Dr Sanjay Gambhir, Executive Director, AECOM

As sectors such as healthcare and education generate more data, the focus now must shift to building scalable, future-proof, artificial intelligence (AI)-ready data centres. As India’s data centre landscape rapidly evolves, the country has a unique opportunity to lead this space.

Gearing up for the AI revolution

As AI becomes more prominent, changing platforms, equipment design, power density and cooling needs require new architectural approaches. High-performance computing and power are critical for AI data centres, as they are projected to account for nearly 8 per cent of global power consumption. Parallelly, enhanced cooling solutions will become essential drivers of AI data centres.

For instance, a couple of years ago, air cooling and low rack density (just around 1 kW per rack) were considered cooling solutions. Today, the challenge of cooling superchips is driving a shift towards more advanced methods that reduce reliance on mechanical air cooling. Some of these cooling options include direct-to-chip or direct liquid cooling and immersion cooling, which may be single-phase (using the heat exchanger method) and two-phase (harnessing low-temperature evaporation). The industry must adapt quickly to keep pace with these developments.

Global market trends

Current trends are focused on implementing AI and conducting research in previously uncharted territories. For instance, if quantum technology becomes mainstream, servers may need to operate at absolute zero temperatures – marking the next frontier in technological advancements. While fission technology has been decoded using available computing capabilities and processors, fusion technology is yet to be demystified. Once there is more understanding around fusion, it holds the potential to unlock significant breakthroughs.

That said, an analysis of data centre distribution reveals a significant imbalance. The US leads by a wide margin (around 5,381 data centres), followed by Europe (521 in Germany and 514 in the UK), and Asia (449 in China), indicating that developed countries have much better infrastructure when it comes to data centres. This, of course, includes the data centres where AI applications are currently being hosted. Very few data centres in India are capable of hosting AI applications, and even those are still in the very early, nascent stages. This presents a serious challenge. If this imbalance is not addressed, it could lead to significant consequences in the future, especially given the current geopolitical scenario.

According to a prediction for the year 2030, the compound annual growth rate for AI data centres is expected to be around 33 per cent, while the overall growth rate for data centres will be about 22 per cent. Further, by 2030, nearly 70 per cent of the total demand for data centres is expected to be driven by AI. This is the trajectory we are on, and the expectation among technocrats and industry leaders is clear – the future lies in advancing towards AI-driven infrastructure.

Adoption barriers

There are six major challenges in making data centres AI-ready, which are:

  • Fast changing technology: The frequent upgrades in AI hardware (GPUs and TPUs) may create compatibility issues with AI software, and sometimes leave even newly constructed AI infrastructure redundant.
  • Cooling requirement: In India, there is often hesitation to adopt new technologies unless they are first approved through application in Europe or the US.
  • Power requirement: Reliable UPS and backup systems are critical. Parallelly, sustainable energy integration is a growing priority.
  • Cost and operational constraints: CEOs often do not know which technology they should invest in, given the uncertain return on investment. To add to this, AI infrastructure has high capital and maintenance costs.
  • Network and latency: AI workloads need ultra-low-latency and high-bandwidth connections.
  • Data storage and management: Efficient data storage and retrieval are crucial.

Turning challenges into opportunities

Despite the challenges, there are significant opportunities in India. There is immense potential to build successful data centre businesses. For instance, home-grown solutions that have been successfully tested can be scaled and deployed in other countries where similar needs exist.

Moreover, if everything is hosted in India, the country could potentially control the digital flow of other countries. While policymakers are actively deliberating on these issues, the rapid pace of technological evolution often makes it challenging for policy to keep up. Therefore, it is crucial for industry leaders, technologists and innovators to engage with policymakers to collectively brainstorm, assess the broader scenario and communicate the right messages to relevant stakeholders. s

Based on a presentation by Dr Sanjay Gambhir, Executive Director, AECOM, at tele.net‘s recent conference on Data Centres in India