The data center industry finds itself at a genuinely fascinating inflection point where traditional construction expertise collides head on with cutting edge AI demands. Alex Walker, who leads data center construction for the Phoenix region at Aligned Data Centers, works right at this intersection every single day, building the physical infrastructure that will actually power the next generation of artificial intelligence workloads. Aligned Data Centers, a BIG Innovation Award winner for 2026, is currently developing four campuses across the Phoenix metro area, and the lessons emerging from these projects offer some truly valuable insights into the future of digital infrastructure.
From Cornfields to Cutting Edge Campuses
Walker's journey into data center construction began, perhaps fittingly, in a cornfield in Iowa. After building everything from 17 story office towers to Little League baseball fields for the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation, she raised her hand for an opportunity that would fundamentally redirect her career. The data center industry captured her attention immediately with its fast pace and collaborative demands.
The scale of modern data center construction genuinely defies easy comparison. According to a JLL report on data center construction, the industry is experiencing unprecedented growth with over 2,800 megawatts of capacity currently under construction in primary U.S. markets alone (https://www.us.jll.com/en/trends-and-insights/research/data-center-outlook). Walker describes her role as touching every single piece of what makes a data center go from just a piece of land to a huge operation. The process encompasses site selection, securing board funding, coordinating with subject matter experts and design teams, and ultimately handing completed facilities over to operations teams.
The Liquid Cooling Revolution
Perhaps the most significant shift Walker observes involves liquid cooling technology. Every time we are talking about a new project, that is the new hot topic, she explains, referring specifically to whether buildings will incorporate liquid cooling directly to the chip rather than traditional air cooling methods.
The flexibility to pivot between cooling approaches represents a key competitive advantage. The Aligned design philosophy allows facilities to adapt from liquid to air cooled configurations based on tenant requirements. This adaptability proves essential because not every tenant wants 100 percent liquid cooled environments. The ability to offer different percentages of liquid cooling to the chip, depending on specific client needs, positions Aligned to serve a broader range of customers.
The physical layout of data halls is also evolving in notable ways. Walker points out that server density has changed so dramatically that modern data halls can actually look relatively empty compared to earlier facilities. The amount of power going to single servers is completely different from how it used to be, meaning fewer servers occupy more space while consuming substantially more power. Research from the Uptime Institute confirms this trend, with average rack power density increasing over 30 percent in facilities supporting AI workloads (https://uptimeinstitute.com/resources/research-and-reports).
Prefabrication and the Future of Construction
When asked about promising innovation areas, Walker points to prefabrication as a particularly significant opportunity. Finding new ways to do fabrication offsite and bringing them to site in larger chunks offers both efficiency and quality benefits. The approach still requires robust quality and safety programs at the fabrication locations, but the potential gains in speed and consistency make prefabrication increasingly attractive.
Interestingly, 3D printing has not yet made meaningful inroads into data center construction, though Walker remains open to the possibility. The industry continues to rely on fundamentally traditional construction methods with workers physically placing components. This blend of old school construction principles with cutting edge end uses captures something essential about the industry's current moment.
The Unchanging Foundation of Success
Despite all the technological evolution, Walker emphasizes that the most successful projects still depend on mastering the basics. How good is your scheduling program, she asks. How good is your quality control program? How well organized is your team? How strong is your safety? These foundational elements determine project outcomes far more reliably than any single innovation.
The commissioning process presents particular challenges because it invariably gets squeezed at project conclusion. Even if construction finishes early, clients typically request earlier commissioning dates. Having a strong commissioning team with deep experience, combined with alignment between general contractors, internal knowledge, and third party commissioning agents, makes or breaks successful project delivery.
Walker's leadership approach reflects these collaborative realities. She describes herself as working without ego, recognizing that most team members have been doing this longer than she has been alive. Getting the best out of everybody around me, finding their expertise, and getting the right people in the right room to solve problems defines her style. The construction industry's inherent stress means challenging personalities emerge regularly, and Walker focuses on reframing emergencies as solvable challenges that teams have addressed before.
Building Tomorrow's Digital Infrastructure Today
Looking ahead five years, Walker expresses excitement about continued growth and the team Aligned has assembled in Phoenix. The collaborative nature of working across four campuses simultaneously creates knowledge sharing opportunities that benefit every project. The land development team continues identifying new opportunities across the country, suggesting the expansion will extend well beyond current markets.
The data center industry sits at the center of a remarkable transformation in how society computes, stores, and processes information. Companies like Aligned are not simply building warehouses for servers. They are constructing the essential infrastructure that will enable artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital services for decades to come. As Walker puts it, this is where dirt meets AI, and the teams bringing these facilities to life are writing the rules as they go.