Over the past decade, the data center industry has undergone seismic shifts, driven by the growth of cloud computing, the rise of AI, and the subsequent increased demand for scalable, flexible and efficient infrastructure. Adapting to evolving customer demands and addressing the requirements of next-generation data centers has become a top priority for infrastructure designers and providers.

In this episode of DCD>Talks, Tim Mirick, president of Sabey Data Centers shares how the company is meeting changing customer needs by prioritizing flexibility, early engagement and relying on core company values to nurture customer relationships in the long run.

Mapping industry changes

Reflecting on over a decade at Sabey, Mirick points to some critical turning points that have reshaped the industry and forced the company to adapt to new demands:

“The advent of the public cloud really took center stage around 2012, 2013. At that time there was all sorts of trepidation in the industry around the cloud taking over.

“But ultimately, they became our biggest customer base. It changed a lot of things for us and our competitors, and made us think about how we could be more aggressive, how we built, how we had to scale and reach a whole new size for our centers.”

The rise of the cloud magnified the need for bigger, more efficient data centers. What began as uncertainty quickly turned into opportunity, pushing companies like Sabey to scale and innovate in order to keep up.

“I remember at the time our prototype buildings were around 7.2MW with 1.8MW data halls, which was fantastic for our bread and butter, core enterprise customers,” Mirick continues. “But soon, that was not big enough and we saw the transition from data halls in that 1.8 to 2MW range, moved to four, six, nine.”

New technology brought with it a new baseline for the size and capacity of data centers, and demand has only intensified with the rapid adoption of AI – they must grow bigger, more quickly. What once required single-digit megawatt capacities, now sees customers asking for dozens, even hundreds of megawatts at a time.

“AI hit an inflection point a couple of years ago when the model training started on a large scale basis,” says Mirick. “And it seemed to happen so suddenly – we were quickly taking calls for 50 and 100MW blocks of power.”

These staggering power requirements demand real, physical infrastructure – and lots of it. For companies such as Sabey, that means not just providing more space, but creating future-ready structures that can accommodate evolving technology and upgrade without overhauling.

Changing customer needs

As power demands surge, another critical shift has emerged: the need for greater compute density. Mirick notes:

“It may seem obvious, but I think the biggest change that we've seen most recently is the increased density. It’s something that's always been a data point that we've talked about in the industry.”

Density changes have sparked conversations about how data centers are designed, cooled, and operated. Denser compute loads generate more heat, requiring more advanced solutions and adaptable designs to maintain optimal performance and efficiency.

The question of how to maximize efficiency is another running theme and providing customers with the ability to deploy new, efficient upgrades to meet growing demand as and when necessary, is key to successful operations and scalability.

“The evolution of compute technology has really pushed us to a new place,” says Mirick. With more power packed into smaller spaces, designing for flexibility has become essential. It’s no longer enough to build for today’s needs, operators and suppliers alike must anticipate tomorrow’s.

Mirick emphasizes that this successful collaboration must start early: “Now that we’re seeing a density capability that’s required of two or three, sometimes four times greater, our ability to work with customers early on and try to understand their requirements is so important.”

From selecting the best cooling techniques to designing power delivery, early conversations lead to optimal outcomes. Plus, with new solutions such as liquid cooling gaining traction, a forward-thinking approach is more important than ever.

Providing built-in flexibility

The ability to pivot quickly is a hallmark of modern data center design. Mirick shares an example of how Sabey recently made strategic design choices to future-proof a facility against changing cooling needs:

“When we saw the direction that things were going, we thought about adding in some additional flexibility. We were using air cooled chillers so we had a chilled water loop in the building, and so we added some additional valving to be able to allow for liquid cooling. What started as an air cooled design, ended up being 80 percent liquid cooled.”

This level of adaptability, built in from the start, offers customers peace of mind, knowing they can pivot quickly if their compute strategy changes or new technologies emerge. While predicting the exact needs of a facility three or five years down the line is a tall order, by bringing together the right stakeholders, from equipment manufacturers to design and construction teams, it becomes possible to build smarter, more resilient spaces.

To that end, Sabey encourages early customer commitments in the form of pre-leasing. This helps align timelines and design choices with future needs, ensuring space is used efficiently and delivery is timely. Mirick explains:

“Delivering projects is a multi-year process, and working with a customer from the very beginning means we can optimize what we deliver and help to ensure more accurate delivery time frames.”

That early alignment often results in cost savings too, optimizing both how the space is used and how the infrastructure is deployed.

What does the future hold?

Despite the pace of change, the need for smart, measured growth and a strong commitment to customer relationships remains constant. For Mirick, scaling for the future doesn’t mean starting from scratch. It means doubling down on what Sabey does best, while thoughtfully expanding its capabilities:

“It's not about reimagining the business, it's really about building upon its strengths. And so we think about pursuing smart growth and continuing to expand and focus on our strategic investment grade enterprise customers that we've had for years and years, and then pursuing select AI and cloud opportunities.”

For Sabey, future success hinges not only on innovation, but on culture, a commitment to reliability, trust, and finding the right approach. Mirick highlights the company’s core ethos:

“My message to the team is that every process, every decision, every project, we’re trying to get better.But it’s a pretty straightforward philosophy at the company and it has been for the 50 or so years that Sabey’s been around – it’s about using common sense and doing the right thing for our customers and all the stakeholders.”

As the industry continues to evolve, a focus on nurturing long-term relationships and delivering tailored, future-ready solutions, utilizing a blend of proven values and strategic innovation, will be key to meeting the challenges, and opportunities, of a rapidly expanding digital world.

To hear more insights from Tim Mirick and learn how Sabey is planning for the next wave of data center demand, watch the full DCD>Talks episode here.