The Data Center Frontier Show Inside the Data Center Boom: Building Smarter, Faster, and More Securely
Nov 21, 2025
Rob Macchi, Vice President of Data Center Solutions at Wesco, dives into the booming data center landscape. He shares insights on how AI investments and multi-gigawatt builds are reshaping the industry. Rob discusses the challenges of supply chain management, labor shortages, and power needs in data center construction. He emphasizes the importance of standardization and experienced teams to balance speed with reliability. Additionally, he highlights the positive impacts of data centers on local communities and outlines Wesco's strategy for future growth.
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AI Is Powering A Data Center Boom
- AI's rapid development is the primary engine behind a projected multi-fold surge in data center construction.
- AI will drive multi-gigawatt 'AI factories' and large-scale investment over the next 5–10 years.
Central AI Factories Plus Proliferated Edge
- Convergence of AI, cloud, and edge reshapes data centers into centralized AI factories plus many small edge deployments.
- Expect a centralized compute core and proliferation of smaller, latency-sensitive edge sites.
Lock Suppliers Before You Dig
- Do invest substantial 'phase zero' time aligning suppliers, engineers, and contractors before breaking ground.
- Secure ironclad supplier and distributor agreements to avoid supply-chain delays.