The AI data centre boom is putting commissioning and verification standards under unprecedented pressure

The data centre industry is sprinting to build the necessary infrastructure to support the next phase of the AI buildout. This year, the five biggest AI infrastructure companies will spend somewhere between $660 billion and $690 billion on building AI data centres, almost twice what they spent in 2025. Worldwide data centre power consumption is forecast to grow by 50% between 2025 and 2027, rising by as much as 165% by the end of the decade.

The hurdles that have arisen as the result of meeting this generational surge in infrastructure demand are well documented. From securing the necessary access to power from ageing grids to securing skilled engineers and technicians, many challenges inherent to executing the AI boom are being widely discussed. But the accelerated pace and sheer scale of data centre demand poses other problems that, as yet, aren’t getting the attention they deserve from the industry.

As AI demand pushes for faster data centre construction and compresses delivery timelines, the race to deliver the next generation of digital infrastructure is putting unprecedented pressure on the commissioning process. This is happening at a time when new data centre designs, bigger facilities, and shorter project windows are making independent verification and certification more critical than ever. The industry’s focus on speed-to-market is ramping up pressure on testing and validation processes, and the resultant incentive to cut corners is raising the potential operational and commercial risk if the need for speed compromises verification.

Ahead of Datacloud Global Congress, Global Commissioning is sounding the alarm that, as AI demand accelerates data centre construction and compresses delivery timelines, commissioning and independent verification are becoming more critical than ever. They will be hosting a panel discussion on the topic at the upcoming event.

Commissioning: the invisible, invaluable last line of defence

Commissioning rarely makes headlines. But when it goes wrong, the consequences certainly do.

The commissioning process is widely understood as a set of tests that take place close to the completion of a project. Its technical and regulatory necessities are broadly agreed upon, but ask why commissioning matters at a business level, and many people in the industry will struggle to articulate their answers.

In practice, commissioning is so much more than an exercise in compliance. A rigorous commissioning programme begins at design review, long before a cable is pulled, and runs through every layer of a building’s systems, from the component level up to integrated performance under full operational load. It is the process that determines whether a data centre actually does what its designers intended.

The industry shorthand for this is L0 to L6: a structured testing methodology that progressively validates each system layer, culminating in integrated systems testing and operational readiness. When it’s done properly, it produces a test record that is a genuine risk management instrument. That record protects developers, operators, and investors alike.

When that process is compressed, deferred, or treated as a box-ticking exercise, that protection disappears, and the consequences tend to surface at the worst possible moment.

This is the moment to centre commissioning, not set it aside

Commissioning is not just a technical exercise or final-stage checklist. It is a critical risk management and accountability process that protects long-term data centre performance, resilience and investor confidence.

The data centre sector is building faster than at any point in its history. Hyperscale demand, AI infrastructure investment, and energy transition pressures are all compressing timescales and raising the stakes on every delivery decision. In that environment, the tolerance for substandard commissioning, for incomplete test records, deferred defect resolution, and integrated testing that never quite happened, is shrinking fast.

Operators who have been through difficult handovers are restructuring how they procure commissioning authority. Developers are being asked harder questions about what their documentation actually reflects. And the wider market is converging around a new understanding of what credible, independent verification looks like: one that integrates commissioning, certification, and operational validation into a single, accountable chain.

The data centre industry is engaged in an infrastructure buildout of generational scale and significance to the fabric of the modern world. The industry responsible for certifying and verifying that infrastructure is fit for purpose should not be relegated to a box-ticking exercise.