The State of Enterprise Data Centers in 2026

About this episode

Ryan Mallory discusses the current state and future of enterprise data centers in the context of AI and Flexential's role in the market.

There's been a big focus on hyperscale facilities for generative AI. Where does the enterprise customer fit in the current data center landscape? One of the providers focused on the enterprise market is Flexential, a company with a history providing network-focused colocation and wholesale space in second-tier markets. Flexential CEO Ryan Mallory joins us today on Data Center Richness to share his take on the state of the enterprise data center market, how enterprises are adopting AI, and the road ahead for Flexential. Here's an overview of our conversation: 00:00 - The Enterprise AI Data Center Landscape 01:30 - Ryan Mallory's Data Center Journey 02:52 - About Flexential: Services, Infrastructure and Who it Helps 05:55 - The Evolution of Design in the Era of AI 10:20 - Balancing Wholesale and Multi-Tenant Requirements 12:00 - The Cloudy Context for Enterprise AI 15:00 - Where AI is Gaining Traction in the Enterprise 18:00 - AI and the Enterprise Network 21:30 - Data Center Geography and the Road Ahead 26:00 - Where Will Inference Live? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- At Data Center Richness we demystify technology and explain why data…

People in this episode

Host: Rich Miller

Guest: Ryan Mallory

Topics covered

• enterprise data centers
• AI adoption
• Flexential
• data center design
• network infrastructure
• data center geography

Keywords

• enterprise data centers
• AI
• Flexential
• colocation
• wholesale space
• data center design
• network infrastructure

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Flexential

Places: 2026

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