Data centers: The race to power AI

In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, hosts Lucia Rahilly and Roberta Fusaro discuss the escalating demand for data centers driven by the growth of AI, featuring insights from McKinsey leaders Pankaj Sachdeva and Jesse Noffsinger. The conversation highlights the challenges of meeting the increasing power requirements, the shift in data center locations towards areas with greater power availability, and the architectural changes needed, such as liquid cooling. They address the need for significant investment in energy infrastructure, the importance of clean and high-ROI energy projects, and the role of innovation in maximizing existing infrastructure. The discussion also covers strategic considerations for enterprises, suppliers, developers, LLM providers, and investors in the AI ecosystem, emphasizing the need for durable business models, customer-centric approaches, and collaborative partnerships to overcome supply chain and technological challenges.