Summary:
1. With the rise of artificial intelligence in Asia Pacific, traditional data centres are struggling to meet the energy and cooling demands of modern AI systems.
2. The region is experiencing explosive market growth in AI data centres, driven by industries like finance, healthcare, and manufacturing.
3. To address cooling and power challenges, companies are transitioning to purpose-built “AI factory” data centres that are designed specifically for AI workloads.
Revised Article:
The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in Asia Pacific is rapidly increasing, putting pressure on traditional data centres to keep up with the energy and cooling demands of modern AI systems. By 2030, GPU-driven workloads are projected to push rack power densities towards 1 MW, making incremental upgrades insufficient. As a result, operators are shifting towards purpose-built “AI factory” data centres that are designed from the ground up to support AI workloads.
The AI data-centre market in Asia Pacific is expected to surge from $236 billion in 2025 to nearly $934 billion by 2030, driven by the rapid adoption of AI in industries such as finance, healthcare, and manufacturing. This growth is further amplified by government investments in digitalisation, the expansion of 5G, and the rollout of cloud-native and generative AI applications. To meet this increasing demand, infrastructure strategies need to be scalable and sustainable, moving beyond piecemeal upgrades.
As rack densities continue to rise, cooling and power delivery are becoming critical issues. Traditional air cooling methods are no longer sufficient for these conditions. Vertiv is developing hybrid cooling systems that combine direct-to-chip liquid cooling with air-based solutions to adjust to changing workloads, reduce energy use, and maintain reliability. Additionally, power delivery is becoming more complex, with AI workloads fluctuating rapidly, requiring infrastructure to react in real time.
The future of data centre architecture in Asia Pacific is shifting towards hybrid designs that support liquid-cooled GPU pods and 1 MW racks. New facilities are being specifically designed to support AI workloads, integrating cooling, power, and monitoring from the chip level to the grid. This integrated approach is essential to keep up with performance expectations and sustainability goals in the region.
To handle the expected growth in data centre capacity by 2030, companies in Asia Pacific are transitioning from incremental upgrades to full-stack AI factory data centres. This transition involves integrated planning that brings together power, cooling, and IT management, as well as the adoption of modular and prefabricated systems for phased capacity expansion without major disruptions. Sustainability is a central focus, with the incorporation of lithium-ion energy storage, grid-interactive UPS systems, and higher-voltage distribution to improve efficiency and resilience.
In conclusion, as AI continues to reshape data centre operations in Asia Pacific, companies are moving towards advanced cooling, DC power, and modular systems to prepare for the demanding future of computing. The shift towards purpose-built “AI factory” data centres reflects the region’s readiness for the next era of AI-driven growth.
