Is AI Really Going To Affect You? Follow the Money.
Roger Lawrence
Technology Executive | AI & Cloud Strategist | Driving Innovation & Digital Transformation
Elon Musk’s xAI has just about inked a US$5 billion deal with Dell to build AI-optimized data centers powered by Nvidia’s cutting-edge GB200 chips. Just another AI headline—also a clear signal of where the global IT landscape is headed. AI-targeted infrastructure is becoming the backbone of enterprise compute.??
Globally, total data center financing is projected to hit $500 billion in 2025, while AI-specific investments are expected to surge from $213 billion in 2024 to $250B–$325B in 2025.. That’s nearly 60% of total global data center spending this year—an astonishing shift driven by hyperscalers like Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Google.
In Australia, the scale is smaller, but the trend is unmistakable: 20-30% of local data center investments in 2024 were AI-focused, with hyperscalers like Microsoft and AWS committing billions to expand AI-enabled cloud infrastructure.??
So, what does this mean for your enterprise? Here are three insights to consider:??
### 1?? Follow the Money: Predicting IT Priorities??
Back in 2010 it was challenging to determine where to prioritise enterprise IT spend. This was the era of social, mobile, big data and cloud. At the time I was responsible for product marketing for a .NET development consultancy, and the CEO, a mentor of mine suggested I just "follow the money." The answer was Cloud. Yes, social (or collaboration), mobile and big data were all receiving investment, but the big spend for enterprise (Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Rackspace, Salesforce...) was all in cloud.
The xAI-Dell deal, project Stargate, the EU Euro200B, and hyperscaler investments reveal where we're heading—toward high-performance, AI-optimized cloud infrastructure. Agree with it or not, like it or not, AI and specifically GenAI is sweeping the industry. If your enterprise isn’t already considering how AI will reshape your sector, you risk being left behind. The priorities are clear: scalable, energy-efficient data centers designed to handle AI workloads like generative models and real-time analytics.?
### 2?? Skate to Where the Puck Is Going??
It’s easy to criticize the current state of AI—whether it’s GenAI hallucinations, concerns about job disruptions, or cyber-threats. But as Wayne Gretzky famously said, “Skate to where the puck is going.†The rapid growth in AI-targeted investments shows that global leaders are betting big on where this technology will be in 2-5 years. Now is the time to invest in the platforms and skills that will prepare you for the next wave of AI innovation.
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Interestingly, Musk only committed $5b for xAI infrastructure, whereas he bid $97.4b to purchase OpenAI. I.e. even he rates OpenAI above xAI.
OpenAI is partnered with Microsoft, which positions them well for enterprise use. In contrast, AWS owns the market share for enterprise cloud infrastructure providing a good foundation for RAG systems and agentic systems close to enterprise data.
### 3?? Australia’s Opportunity: Punching Above Our Weight??
While Australia’s share of global AI investment may seem modest, the local market is growing fast. With hyperscalers like Microsoft investing AUD $5 billion over two years, and AWS committing AUD $13.6 billion over the next three, there’s a significant opportunity for Australian enterprises to leverage these platforms for innovation.
This is crucial for many of the Australian industries set to benefit from AI: Finance, Healthcare, Government, Legal, Energy; as most of these enterprises have strict data, sometimes, labour sovereignty regulations.
?? What’s your take on AI infrastructure investment - bubble or strategic priority?
??How is your organisation preparing for this shift?
#AI #DataCenters #TechInnovation #Australia #GenAI
Chief Thinker at PrimeVariable | Solving HUMAN Problems With Creativity And Technology | OMNI AI Film Festival
1 个月(read the last comment first please) The second is the emerging and inevitable ability for AI systems to clone and improve upon themselves, which is the start of reaching AGI and superintelligent AI. This is happening now and while we watch and wait to see how AGI will make all of our lives better and more plentiful, creating new scientific wonders that we mere humans could never dream of. The caution comes in two strokes: first, the simple fear of the AI doing things we don't understand and acting in its own best interest or an interpretation of what it thinks is best for all, and second the danger of the scant few who will hold the keys to the AGI castle. Governments will be toppled, regimes will be formed and broken, simply because gun beats sword pretty much any day of the week, and those who wield the more powerful AGI will win. Without naming names, there are some questionable characters driving the bus right now and we commoners have little power to guide the direction of where the bus is going and who drives it. Hopefully, the smart people with influence will help ensure we're crawling before trying to sprint and put the right guardrails in place.
Chief Thinker at PrimeVariable | Solving HUMAN Problems With Creativity And Technology | OMNI AI Film Festival
1 个月Great insight Roger Lawrence. I think we need to take into consideration two additional factors that are riddled with both massive opportunity and caution: First is the next step beyond GenAI, with the likes of Chain of Thought-based reasoning and Agentic solutions that connect disparate platforms together to accomplish and complete tasks (not just tell us how to do them). Cursor and Github CoPilot sort of fall into this batch since they generate code that builds solutions, but the nature of Agentic AI is going to be a much larger play. The opportunities are massive with plenty of use cases shared ranging from booking airline tickets to end-to-end sales workflows from lead generation through the sale to automated customer support. The caution comes in with any new tech; the rabbit-hole syndrome where you try to 'build' a an automation solution and get stuck tweaking it to make it work, often not understanding what's happening in the background and getting stuck wasting hours upon hours as your original goal, efficiencies, and patience diminish into dust. (to be continued)