Podcast

Ep 113 – AI's Power Problem

April 14, 2025

This week’s guest

Roy Illsey

Chief Analyst, IT Operations Omdia

The energy demands of artificial intelligence are skyrocketing. AI workloads are doubling every few months, pushing data centers’ energy consumption beyond the capabilities of our aging grid infrastructure. As these facilities approach gigawatt-level power needs—equivalent to powering entire cities—the energy question has become the critical bottleneck for AI’s future growth.

In this episode, I’m talking with Roy Illsley, Chief Analyst at Omdia who specializes in cloud and data center technologies. We explore how the world’s biggest data center owners—Amazon, Google, and Microsoft—are responding to these challenges, from renewable energy investments to nuclear power, and what it means for the industry. Listen now to hear:

Why hyperscalers are looking to nuclear energy solutions to meet their massive power requirements [03:23];
How Europe’s data sovereignty requirements are complicating AI development in power-constrained countries [05:40];
What opportunity telcos have with AI inferencing at the edge, and why they risk repeating past mistakes [09:20];
The crucial software capability gap that could determine who wins in the edge AI market [12:14].

Links and resources

Read Omdia’s latest reports on cloud and data centers technologies.
Watch NVIDIA’s CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote at GTC on their future rack power requirements.
Check out this press release on Oracle’s $5 billion UK investment in cloud infrastructure.
Learn more about Verizon’s AI edge computing initiatives.
Read about Microsoft’s exploration of nuclear energy options, including the re-opening of Three Mile Island.
Take a look at Google and Amazon’s investment in small nuclear reactors.
Listen to the previous episodes I mentioned in my Takeaway:
- Ep 1 (Jim Abolt) It starts with…transformational leadership
- Ep 110 (Charles Fitzgerald) Hyperscaler CapEx is going nuclear
Homer Simpson’s nuclear career takes an unexpected turn in “C.E.D’oh” when he accidentally becomes Springfield Nuclear Power Plant’s CEO after impressing Mr. Burns with business jargon. His executive dreams melt down faster than uranium-235 when he discovers the job requires making tough decisions, sacrificing family time, and actually understanding nuclear physics. Guess the CEO job isn’t for everyone!
Check out this episode on our YouTube channel.
You can find the episode transcript here.

Wanna talk AI and public cloud? Telco execs, set up a meeting with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring.

Guest bio

Roy Illsley has over thirty-eight years of IT experience, working for a variety of consultancy and end-user companies with experience in the defence, utilities, automotive, retail, and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industries. He works in the Cloud and Data Centre practice and is recognized as Omdia’s expert on Cloud, Virtualisation, and Management. He also has experience of Data Centre technologies, Quantum Computing, IT Service Management, and covers IT Strategy and Policy. His most recent reports include a series of five on the topic of edge computing, and two on the topic of sovereign cloud. In addition to the reports, he has produced white papers and carried out primary research for leading global organizations. He has delivered keynotes speeches and webinars. He has also presented at external trade events all over the world on a wide range of topics.

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