Demand is accelerating. Supply is constrained. Execution is everything. For investors seeking exposure to one of real estate’s most compelling structural growth themes, data centres continue to stand out. Yet the opportunity today looks very different from even a few years ago. The sector is being reshaped by forces that are redefining risk, returns and execution, creating opportunities for investors with the expertise to navigate an increasingly complex environment.

Demand Is Still Growing, and It’s Not Only AI

While AI has dominated recent headlines, the data centre investment story extends far beyond a single technology trend. The amount of digital data created, consumed and stored globally has increased by 19,600% since 2010, underpinning a long-term secular demand trend for data centre capacity. Industry forecasts suggest the sector could grow by approximately 14% annually through 2030, with global capacity approaching 200GW.

Cloud remains a significant and well-established growth engine. Hyperscale providers continue to expand their availability zones, while data sovereignty requirements are driving additional demand across European markets. On top of this foundation, AI is creating a new layer of compute demand that is accelerating infrastructure requirements across the sector.

Importantly, AI demand is not monolithic. Today’s growth is primarily driven by model training, which requires large, high-density campuses often located in markets where land and power are more readily available. Over time, however, demand is expected to shift increasingly towards AI inference, which shares many of the same locational requirements as cloud computing and is likely to reinforce demand in primary and strong secondary markets.

For investors, cloud provides a relatively stable demand base, while AI adds a second layer of growth potential. Together, they create a deeper and more diversified demand profile than many other real estate sectors can offer.

Read the full ‘Thought Leadership’ article at the link below