Board Interview Series (1): An Interview with Serene Nah and Cyrus Adaggra

In a first of a new series of interviews with APDCA Board members, we speak to Serene Nah, Vice Chair, APDCA and Managing Director & Head of Asia Pacific, Digital Realty, and Cyrus Adaggra, President APAC, Equinix. Serene and Cyrus share their visions for the data centre industry in Asia-Pacific and what excites them most about their roles in it.

Stay tuned for further interview series where APDCA Board members will share insights into the key topics in the APAC data centre sector.

What excites you most about APAC’s data centre industry and your role in it?

Serene: The data centre industry is playing a pivotal role in driving digital transformation across Asia Pacific (APAC). From the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) to the surge in cloud adoption, the region is reshaping the future, and data centres are at the heart of this. Being at the forefront of an industry projected to be worth over US$70 billion by 2032 presents an incredible opportunity to shape infrastructure solutions that fuel growth, innovation, and sustainability. My role is to ensure that Digital Realty – and the wider industry – is in the best possible position to help customers manage these transformative shifts. We need to focus on building and managing infrastructure that not only meets today’s demands but is also future-ready to tackle the challenges of tomorrow.

Cyrus: Asia-Pacific (APAC) is becoming a data centre hub with major investments pouring into the region. AI will catalyse transformative growth in APAC's data centre industry by driving demand for smarter, more sustainable, and localised facilities. The region's rapid digitalisation and AI adoption make it a hotspot for innovation and investment in this space. Moody's Ratings has forecast APAC data centre capacity to grow at a compound annual growth rate of almost 20% through 2028.

Data centres are fundamental infrastructure that needs to be prioritised. Collaboration between our industry, digital leaders and government will be necessary to transform our power infrastructure for the future to ensure we can meet the unprecedented demand for data centre space driven by the rapid adoption of AI and digital transformation in the APAC region. Workloads and infrastructure are moving to the edge as our customers race to extend their capabilities and enable new immersive experiences. To realise the full potential of the digital economy, we must possess an equally ambitious commitment to sustainability and I am excited by the commitment I see from the industry to collaborate and innovate in order to ensure we grow sustainably. 

How do you envision APAC’s data centre sector developing in the next 5 years?

Serene: Over the next five years, APAC is set to solidify its position as a global data centre powerhouse. Rapid AI innovation across APAC markets is driving unprecedented opportunities for growth, transformation, and leadership in the global landscape. Enterprises will increasingly rely on AI’s inference capabilities to deliver real-time insights and decisions from trained models. These workloads require infrastructure that’s closer to end-users, highly efficient, and deeply interconnected.

To meet this demand, data centres must evolve into core connectivity hubs – integrating advanced computing capabilities with seamless access to rich digital ecosystems. This transformation will be particularly significant with emerging APAC markets, where data sovereignty will shape how enterprises store and manage data locally and are compliant with regional regulations. Sustainability will also be a defining priority, as AI-driven workloads push the industry toward innovations like liquid cooling and renewable-powered campuses.

Digital Realty is committed to leading this transformation. Our data centres are designed to embrace the latest technological advancements, ensuring we meet the evolving needs of our customers. We will continue to invest in cutting-edge infrastructure and sustainable practices to help our customers scale efficiently and responsibly.

Success in this evolving landscape requires deep local expertise. By aligning with trusted local partners, we can navigate market-specific challenges, from regulatory compliance to diverse connectivity needs.

This may look like the traditional approach where we wholly own and operate local DCs, or it may require a more flexible approach. We recently embarked on a joint venture with Bersama Digital Infrastructure Asia (BDIA) in Indonesia, where rapid digital growth and evolving data sovereignty requirements demanded local expertise.

Through Digital Realty Bersama, we combined our global capabilities with BDIA’s insights to deliver scalable, compliant data centre solutions. While JVs aren’t our usual approach, it shows how we can adapt to evolving local market needs.

Cyrus: Accelerated adoption of e-commerce, digital payments and the emergence of new business models are all driving factors contributing to the digital evolution of the whole economic system across Asia-Pacific. Coupled with widespread implementation of disruptive technology, abundant natural resources and an expanding middle class, APAC is set for exponential growth in its digital economy supported by favourable demographic trends. Customer demand for digital infrastructure in the region is growing as consumers are demanding better digital experiences and governments are realising the importance of digital infrastructure to the growth of their economies and national security.  I firmly believe the APAC data centre sector will continue to grow rapidly and will sustainably support new technologies such as AI. 

What are the biggest challenges faced by the industry and how are you addressing them?

Serene: One of the most pressing challenges the industry faces today is balancing the explosive growth of AI with the need to do so sustainably. Innovation shouldn’t come at the expense of the environment, which is why we continue to invest in cutting-edge technologies to reduce the industry’s impact.

In Singapore, we partnered with Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to pilot its tropical data centre sustainability standard, which has since become part of the country's green data centre roadmap. Across our full portfolio, we are optimising energy efficiency for high-intensity AI workloads through advanced cooling solutions, as well as high-density colocation. These technologies help maximise performance while minimising resource consumption – supporting AI innovation without compromising on sustainability goals.

Managing cross-border data sovereignty is another growing challenge. With 77% of APAC companies adopting a distributed data approach, enterprises now face complex regulatory requirements. Our data centres serve as secure, interconnected hubs that empower customers to localise data processing while preserving cloud agility and performance.

Cyrus: At the same time as AI is growing, increasing power demands from electric vehicles, factories and the "electrification of everything" has brought the issue of power to the forefront.  Our industry needs to be part of the solution, developing and advocating for access to cleaner, alternative energy sources that can sustain the world's growing energy needs while also combating climate change, driving down our carbon footprint and improving efficiency.

Our industry needs to work with regulators to drive sustainable growth and meet the needs of the APAC region.  This will benefit the economy and local communities, drive job creation and bring a responsible approach towards decarbonization.

Digital infrastructure providers need to consider environmental sustainability to be a fundamental tenet of their operations. This means addressing all aspects of their footprint, including climate impact, water usage, resource usage, land utilisation, biodiversity, operational efficiency and innovative building and design.

How are data centres driving AI innovation in APAC?

Serene: Data centres are powering the next wave of AI innovation across APAC by providing the scalable, secure, high-performance environments needed to train and deploy AI at speed.

As demand for real-time insights and lower latency grows, we’re seeing the rapid emergence of ‘AI factories’ – high-density, compute-optimised data centres designed to support AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS) and inference workloads closer to end users. These facilities also enable sovereign AI initiatives and hybrid models that prioritise compliance, data privacy, and control.

Digital Realty is building the foundation for AI across the region, helping customers unlock its full potential through interconnected, sustainable, and future-ready infrastructure. A great example is our collaboration with Japanese AI company Turing. To accelerate the development of its full driving automation system, Turing deployed a powerful GPU cluster at our NRT10 data centre in Japan. By using our high-density colocation services, NVIDIA DGX-ready setup, and advanced cooling systems, Turing sped up its AI development--from one year to only three months.

Cyrus: The acceleration of AI adoption will require unprecedented levels of computational power, data storage and networking. The criticality of purpose-built, efficient data centre infrastructure cannot be overstated. These facilities are essential for supporting the massive workloads that drive AI applications, and will help pave the way for a smarter, more connected future.

AI is set to significantly influence the data centre industry in the APAC region, reshaping its dynamics.  The increased adoption of AI across industries in APAC requires data centres to handle compute-intensive workloads. As AI generates and consumes massive datasets, data centre operators will need to build infrastructure closer to data sources (edge data centres) to minimise latency and enhance processing efficiency. 

Reliance on real-time data processing for applications like autonomous vehicles, smart cities and IoT will accelerate edge data centre deployment in APAC to ensure low-latency performance.  Data centres in APAC will increasingly adopt AI for predictive maintenance, energy optimisation, and real-time monitoring. AI-driven solutions can reduce operational costs and enhance uptime by predicting failures and automating corrective actions. AI can help optimise Data centre cooling systems dynamically, especially in regions with extreme climates, to reduce energy consumption and improve PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness).

If you could change one common misconception about data centres, what would it be?

Serene: One of the most common misconceptions about data centres is that they’re inherently unsustainable – that as digital infrastructure expands, its environmental footprint must inevitably grow. That’s no longer the case. In fact, the industry has been preparing for this challenge for over a decade, particularly in anticipation of energy-intensive technologies like AI.

We focus on balancing performance with sustainability. For example, our high-density colocation solutions and advanced cooling technologies like direct liquid cooling are designed to make better use of space and power while reducing emissions. This enables customers like KakaoBank in Korea to drive highly effective AI deployments with precision-engineered power and cooling infrastructure capable of supporting high-power computing needs.

We also use our own AI platform, Apollo, to improve efficiency across our sites. So far, it has identified around 18 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy savings globally. We've expanded Apollo’s capabilities across APAC to make our data centres even smarter and more energy efficient.

Cyrus: I would say the lack of understanding of the critical role data centres play in every part of our economy and society. Almost every business today has a digital component. From a local restaurant to a multinational food production company, they all rely on data that has to move between networks, and connect with customers, partners, employees and other businesses.  Society depends on digital infrastructure to help run today’s modern world.

Data centres house IT infrastructure and all the physical and virtual systems, networks and applications that make them operational, making them critical to today’s modern society. They operate 24/7/365 to support a wide range of essential services from the life-saving work of hospitals to powering global financial markets to managing food and pharmaceutical production. In addition, shifts in societal norms like remote work and online shopping are all made possible by data centre infrastructure.  

To best meet society’s needs and our collective climate goals, it is essential that we design, build and operate our digital infrastructure sustainably. As an industry we recognise our responsibility to balance these needs and continue our drive for improved efficiency.