Claire Keelan, Managing Director UK at Onnec, explains why project-based supply fashions will turn out to be the spine of recent builds and upgrades in 2026, as conventional staffing struggles to match the tempo and complexity of AI-led demand.
The info centre trade is continually evolving. As AI workloads speed up, operators are underneath mounting strain to scale capability whereas navigating abilities shortages, infrastructure constraints and rising expectations round resilience. What labored a number of years in the past is not sufficient. Supply fashions, workforce methods and website design assumptions are all being examined.
In 2026, success will rely much less on growth and extra on adaptability. Operators might want to rethink how tasks are staffed, the place capability is constructed, and the way current property are upgraded to satisfy AI demand. Versatile labour, broader expertise inclusion, regional diversification and retrofitting will transfer from tactical concerns to strategic priorities.
The info centre ‘gig financial system’ turns into spine of supply
Versatile labour fashions will underpin virtually each new knowledge centre mission. Conventional staffing can’t scale on the velocity AI calls for. By 2026, versatile, crowdsourced, project-based groups will fill vital gaps throughout design, constructing, and operations. This shift isn’t about changing experience, it’s about redeploying it. Clear requirements, accreditation, and security frameworks will make flexibility viable at scale, turning part-time professionals and returning employees right into a dependable, high-quality expertise engine.
Ladies turn out to be central to assembly capability targets
With girls making up lower than 8% of the present workforce, the imbalance is holding the sector again. In 2026, range will shift from speaking level to operational precedence. This implies focused recruitment, retraining programmes, and mentorship networks designed to convey extra girls into engineering, security, and management roles. Variety will probably be handled as a enterprise resilience problem, not only a social objective. It is because the trade can’t meet AI’s calls for whereas sidelining a large portion of its potential workforce.
AI progress zones redraw the map
Regional ‘AI progress zones’ will emerge as the brand new engines of capability. In 2026, Manchester, South Wales, and Scotland will proceed to achieve momentum because of decrease land prices, renewable vitality entry, and shut ties to tutorial establishments. This regional diversification will assist stability energy use and strengthen resilience in opposition to native constraints. The times of London and the M4 hall as the only dominant hub are fading; the way forward for knowledge centres is distributed, collaborative, and regionally related.
Retrofitting turns into a actuality examine
With the UK dwelling to one of many world’s largest portfolios of legacy knowledge centres, over the subsequent 12 months operators should show how briskly they will innovate to remain forward within the new AI panorama.
In 2026, we’ll see a surge in retrofitted knowledge centres as operators rush to improve legacy websites to satisfy hovering AI demand. Energy and cooling will probably be advanced, however cabling and community capability would be the actual bottlenecks. Poor-quality or overcrowded cabling limits density, throttles efficiency, and makes future upgrades virtually unattainable.
Sensible operators will make investments early in high-grade structured techniques that help modular growth and long-term flexibility. ‘Retrofit-ready’ will turn out to be the brand new benchmark for accountable, future-proof design.
Trying into 2026
By 2026, the info centre sector will probably be outlined much less by how a lot capability it builds and extra by how intelligently it evolves. AI is compressing timelines, exposing fragility, and forcing long-term choices into the current. Operators that deal with this second as a easy scaling problem will wrestle. People who recognise it as a structural reset will set the tempo.
Information centres have gotten vital nationwide infrastructure for an AI-driven financial system, and resilience will matter as a lot as uncooked efficiency. Management will belong to operators that transfer early, design for uncertainty, and embed adaptability. The query in 2026 will not be who can develop quickest, however who can sustain when the foundations hold altering.
This text is a part of our DCR Predicts 2026 collection. Come again each week in January for extra.
