrastructure with thousands of constantly updating requirements.
But AI is already the biggest growth driver, and the latest estimations by industry experts predict that 44% of the UK’s data centres will be dedicated to AI workloads by 2030.
Transforming the data centre map
“AI workloads are reshaping the entire data centre landscape, from infrastructure builds to bandwidth demand,” said Jürgen Hatheier, international CTO at Ciena, in a recent interview.
“Historically, network traffic has grown at a rate of 20-30% per year. AI is set to accelerate this growth significantly, meaning operators are rethinking their architectures and planning for how they can meet this demand sustainably.”
So how has the growth of AI required so much demand so quickly?
The nature of the tools mean that considerably more data is being managed at all times. The models are in a constant state of development, learning from every input and being trained for better, faster, more accurate answers the more they’re used.
It's estimated that a single ChatGPT query uses 10 times more energy than a Google search. Meaning that as users shift from “traditional” search engines, the demand for data is exponentially increasing at paces not seen since the dot com bubble.
In the UK alone, it’s estimated that demand for data bandwidth is likely to grow by as much as six times over the next five years. Data centre facilities have now been designated by the government as “critical national infrastructure”, with a flagship “AI Opportunities Action Plan” devised to increase capacity primarily through enabling easier investment from private firms, both domestically and internationally.
There’s never been a better time to be working in data centre construction.
How AI is creating Data Centre opportunities
Fuelled by the estimated incoming demand (which seems reliable considering the way AI tools are already so embedded in our everyday lives), with the government endorsement and incentives, the data centre market is strong. One of the biggest challenges in getting started has been the acquisition of planning permission; but planning applications for new data centre facilities in the UK jumped 40% in 2024.
Even if some of those applications fail, there’s enough need and enough opportunity for significant sector jobs. But building specialist facilities requires expert knowledge.
Like any fast-growing, high demand industry, there’s inevitably a shortage of skills required to fulfil project goals.
“There’s just not enough skilled construction workers to go around,” commented Dame Dawn Childs, Chief-Executive of Pure Data Centres Group.
“It’s very, very fast. It’s very very highly engineered. The data centre market is regimented with everything carried out in a calculated and structured way,” explained Datalec Operations Director Matt Perrier-Flint in an interview with the BBC last October.
There are strict timeframes to follow, with various regulation complicating things – such as multiple testing and witnessing of new installations like essential chiller units.
So with experienced data centre construction specialists few and far between, how can developers ensure they’re hitting all their targets in an efficient and compliant way?
True Expertise Delivered
Coalesce Management Consulting’s specialist mission-critical team includes experts from across the construction and installation of new data centre projects. We have proven experience in delivery data centre projects across the UK, Ireland and the Nordics by deploying consultants in construction and engineering, and project management.
Our flexible services include expert on demand, team on demand and capacity partnering – meaning we can deploy experts from our global virtual workbench as and when required to overcome project challenges, or partner with developers throughout the life-cycle of a data centre construction project:- ensuring a consistent delivery of expertise from start to finish.
Get in touch with our dedicated mission-critical data centre team to discover more about our consulting services and learn how you can partner with Coalesce.