The digital IT infrastructure landscape is being rewritten in real time. As AI adoption accelerates and sustainability climbs the boardroom agenda, IT leaders are no longer just keeping the lights on; they are at the center of business transformation. But what does it take to build resilient, efficient, and future-ready operations in this volatile, fast-moving world?
We brought together some of the sharpest minds in AI, cybersecurity, infrastructure, energy, governance and ethics for the Schneider Electric Influencer Series. While their backgrounds are diverse, their insights uncover a central truth: the future belongs to organizations that can connect the dots across technology, people, and purpose.
The new playbook: Connecting innovation, trust, and responsibility
It’s easy to think of AI, energy, and digital infrastructure as separate priorities. In practice, though, they are tightly connected, each shaping and accelerating the other. As AI pushes the need for more compute, storage, and efficiency, organizations are also being called to deliver on sustainability and ensure reliable access to energy. At the same time, a growing digital footprint brings new risks, making trust and security absolutely essential.
With these realities in mind, The Infrastructure Advantage: Influencer Perspectives on AI, Secure, Efficient, and Sustainable IT brings together expert voices to explore how these forces intersect, and what it really takes to move forward with confidence. Here’s a summary of the standout insights from the series:
AI visionary, educator and LinkedIn Top Voice Andrew Ng, likens AI to electricity: a general-purpose force that can empower every function and industry. But he’s clear that value only comes when organizations lower the barriers to experimentation and upskill their teams to think and build with AI in mind. That means not just hiring more data scientists but ensuring everyone, from developers to business leads, can prompt, test, and iterate responsibly.
This shift is reflected across the industry: IDC reports[1] that organizations increased spending on compute and storage hardware for AI deployments by 97% year-over-year in early 2025, highlighting the urgency for scalable, innovative approaches.
Brian Beeler, Editor-in-Chief of StorageReview.com,takes the conversation to the engine room: the Data Center. He sees infrastructure as the critical enabler of AI’s promise but warns that the scale and speed of change are unlike anything before. Power, cooling, and storage are all being pushed to their limits. The winners will be those who can flex between cloud and on-prem and invest in dense, efficient, and adaptable systems that keep up with the data deluge.
With AI driving a 40.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in global data center capacity through 2027[2] and electricity consumption expected to double to 857 TWh between 2023 and 2028[3] the pressure on data centers to evolve is immense.
Resilience and security: The non-negotiables
As digital infrastructure expands, so does the attack surface. LinkedIn’s Top Tech Person to follow, Forbes contributor and global cybersecurity thought leader, Chuck Brooks does not mince words: “AI has changed everything.” Cyberattacks are more automated, sophisticated, and relentless. Defending your organization is no longer about building higher walls; it’s about visibility, proactive monitoring, and embedding zero trust into every layer of your architecture.
The scale of the threat is underscored by recent research, the use of stolen credentials to access valid accounts surged by 71% last year[4], and credential harvesting was the top impact in 30% of incidents, according to IBM’s X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2024[5].
But resilience is not just about technology. It’s about culture and leadership. Brooks urges organizations to make security a board-level priority, to unify physical and digital safeguards, and to foster a mindset of continuous improvement. In a world where outages and breaches have million-dollar consequences, resilience is a business enabler, not a sunk cost.
Ethics, compliance, and the human factor
As AI and automation become central to operations, questions of governance and ethics can’t be ignored. AI ethics pioneer and Time 100 Impact Awardee Kay Firth-Butterfield urges a holistic, business-wide approach to responsible AI. It’s not enough to tick off compliance boxes; organizations must cultivate a culture where questioning, transparency, and accountability are the norm.
Kay highlights the cascading risks of AI gone wrong, from bias in algorithms to errors that propagate across interconnected systems. The solution? Diverse teams, dynamic governance models, and regular reviews of both technology and process. And with new regulations like the EU AI Act reshaping global expectations, proactive compliance is a competitive edge.
Sustainability: The new competitive advantage
Perhaps the biggest shift is how sustainability is moving from the sidelines to the center of digital strategy. Steven Carlini Schneider Electric’s VP of Innovation and Data Center and Forbes Councils Member, sees data centers evolving from energy consumers to active grid participants, balancing loads, supporting renewables, and reusing heat for community benefit.
To put this in perspective, global data center electricity consumption is expected to double between 2023 and 2028, reaching 857 TWh, nearly equivalent to the combined 2024 electricity demand of the UK, Italy, and Spain.[6]
The message is clear: you cannot optimize what you don’t measure. Leading organizations are investing in real-time comprehensive DCIM monitoring solutions, transparent reporting, and innovative cooling and power solutions. Sustainability is fast becoming a key differentiator, shaping not just regulatory compliance but also how customers, investors, and partners perceive your brand.
The leadership imperative: Stitching it all together
So, what does all this mean for IT and data center leaders? It means the age of silos is over. The organizations that thrive will be those that break down barriers between IT and business, between operations and innovation, and between compliance and culture. The future belongs to teams that can connect AI experimentation with robust infrastructure, treat resilience and security as strategic priorities, and see sustainability as both an obligation and an opportunity.
The series of interviews is more than just a collection of expert opinions, it’s a call to action. It challenges leaders to rethink what’s possible, to invest in people as much as technology, and to build digital infrastructure that’s not only powerful but also secure, reliable, and sustainable.
Ready to go deeper?
Discover the full interviews, practical recommendations, and real-world examples in The Infrastructure Advantage: Influencer Perspectives on AI, Secure, Efficient, and Sustainable IT. See how your peers are tackling these challenges and get inspired to lead your organization into the next era of digital transformation.
Schneider Electric is uniquely positioned as the solution provider capable of addressing the full spectrum of IT challenges. To learn more about our data center solutions or speak to a local representative about your Digital Transformation next steps.
[1] IDC Press Release: “Worldwide Spending on Compute and Storage Hardware for AI Deployments Doubled in 2024, Set for Further Growth in 2025” (February 2025).
[2] Worldwide Spending on AI-Centric Systems Forecast to Reach $154 Billion in 2023, According to IDC.
[3] Global Energy Consumption by Source. Our World in Data, https://ourworldindata.org/ energy-production-consumption.
[4] IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2024
[5] IBM X-Force 2025 Threat Intelligence Index
[6] IDC, AI Datacenter Capacity, Energy Consumption, and Carbon Emission Projections, 2024
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