Suffice it to say that Richard Lukaj has been busy - the Co-Founder of digital-infrastructure focused investment bank Bank Street has advised on a torrent of transcations accross data centers and fiber networks, and says the deal pace and complexity is such that "most of 2026 is spoken for."

Speaking at a Bank Street networking event in Honolulu, Hawaii, during PTC 2026, Lukaj shares with Cool Vector a number of market insights, including these key takeaways:

Digital infrastructure laggards will be absorbed by stronger players: "There will be folks who drive into what is currently an enthusiastic arena and then find the category pivots in a way they didn't anticipate. Others may not succeed at all and will likely, in many cases, be absorbed by some of the more successful players."

Real estate and retail capital are flooding into digital infrastructure, broadening the investor base beyond its private equity origins: "We're seeing much more active participation from the real estate community, as folks are thinking about data centers and parts of the fiber market as a good substitute for some of their commercial real estate allocations. And then one of the most interesting recent headlines is watching the role of the retail market coming into the infrastructure space."

AI will drive meaningful differentiation among digital infrastructure services companies, separating those that integrate it from those that don't: "I think AI is going to become integrated into a number of the services companies in these categories in ways that are going to cause some real differentiation among the players."

Access the transcript and a searchable content archive at Cool Vector Podcast: https://coolvector.substack.com/p/in-the-digital-infrastructure-deal

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In the Digital Infrastructure Deal Market, 'Most of 2026 is Spoken For'

Cool Vector

In the Digital Infrastructure Deal Market, 'Most of 2026 is Spoken For'