Digital Realty’s White Paper Charts a Path for AI-Driven IT Infrastructure 

A Review

May 14, 2025 – Digital Realty’s white paper, “AI for IT Leaders: Deploying a Future-Proof IT Infrastructure”, published in April 2024, offers a comprehensive guide for enterprises navigating the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI). Authored by Chief Technology Officer Chris Sharp, the document positions AI as a transformative force in the data economy, urging IT leaders to build scalable, agile, and sustainable infrastructure to harness its potential. This review explores the white paper’s key proposals, its impact on enterprise AI adoption, and the strengths and challenges of its recommendations.

Overview and Context

The white paper arrives at a pivotal moment when AI, particularly generative AI (GenAI), is reshaping industries. Citing projections from the World Economic Forum and McKinsey & Company, the document underscores the economic stakes: a potential $100 trillion boost to the global economy by 2025 and $2.6 to $4.4 trillion in productivity gains from GenAI alone. With global AI spending expected to reach $300 billion by 2026, enterprises face pressure to deploy AI strategically to achieve operational efficiency and business transformation.

Digital Realty, a global leader in data center solutions, leverages its expertise to address the physical and strategic infrastructure needs of AI. The white paper outlines the evolution of AI—from machine learning (ML) to deep learning and GenAI—while detailing the workflow stages (data aggregation, training, and inference) and their unique demands. It emphasizes the role of hybrid IT infrastructure, combining colocation, cloud, and edge computing, to meet these demands effectively.

Key Proposals for AI Infrastructure

The white paper advocates for a “future-ready” IT infrastructure tailored to AI’s intensive computational, cooling, and connectivity requirements. Its core proposals include:

1. Hybrid IT for Scalability and Agility: Enterprises should adopt a hybrid multi-cloud approach, integrating public and private clouds with colocation facilities. This modular architecture allows businesses to scale AI deployments rapidly while optimizing costs and maintaining flexibility.

2. Purpose-Built Data Centers: AI workflows, particularly training large language models (LLMs), require high-density power (up to 100 kW/rack by 2024) and specialized cooling solutions like direct liquid cooling (DLC). The paper highlights Digital Realty’s High-Density Colocation offering, designed to support these needs.

3. Strategic Data Placement: To combat “Data Gravity”—the challenge of moving massive datasets—enterprises should process data at the edge for inference and leverage high-speed interconnectivity for training. Digital Realty’s PlatformDIGITAL® and ServiceFabric™ Connect facilitate seamless data exchange across global locations.

4. Sustainability and ESG Alignment: With AI’s energy-intensive nature, the white paper emphasizes sustainable data center practices, such as renewable energy use and green building certifications. Digital Realty reports a 68% global carbon reduction target and 62% renewable energy coverage.

5. Ecosystem Partnerships: IT leaders should collaborate with data center providers like Digital Realty, which offer expertise, modular scalability, and innovative solutions like the Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx®) to future-proof AI deployments.

The paper also provides practical tools, such as an evaluation checklist for selecting data center partners, focusing on cost, expertise, scalability, sustainability, interconnectivity, and innovation.

Impact of the White Paper

The white paper has significant implications for IT leaders and enterprises aiming to stay competitive in the AI-driven data economy. Its impact can be assessed across several dimensions:

• Strategic Guidance for IT Leaders: By breaking down AI workflows and infrastructure challenges, the paper equips IT leaders with a roadmap to align technology investments with business outcomes. Its emphasis on hybrid IT and edge computing addresses real-world pain points, such as latency and cost inefficiencies in cloud-only models.

• Industry-Specific Insights: The document highlights GenAI use cases in high-value sectors like financial services ($200–340 billion in potential revenue), retail ($400–600 billion), and healthcare ($60–110 billion). These examples provide actionable inspiration for enterprises tailoring AI strategies to their industries.

• Advocacy for Sustainability: As AI’s energy demands draw scrutiny, Digital Realty’s focus on ESG metrics positions it as a leader in responsible AI infrastructure. This aligns with growing regulatory pressures and corporate sustainability goals, potentially influencing industry standards.

• Market Positioning for Digital Realty: The white paper serves as a strategic marketing tool, showcasing Digital Realty’s PlatformDIGITAL® and High-Density Colocation offerings. By presenting case studies like CoreWeave’s GenAI deployment, it builds credibility and attracts enterprises seeking AI-ready partners.

Pros of the White Paper’s Approach

1. Comprehensive and Forward-Looking: The paper’s detailed analysis of AI’s evolution, workflow stages, and infrastructure needs provides a holistic view. Its focus on future-proofing—through modular architecture and high-density colocation—addresses long-term scalability.

2. Practical Tools and Frameworks: The evaluation checklist and references to PDx® and ServiceFabric™ Connect offer actionable guidance. These tools help IT leaders make informed decisions when selecting data center partners.

3. Sustainability Focus: By prioritizing energy efficiency and renewable energy, the paper addresses a critical concern in AI adoption. This resonates with enterprises balancing innovation with environmental responsibility.

4. Industry Relevance: The sector-specific use cases and economic projections ground the paper in real-world applications, making it relevant to diverse industries.

5. Emphasis on Ecosystem Collaboration: The call for partnerships with experienced data center providers acknowledges the complexity of AI deployments, encouraging enterprises to leverage external expertise.

Cons and Challenges

1. Bias Toward Digital Realty’s Solutions: While the paper offers valuable insights, its heavy promotion of Digital Realty’s products (e.g., PlatformDIGITAL®, ServiceFabric™ Connect) may limit its perceived objectivity. Enterprises seeking vendor-agnostic advice might find this focus restrictive.

2. High Implementation Costs: The proposed infrastructure—high-density colocation, specialized cooling, and hybrid IT—requires significant capital investment. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may struggle to adopt these solutions, limiting the paper’s applicability.

3. Complexity of Hybrid IT: While hybrid multi-cloud infrastructure offers flexibility, managing interconnectivity and data sovereignty across distributed environments can be complex. The paper acknowledges this but provides limited guidance on overcoming operational challenges.

4. Assumption of Rapid Adoption: The paper assumes enterprises are ready to overhaul legacy infrastructure, which may not be feasible for organizations with entrenched systems or limited budgets. The transition to AI-ready data centers could face delays due to supply chain constraints or regulatory hurdles.

5. Limited Discussion on Security: Although data privacy and sovereignty are mentioned, the paper does not delve deeply into cybersecurity risks, such as protecting proprietary AI models from malicious actors. This is a critical concern for enterprises deploying sensitive AI workloads.

Broader Implications and Future Outlook

Digital Realty’s white paper underscores the urgency of preparing for AI’s exponential growth, projected to rise at a 37.3% compound annual rate through 2030. By advocating for hybrid IT, edge computing, and sustainable practices, it aligns with industry trends toward decentralized, energy-efficient infrastructure. However, its success in driving adoption will depend on enterprises’ ability to navigate cost, complexity, and legacy constraints.

The paper’s emphasis on ecosystem partnerships highlights a broader shift toward collaborative innovation. As AI workloads demand specialized hardware and connectivity, data center providers like Digital Realty are poised to become central hubs for data exchange, fostering “connected data communities.” This vision could reshape how enterprises manage data, prioritizing proximity, security, and interoperability.

For IT leaders, the white paper serves as both a call to action and a practical guide. It challenges them to rethink infrastructure strategies while offering a framework to evaluate partners. However, enterprises must weigh the benefits of Digital Realty’s solutions against their unique needs, budgets, and existing systems.

Conclusion

Digital Realty’s AI for IT Leaders white paper is a timely and authoritative contribution to the discourse on AI infrastructure. Its strengths lie in its comprehensive analysis, practical tools, and alignment with sustainability goals, making it a valuable resource for enterprises embarking on their AI journeys. However, its vendor-specific focus, high cost implications, and limited discussion of cybersecurity present challenges that IT leaders must address.

As AI continues to disrupt industries, the white paper’s call for future-ready, hybrid IT infrastructure resonates strongly. Enterprises that heed its advice—while carefully navigating its limitations—stand to gain a competitive edge in the data-driven economy. For those seeking to explore Digital Realty’s offerings further, the paper points to resources like eBooks, case studies, and the company’s website, digitalrealty.com. Read the full report

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