What the UK’s AI growth zones mean for the data centre industry

The Government recently announced its plans to designate the North East of England as a new AI growth zone in its effort to boost AI growth and investment. The prospect of unlocking new streams of growth momentum was welcomed by many, as it stands to bring new opportunities to the local communities, unlocking more than 5,000 new jobs and creating new career opportunities in AI to help discover new breakthroughs in healthcare, clean energy and other high innovation sectors.

Yet the reality of this undertaking, and the broader AI growth plans, on our national infrastructure hasn’t gone unnoticed. A recent BBC article reported on the Government’s plans to build roughly 100 data centres over the next few years across the UK alone to meet the demand for AI processing. That level of development is not a small undertaking and signifies huge changes – and challenges – for our data centre industry.

Infrastructure under strain

The AI boom has triggered an overwhelming need for robust and scalable data centre infrastructure to meet rising demand. However, this race to rapid deployment comes with new areas of risk. We need more data centres to power these AI growth zones, but the speed at which these infrastructures need to be built is putting enormous pressure on the industry. Data centres are critical infrastructure, which means rushing the design and build could do more harm than good.

One way to ease this pressure is through early coordination, bringing operators, local authorities and suppliers together from the outset to streamline planning and delivery. Smarter design ideas, such as modular builds and modern cooling technologies, can also help speed things up without compromising quality or safety.

The International Energy Agency’s special report ‘Energy and AI’ projects that electricity demand from data centres worldwide is set to more than double by 2030 to around 945 terawatt-hours (TWh), slightly more than the current total electricity consumption in Japan. As AI applications expand, the carbon footprint of the systems powering them will also increase. For these growth zones to succeed, they must be founded on robust sustainability measures, or the UK risks clashing with its climate goals and undermining its credibility as a leader in sustainable innovation.

More options are available now, including modular construction, advanced cooling technologies and renewable energy sources. The industry is making huge strides in these areas, with some hyperscalers already pushing commissioning teams to validate new liquid cooling designs. Working closely with specialist partners and experienced delivery teams can help balance that speed with sustainability, safety, and long-term reliability, ensuring progress doesn’t come at the expense of performance.

Investing in the workforce equates to long-term success

While much attention is on the infrastructure, there’s another critical piece of the puzzle: people. Yes, we need sufficient power, land and investment, but how confident are we that there are enough skilled people to deliver and operate the infrastructure that AI depends on? AI data centres require both robust infrastructure and a workforce capable of standing the test of time to make the Government’s ambitions for the North East a reality.

If AI growth zones are to succeed, investment in infrastructure must go hand in hand with investment in people. We need to put as much energy into upskilling and training the people on the ground as we do into the centres themselves. The industry has long faced a shortage of skilled operators, and providers have struggled to ramp commissioning agents fast enough, with training cycles that normally take months being compressed.

We’re calling for greater collaboration between operators, universities and local governments to build a solid foundation of courses, apprenticeships and entry-level roles that help enrol people directly into data centre operations and engineering positions. There’s also real value in learning from proven training models, such as those that draw on the discipline and continuous learning mindset found in the military. Salute’s own experience in helping veterans transition into technical careers shows how these skills can translate directly into the precision, accountability and resilience needed to operate mission-critical environments. Nurturing talent from the ground up will ensure that these critical AI data centres are in the hands of people who understand the infrastructure inside out, boosting their long-term resilience.

AI growth zones are a critical pillar of the UK’s plans to compete as a global AI leader – but only when they’re planned for, deployed and maintained on a foundation of robust infrastructure and a strong workforce. The developments in the North East can help set the standard for all future AI initiatives – fuelling the fire behind the country’s growth ambitions while unlocking exciting opportunities for the local communities.