Insights from Structure Research, Applied Digital, PowerHouse Data Centers, and DataBank
A New Era of Infrastructure Growth
At the infra/STRUCTURE Summit 2025, held October 15–16 at the Wynn Las Vegas, the session titled “AI: The Next Frontier” brought together data center leaders to discuss how artificial intelligence is reshaping infrastructure demand, investment, and development strategy.
Moderated by Jabez Tan, Head of Research at Structure Research, the conversation featured Wes Cummins, CEO of Applied Digital; Luke Kipfer, Managing Director at PowerHouse Data Centers; and Raul Martynek, CEO of DataBank. Each offered unique perspectives on how their organizations are adapting to the acceleration of AI workloads and what that means for power, scale, and capital in the years ahead.
Industry Transformation – From Hyperscale to AI-Scale
Jabez Tan opened the discussion by reflecting on how quickly the market has shifted. Just one year ago, many were questioning the durability of AI-related infrastructure investments. Now, as Tan observed, “The speed of change has outpaced even the most optimistic expectations.”
Wes Cummins of Applied Digital illustrated this evolution through his company’s own transformation. “We started building Bitcoin data centers,” Cummins said. “We were never a miner, we just built the facilities. Then, when AI took off, we realized our designs could scale. We pivoted early, and when ChatGPT hit, the entire world changed.”
That pivot positioned Applied Digital to become a key player in the new era of high-performance computing (HPC) and GPU-intensive workloads, with facilities like its large-scale campus in North Dakota exemplifying how traditional models have been re-engineered for AI.
Building for Scale – Meeting the Demand Wave
Raul Martynek of DataBank and Luke Kipfer of PowerHouse Data Centers both emphasized how scale and speed have become the defining factors of success. “As an executive developer, you have to have the conviction to bring inventory to market,” Martynek said. “If you’re building in good markets and with the right customers, there’s enormous room for growth.”
Cummins agreed, stressing that the conversation has shifted beyond simply securing power. “We’re moving past the question of who has power,” Cummins said. “Now it’s about who can build at scale, deliver reliably, and operate efficiently. Construction timelines, supply chain access, and delivery speed are the new gating factors.”
The panelists noted that hyperscalers are no longer alone in this race. New AI-focused firms, GPU as a service providers, and cloud entrants are competing for capacity at unprecedented levels, pushing the industry to think and build faster.
Site Strategy and Market Evolution – Staying Close to the Core
On the question of site selection, Martynek explained that traditional Tier 1 markets remain critical, though the boundaries are expanding. “Proximity to major availability zones is still a sound long-term strategy,” Martynek said. “We’re buying land in emerging submarkets of Virginia, for example, close enough to the core, but flexible enough to support scale.”
Kipfer added that hyperscalers’ preferences vary by workload type. “For AI and machine learning, some customers can be farther from peering points,” Kipfer said. “But for commercial cloud and enterprise use cases, Tier 1 and Tier 1-adjacent locations still offer the lowest risk and greatest performance.”
Together, their remarks reflected a balanced market dynamic, one where new geographies are gaining traction, but traditional hubs remain foundational to large-scale AI deployments.
Is This a Bubble? – Understanding the AI Surge
As AI investment accelerates, Tan posed the question many in the audience were thinking: Are we in another tech bubble?
Cummins was direct in his response. “I lived through the dot-com bubble,” he said. “This is different. The rate of adoption and real-world application is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.” He pointed out that ChatGPT reached a billion daily queries in just over two years—compared to Google’s eleven-year journey to the same milestone. “The computing power behind that is staggering,” he added.
Martynek agreed, noting that despite the hype, constraints in power, supply chain, and construction capacity make overbuilding virtually impossible. “It’s actually very hard to build too much right now,” he said. “The market is self-regulating through those bottlenecks.”
Capital Strategy and Long-Term Partnerships
A major theme throughout the discussion was the evolving capital stack supporting AI infrastructure. Martynek shared that DataBank has attracted strong investment from institutional partners seeking stable, long-term returns. “We’ve created investment-grade structures backed by 15-year commitments from top-tier customers,” Martynek said. “That gives our investors confidence and gives us visibility into future growth.”
Cummins added that Applied Digital’s focus is on securing long-term offtake agreements with the right clients, those building sustainable businesses rather than speculative projects. “These are 15-year-plus commitments from high-quality counterparties,” Cummins said. “That’s what allows us to build aggressively but responsibly.”
The panel agreed that long-term alignment between capital providers, developers, and customers will define the next phase of industry maturity.
The Future of AI Infrastructure – Speed, Scale, and Cooperation
Looking ahead, all three panelists emphasized the need for ongoing collaboration across the ecosystem. From developers to operators to hyperscalers, success will depend on shared innovation and operational agility.
Cummins summed up the moment: “The world isn’t going back. We’ve unlocked a new era of computing, and our challenge is to keep up with it. Speed is everything.”
Martynek added, “We’re not overbuilding, we’re underprepared. The companies that can execute with discipline and partnership will define the next decade of infrastructure growth.”
A Market Fueled by Real Demand
The discussion underscored that the AI-driven infrastructure boom is not speculative, it’s structural. Adoption is accelerating faster than any previous technology wave, supply is constrained, and capital is flowing toward long-term, revenue-backed projects. The result is a market with strong fundamentals, focused execution, and unprecedented potential for innovation.
Infra/STRUCTURE 2026: Save the Date
Want to tune in live, received all presentations, gain access to C-level executives, investors and industry leading research? Then save the date for infra/STRUCTURE 2026 set for October 7-8, 2026 at The Wynn Las Vegas. Pre-Registration for the 2026 event is now open, and you can visit www.infrastructuresummit.io to learn more.
