Nearly half of IT leaders across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa say their current data centers are no longer suited to modern demands, as the combined pressures of AI adoption, energy consumption, and sustainability targets reshape the region’s technology landscape. The findings come from Lenovo’s Data Center of the Future study, conducted with Opinium, which highlights a growing gap between business ambition and infrastructure readiness.
According to the research, 46% of respondents admit that their existing facilities fail to meet energy efficiency or carbon-reduction goals, even as 92% of decision-makers prioritize technology partners who can help them cut emissions. With AI workloads increasing exponentially, the report suggests that traditional data center designs—largely dependent on air cooling—cannot scale efficiently or sustainably.
AI is emerging as a key driver of this strain. Ninety percent of IT leaders expect AI to significantly increase data usage over the next decade, but only 41% say they are prepared to integrate it effectively. At the same time, nearly all respondents—99%—see data sovereignty as crucial to how information will be managed in the coming years, reflecting regional concerns about regulation, security, and control. Low latency is another high priority, cited by 94% of participants as critical for real-time and edge computing applications.
The report positions these challenges as a turning point for infrastructure planning across EMEA, calling for a fundamental rethinking of how data centers are designed, located, and powered. To illustrate what such facilities might look like in the future, Lenovo worked with architects Mamou-Mani and engineering firm AKT II to develop visionary concepts that combine sustainability, resilience, and aesthetic integration into natural or urban environments.
Among their proposed ideas are “The Floating Cloud,” a solar-powered, high-altitude data center suspended 20 to 30 kilometers above the ground; “The Data Village,” a modular, water-adjacent complex that channels excess heat to surrounding buildings and public facilities; and “The Data Center Bunker,” which repurposes disused underground tunnels and infrastructure to reduce land use and improve cooling efficiency. All concepts rely on advanced liquid cooling technology to replace energy-intensive air-based systems.
Architect James Cheung of Mamou-Mani described the approach as “rethinking scale and responsibility,” emphasizing that the future of data infrastructure depends not only on size but also on sustainability and social integration. He noted that liquid cooling systems and adaptive architecture could turn data centers into energy-positive assets for local communities rather than isolated industrial facilities.
Lenovo’s own liquid cooling technology, known as Neptune, exemplifies this shift by removing up to 98% of system heat directly at the source. The company positions Neptune as a practical solution for organizations scaling AI and analytics workloads, allowing them to balance performance with environmental obligations.
Simone Larsson, Head of Enterprise AI, EMEA at Lenovo, said that the evolution of data centers would be defined by “how effectively they scale for AI, deliver on sustainability targets, and operate with maximum energy efficiency.” She added that data sovereignty and regulatory alignment are becoming as central to infrastructure decisions as performance and cost.
The study’s findings point to a clear imperative: as compute demand accelerates and climate regulations tighten, the data center of the future must be built for both intelligence and impact. Sustainability can no longer be an afterthought; it has to be engineered into the foundation of enterprise infrastructure from the start.
