# The state of play of data center development

- Show: [Catalyst](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst)
- Published: 2025-06-12
- Length: 36m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-06-12-the-state-of-play-of-data-center-development

## Summary

Chris Sharp, CTO of Digital Realty, explains that AI inference workloads are clustering in existing availability zones like Northern Virginia due to latency and throughput requirements, creating 'data gravity' that drives regional growth. He details how grid interconnection delays and equipment bottlenecks, such as 50-week transformer lead times, are extending project timelines beyond the standard two years. Sharp also discusses the role of 'bridge power' and diesel generators as necessary short-term solutions to meet SLAs while waiting for grid upgrades, noting that liquid cooling increases reliability demands rather than reducing them.

## Chapters

- [3:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-06-12-the-state-of-play-of-data-center-development#t=183) Introduction: Chris Sharp and Digital Realty
- [4:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-06-12-the-state-of-play-of-data-center-development#t=262) AI Workloads and Geographic Clustering
- [12:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-06-12-the-state-of-play-of-data-center-development#t=749) Grid Constraints and Project Timelines
- [18:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-06-12-the-state-of-play-of-data-center-development#t=1085) Scale, Densification, and 'Bragawatts'
- [26:56](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-06-12-the-state-of-play-of-data-center-development#t=1616) Bridge Power and Utility Partnerships
- [30:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-06-12-the-state-of-play-of-data-center-development#t=1855) Liquid Cooling and Reliability Requirements
- [34:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-06-12-the-state-of-play-of-data-center-development#t=2058) Future Efficiency and AI Use Cases

## Topics

- [Energy & climate tech](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/energy-and-climate-tech)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Mechanical engineering](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/mechanical-engineering)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- Digital Realty (company)
- EnergyHub (company)
- Anza (other)
- Nvidia (company)
- Novo Nordisk (company)
- DGX pods (product)
- Gemini (product)
- VO3 (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [All Heat, No Useful Work](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2026-05-25-all-heat-no-useful-work) (The Amp Hour)
- [259: Data Centers, Modularity, and Mission Critical Manufacturing featuring Keith Hutchens of BW Design Group](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-10-28-259-data-centers-modularity-and-mission-critical-manufacturing-featuring-keith-h) (Manufacturing Happy Hour)
- [EP 186: Mobile Bottlenecks, Skyrocketing AI CapEx, and the Compute Crunch](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2026-08-03-ep-186-mobile-bottlenecks-skyrocketing-ai-capex-and-the-compute-crunch) (The Circuit)
- [Episode 79: Not Your Grandfathers Data Center](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2024-08-14-episode-79-not-your-grandfathers-data-center) (The Circuit)
- [Industrial Digital Transformation with Aravind Yarlagadda, Chief Digital Officer at Eaton](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2023-08-17-industrial-digital-transformation-with-aravind-yarlagadda-chief-digital-officer) (Over the Air)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-06-12-the-state-of-play-of-data-center-development. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Catalyst.