Q1. Could you start by giving us a brief overview of your professional background, particularly focusing on your expertise in the industry?

“Certainly. I have 25+ years of experience in the construction field, with a background spanning diverse projects such as data centers, IT parks, Industrial projects, and many other complex projects. Over the course of my career, I’ve worked with many MBCs, including Tata Projects, Adani Connex, and Sterling & Wilson, and with clients such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft, where I developed and applied expertise in Project Management, Vendor Management, and Project Coordination.
My work has primarily focused on the timely delivery of projects within stipulated timelines, with the utmost customer satisfaction in terms of quality and safety, and I’ve consistently contributed to projects involving all stakeholders. I’m especially experienced in Hyper-scale Data Centre projects, and I’ve built a strong track record of delivering IT loads of 100MW+ and beyond.
Overall, my experience gives me a well-rounded perspective on the challenges and opportunities within the industry, and I’m confident in my ability to bring value in this role.”

Q2. How is the rise of GPU-heavy, AI-driven workloads transforming the engineering assumptions behind power allocation, redundancy, and density planning?

The surge in GPU-intensive AI workloads is reshaping data center engineering, shifting assumptions from predictable, low-density CPU architectures to high-density, power- and cooling-constrained designs. Racks that once required 5–10 kW now demand 30–100 kW or more, forcing dynamic, software-defined power management, real-time load shaping, and more aggressive over-subscription strategies. Traditional N+1 and 2N redundancy models are giving way to distributed resiliency at the cluster and workload level, while cooling is rushing toward liquid solutions as air approaches thermal limits. Overall, power—not space—has become the primary scaling constraint, requiring new approaches to planning, redundancy, and infrastructure design.

Q3. How are global supply chain fluctuations—lead times, component availability, FX volatility, metal prices—reshaping procurement strategies in large data center projects?

Supply chain challenges such as long wait times, hard-to-find parts, currency fluctuations, and rising metal prices are forcing data center builders to plan much earlier and be more flexible. Instead of buying equipment right when it’s needed, companies now lock in key materials sooner, work with multiple suppliers, and use long-term contracts to avoid surprise price increases or delays. They’re also standardizing designs and using modular components so they can swap parts if something becomes unavailable. Overall, procurement has shifted from a routine purchase step to a critical part of project planning to keep timelines and budgets on track.

Q4. How are sustainability expectations shaping design decisions around cooling technologies, energy sources, and building materials?

Sustainability expectations are pushing data center designers to choose cooling systems that use less water and energy, such as liquid cooling, free-air cooling, and heat reuse, rather than traditional high-power chillers. Energy sourcing is shifting toward renewables such as solar and wind, along with on-site energy storage, to reduce carbon footprints and reliance on fossil fuels. Even construction materials are being selected more carefully, with a focus on low-carbon concrete, recycled metals, and modular designs that reduce waste. Overall, environmental goals now influence decisions from the first design sketch through long-term operations, making efficiency and carbon reduction just as crucial as performance and cost.

Q5. How are you seeing the competitive landscape shift as global data center operators, infrastructure funds, and new domestic players scale up aggressively in India?

The competitive landscape in India is becoming increasingly dynamic as global hyperscalers, large infrastructure funds, and emerging domestic operators scale rapidly to meet growing demand. International players are bringing advanced standards, high-density designs, and strong capital access, raising expectations for technology maturity and delivery speed. At the same time, domestic firms are leveraging local relationships, faster approvals, and lower operating costs to win regional and edge deployments. Infrastructure funds are accelerating consolidation by backing large platforms and long-term buildouts, creating scale advantages and more professionalized governance. Overall, competition is shifting from simple capacity availability to differentiation in reliability, speed to market, sustainability, and strategic partnerships with cloud providers, enterprises, and AI ecosystem players.

Q6. What opportunities become visible when you look at regional shifts in demand—beyond the established hubs—toward Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities?

As demand spreads beyond major hubs, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are opening new opportunities for edge computing infrastructure, lower-cost land development, and proximity-based services for industries like manufacturing, healthcare, fintech, and logistics. These regions offer more affordable power and real estate, along with growing fiber connectivity and supportive state policies, making them attractive for colocation, cloud availability zones, and AI edge workloads. Beyond economics, localizing compute helps reduce latency and improve digital services for fast-growing user bases outside major metros. As a result, the shift is creating space for smaller footprint facilities, modular builds, and partnerships with local utilities, telcos, and government programs, expanding the market beyond large campus builds into a more distributed national infrastructure.

Q7. If you were an investor looking at companies within the space, what critical question would you pose to their senior management?

A key question would be: “How are you balancing speed of capacity deployment with long-term differentiation in power availability, sustainability, and ecosystem partnerships, and what proof points show this strategy will remain competitive as AI demand reshapes the market?” This gets at execution discipline, resilience against changing market forces, and whether the company is building a lasting advantage—not just adding capacity.