The data center industry has weathered many waves of change – but none as disruptive as the rapid rise of AI. Virtually overnight, demand has surged, pushing facilities to scale and adapt at unprecedented speed.

Meeting this moment takes more than innovative, future-ready products. It demands comprehensive, personalized service to design, deploy, and manage power solutions that perform flawlessly – because even the best technology needs the right partnership behind it.

In practice, this means dedicated engineers, customer support, sales teams, and technicians who understand the unique challenges of the industry and those attached to individual facilities, projects, and customers. Increasing both capacity and collaboration is central for key stakeholders across the supply chain looking to stay ahead of the upward curve in demand.

With the largest company-owned distribution network in the region, Cummins is ideally positioned to meet customers where they're at, providing tailored, end-to-end service, backed up by a diverse portfolio of reliable power solutions.

Jim Hay, vice president of strategic data centers at Cummins Sales and Service North America (CSSNA) shares why Cummins is the ideal partner for navigating today’s fast-paced, high stakes landscape.

Partnering up for a new era

The level of demand brought about by AI workloads has significantly outpaced initial signalling, leaving key players across the industry in a race to catch up. Hay outlines how Cummins has prepared for this reality:

“We've been hard at work to rapidly increase our product capacity and our team resources to support this growth. And given the fast paced, dynamic nature of this market, we've implemented a variety of flexible solutions to support customers.”

Effective growth begins with establishing the right partnerships. Strong communication between providers and operators delivers the early forecasting required to generate and deploy future-ready solutions at the right time, while strategic collaboration with manufacturers helps to ensure predictable, reliable, and fast delivery.

Delivering the capacity required also hinges on cooperation across the entire data center ecosystem. That’s why Cummins has actively expanded its manufacturing capabilities, focused on strengthening supplier relationships and prioritizing early alignment with customers via long term agreements.

“Aligning on elements like product design and packaging ensures our customers have the necessary awareness of which product changes we can support quickly, and what can be interchanged to deliver the flexibility they require,” adds Hay. “And that same level of communication is crucial across our key suppliers. We're not just reacting to demand. We're building a supply ecosystem ready for the next wave of digital growth.”

Boots on the ground

Speed defines today’s data center race – and with it comes growing demand for standardized, scalable solutions that can be deployed fast and reliably. This requirement isn’t solely limited to products – it extends to the ability to organize, support, deliver, and manage those solutions, regardless of region.

“Consistency is everything,” says Hay. “With more than 170 service locations in North America, Cummins combines global expertise with local presence. So, no matter where customers build, they’re guaranteed consistent support.”

A global footprint provides the ability to replicate proven solutions from mature markets while tailoring them to local conditions. While regional differences, regulations, utilities, and logistics present real-world hurdles, it comes back to close collaboration and alignment with the right people at the right time, in order to harmonize the product and service model.

“The efficiency gains – both in execution and life cycle support – are exponential when standardization and global integration meet,” explains Hay. “Balancing standardization and regional flexibility accelerates deployment and keeps quality uniform.”

Through its company-owned sales and service network in North America, Cummins ensures that every field issue or commissioning challenge is fed into a centralized ‘lessons learned’ process that utilizes streamlined containment processes and root cause analysis workflows.

Dedicated quality teams rapidly identify, validate, and implement corrective actions, so lived experiences feed directly into the next build – ensuring each development is more resilient than the one before.

The system is managed at the enterprise level, rather than being regionally siloed, meaning any improvements are immediately cascaded to the next product, build, or site.

“Whether it's troubleshooting remotely or managing onsite performance, we deliver a consistent experience across every market by allowing customers across the globe to interface with dedicated project teams, engineers, and account managers,” says Hay. “And that's the power of Cummins. It's global integration with local execution.”

Tailored support

Standardization mustn’t be confused with a one-size-fits-all approach. Failure to recognize and respond to the individual needs and unique challenges that come with each project risks overlooking the most efficient and effective route forward.

Notably, AI-ready facilities in particular present a complex web of challenges. Vast teams, large facilities, and power-hungry equipment all require expert understanding, tailored support, and customized solutions backed up by a tried-and-tested approach.

“That’s why we're driving key initiatives to deepen our partnerships with our data center customers – starting with a strong focus on listening to the voice of the customer,” says Hay. “By combining their feedback with our experience and lessons learned, we're continuously evolving our support strategies to meet the full spectrum of their operational needs.”

By assigning dedicated teams to each project, Cummins develops tailored strategies that address the unique technical and operational needs of every customer. This structure means the teams work side by side with the customer, design engineers, consultants, and more, to solve challenges and drive efficiency at every level.

“When a customer chooses Cummins, it's not just a one time decision, it's a long term partnership, and over time, it’s partnerships like these that turn complex regulations and technical hurdles into real world progress,” adds Hay.

Truly end-to-end service

Given the pressure to adapt and adopt future-ready solutions at breakneck speed, ongoing product management, customer support, and lasting collaboration can just as quickly become an afterthought.

The solution lies in dedicated post-sales support teams that deliver comprehensive service where and when it’s needed. Hay explains:

“Cummins supports customers from product delivery on site, all the way through the full life cycle operation. It’s essential to meet the unique needs of each data center efficiently, and this structure enables us to deliver tailored, customer-centric aftermarket solutions, while maintaining consistency across accounts and aligning with broad market standards.”

It’s a model that can’t be replicated site by site – it demands a unified, top-down approach to deliver fewer surprises, faster response times, and one global standard for reliability.

“It's about more than how we structure our people, it's about instilling confidence at every stage of the project,” adds Hay. “Reliability and resilience must come built-in at each and every level, not by chance, but by design.”

People, the planet, and sustainability

The demand for more power, capacity, and space to fuel the AI era are perhaps the greatest challenges, and opportunities, the industry faces today. But the hurdles to fast, continuous growth don’t stop there. Hay highlights two additional major challenges: the people problem and sustainability:

“We’ve talked about people – how we structure and specialize our teams to support this rapidly growing sector – but the reality is that, as the industry continues to expand, the availability of skilled labor is going to be a defining challenge for the entire industry moving forward.”

The shift in scale is pushing each and everyone across the data center ecosystem to think differently. Today’s realities demand faster, more strategic approaches to recruiting, developing, and retaining the critical talent that will power the next generation of data center infrastructure.

When it comes to sustainability, Hay details how the company is also making environmental responsibility a top priority:

“Cummins plays a critical role in ensuring delivery of reliable power solutions, while supporting initiatives such as Destination Zero – our long term commitment to sustainability. It's focused on helping customers navigate the energy transition while growing the business responsibly. It integrates our 2030 environmental goals and our 2050 targets into a unified strategy that emphasizes decarbonization, responsible material use, and community impact.”

This strategy drives innovation across products, operations, and partnerships – including the launch of low-emission technologies like battery energy storage systems, next-gen engines, supplier engagement programs to reduce upstream emissions, and community initiatives such as Cummins Water Works to address global water challenges.

“Looking ahead, the goal is simple: to build resilient teams and smarter systems that keep pace with the world's demand for digital infrastructure,” concludes Hay. “Delivering innovative future- ready products is only part of the equation. What truly differentiates us is our stiff commitment to comprehensive customer service that ensures our solutions continue to perform and grow alongside our customer’s evolving needs.”

Scaling at the pace the AI era demands can’t be done in isolation – it takes collaboration. By combining innovation with comprehensive, tailored support, Cummins is proving that the right partnerships drive progress.

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