The new race for AI capacity: Why smart infrastructure planning starts now
AI is scaling faster than infrastructure can keep up. Learn why organizations must act now to secure power, space, and strategic data center partnerships.
As AI moves from pilot to production, infrastructure is becoming the biggest bottleneck. According to the Flexential 2025 State of AI Infrastructure Report, nearly half of enterprises cite infrastructure constraints as their primary barrier to scaling AI. This post explores why long-term planning, early procurement, and agile partnerships are essential to win the race for capacity.
AI is driving an infrastructure crisis
Artificial intelligence is creating an unprecedented demand for compute power, storage density, and data throughput. But most organizations simply aren’t ready. 44% of IT leaders say infrastructure is their biggest obstacle to scaling AI—outpacing concerns about cost, skills, or security.
As AI models grow in size and complexity, they require specialized environments—think high-density power racks, liquid cooling, GPU clusters, and ultra-low latency networks. Unfortunately, most enterprise infrastructure wasn’t built with AI in mind.
Planning timelines are too short for what’s ahead
The infrastructure crunch is about more than capacity—it’s about time. The report found that 55% of organizations only plan one to three years ahead, while 16% plan less than a year in advance. This short-term mindset is no match for today’s market conditions.
Across major U.S. data center markets, vacancy rates are at historic lows (under 2%) and power availability is increasingly scarce. According to data from the report summary page, some hyperscale data centers are seeing build timelines of 24–36 months, and space is often pre-leased before construction is completed.
Companies that aren’t planning now could find themselves locked out of the capacity they need later.
Procurement is shifting from just-in-time to just-in-case
Traditional IT procurement strategies favored incremental scaling: buy what you need, when you need it. But AI changes the game.
The report shows that leaders are shifting toward full upfront power and space procurement, even if their workloads won’t require it immediately. This shift reduces the risk of downstream delays and ensures that organizations can scale quickly when new use cases emerge.
In short, the new strategy is “secure now, deploy later.”
Location matters more than ever
AI’s performance isn’t just about hardware—it’s about proximity. As workloads become more distributed and latency-sensitive, location is emerging as a key factor in infrastructure planning.
Enterprises are increasingly choosing colocation partners with geographically diverse, high-capacity, and well-connected facilities. These allow teams to move data closer to AI applications, reduce latency, and scale in markets with available power and fiber.
The Flexential data center footprint reflects this trend: strategically located facilities, robust interconnection (including Flexential Fabric), and rapid scalability are becoming the new baseline for modern infrastructure needs.
Winning the infrastructure race requires urgency
With AI investment accelerating—and infrastructure lead times stretching—those who wait will be left behind. Organizations must rethink their timelines, procurement models, and partnerships now to remain competitive tomorrow.
Forward-thinking enterprises are already securing power, diversifying locations, and building flexibility into their infrastructure roadmaps. They’re planning for five years out—not one. And in today’s market, that’s what it takes to win.
AI demands a new infrastructure mindset
Explore the complete findings from over 350 IT leaders—including detailed insights on infrastructure readiness, power availability, procurement trends, and more.
Download the 2025 State of AI Infrastructure Report
Explore the full blog series on the State of AI Infrastructure!
This post is part of our multi-part blog series unpacking the key findings from the Flexential 2025 State of AI Infrastructure Report. Each post tackles a core pillar of enterprise AI readiness—from strategy and infrastructure to talent, security, and sustainability.
Executive Leadership & AI Investment
The c-suite steps up: How executives are taking control of the AI agenda
Explore why leadership is the #1 driver of AI growth—and how investment priorities are shifting fast.
Infrastructure & Capacity Planning
The new race for AI capacity: Why smart infrastructure planning starts now
Discover why planning ahead is critical as infrastructure becomes the top bottleneck for AI at scale.
AI Talent & Workforce Strategy – Coming Soon!
Mind the Gap: Why solving the AI talent shortage is critical to innovation
Learn how organizations are navigating workforce shortages, burnout, and upskilling in the AI era.
Network & Security Readiness – Coming Soon!
Beyond bandwidth: Rethinking network and security strategies for the AI era
See how enterprises are upgrading connectivity, adopting zero-trust, and securing distributed AI workloads.
Sustainability & Energy Efficiency – Coming Soon!
Balancing power and progress: Building sustainable AI infrastructure that lasts
Understand how leaders are aligning ESG goals with power, cooling, and performance demands.
Want the full story? Get all the data, charts, and insights in the full report:
