Every major technological revolution eventually hits a physical limit. For the industrial age, it was steel. For the aviation age, it was aerodynamics. For the digital age, that limit is now energy.
Artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous systems, hyperscale cloud, and real-time global applications have pushed digital infrastructure into a new realm—one where power availability, not compute capacity, is emerging as the defining constraint.
In boardrooms, policy meetings, and engineering discussions across the world, the same uncomfortable question keeps resurfacing: Can our grids sustain the pace of digital progress?
This is the crossroads the industry faces today. Not one defined by technology failure, but by energy assumptions that no longer hold true. To build the next decade of digital infrastructure, we must rethink not just how we design data centers but how we power them.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A first-generation entrepreneur, Sridhar Pinnapureddy built CtrlS into Asia’s largest Rated-4 data center platform, which operates 16 facilities with an installed capacity of 370MW and multiple campuses under development that will collectively exceed 2GW.
He also established and expanded Cloud4C into 29 countries, which culminated in its acquisition by Capgemini. His ventures span data centers, cloud, renewables, software, and digital infrastructure. Through CtrlS Renewables, Sridhar is spearheading large-scale renewable energy integration—including the GreenVolt-1 solar farm, which supplies nearly 60 percent of energy requirements for key campuses and advances his vision of 100 percent green-powered data centers.
Pinnapureddy likewise is actively involved with The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), ASSOCHAM, Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and supports multiple social initiatives in healthcare, education, and sustainability.
