Introducing the 2026 infra/STRUCTURE Summit Theme: The Interlude
The Internet infrastructure market has a long history of growth waves. Technology innovation, operational efficiency and disruptive global events that accelerate urgency and sharpen clarity have powered each wave. The financial crisis of 2008 reformed how capital is allocated. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital transformation by years. Throughout it all, the sector not only survived but thrived, frequently showing counter-cyclical strength.
Two defining waves have forged the modern age:
The shift to outsourced infrastructure from on-premise
The rise of hyperscale cloud
They pulled the industry onto a healthier, more sustainable and globally consistent growth path.
But today, we’re entering something else.
A Structural Change: From Hyperscale to AI
Hyperscale cloud is not over by a long shot. Emerging markets continue to develop. The transition from on-premise to outsourced infrastructure has still been playing out, although now in its final act.
As noted in Structure Research’s ecosystem mapping, the outsourced model has upturned the infrastructure value chain. But even as hyperscale keeps growing, the sector has reached yet another inflection point. This line of reasoning is limited as AI is a lot more than just an extension of cloud. It’s an amplifier, and possibly a structural reset.
We’re not just talking about: Data Centers, Availability zones and Interconnection hubs
We are now discussing:
AI factories for training
Inference-optimized infrastructure
GPU-dense compute clusters
Liquid cooling alongside traditional air
Not pure connectivity strategies, but power proximity strategies
The language is changing. The design assumptions are changing. The capital intensity is changing.
And the pace is accelerating.
Concurrence: Everything, All at Once
In past years infra / STRUCTURE has tracked the evolution of this sector through different themes:
Acceleration (2022)
Recalibration (2023)
Rethink (2024)
Concurrence (2025)
Each represented a phase of transformation.
Today, we find ourselves in a moment where all variables are in motion simultaneously:
Resource constraints
Supply chain volatility
Escalating capital requirements
Financing complexity
GPU supply dynamics
Persistent legacy portfolios
Geopolitical realignment
Emerging regulatory scrutiny
Infrastructure redesigns driven by AI density
This is not a smooth transition from wave to wave. It is an overlap. A compression.
A phase of simultaneous adjustments across the entire value chain.
The Interlude Between Waves
A new wave of AI-driven infrastructure is upon us. Few dispute that. The only real question is when and how much. But at least before that wave has fully crested, we are in a transitional phase.
An interlude.
The giant chasm between hyperscale cloud’s maturation and AI structural sparsity.
This period will determine:
Who seizes the next decade of value creation
How capital gets allocated
Which infrastructure designs become standard
How location strategy is transformed by energy strategy
The intersection of neoclouds, hyperscalers and service providers
Those decisions are being made now.
Join the Discussion in Las Vegas
infra / STRUCTURE 2026 will examine this interlude this pivotal in-between moment when a lot of the industry is literally marshalling resources to get cloud into the ground and AI to scale.
This is not some sort of retrospective dialogue.
It is a forward-looking one.
If you operate infrastructure.
If you finance infrastructure.
When you construct, cooling, energy supply or connect it.
If you are managing hyperscale expansion in anticipation of AI density.
You need to be in the room.
The sector has always moved in waves.
The next one is forming.
Join us in Las Vegas to decode the interlude and prepare for what’s next.