Today we return to the subject of data centers. Are we in the midst of a huge AI bubble? And building over capacity in data centers that are destined to end up as dusty sheds in the middle of nowhere with huge power supplies attached, or are data centers the rate limiting factor and the crucial midstream of the future industrial age? Here to discuss bubbles and data centers is Eugene McGrane, Executive Managing Director at Cushman Wakefield, servicing all manner of clients with respect to real estate needs for the power and data center sectors.<br><br>For related content and to find out more about HC Group, a search firm dedicated to the energy &amp; commodities sector, visit https://www.hcgroup.global

Data Centers aren't the bubble with Eugene McGrane

The HC Commodities Podcast

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** The HC Commodities Podcast

## Participants

- **Paul Chapman** (HC Group)
- **Eugene McGrane** (Cushman Wakefield)

## Transcript

Welcome to the HC Commodities Podcast, a podcast dedicated to the commodities sector and the people within it. I'm your host, Paul Chapman. This podcast is produced by HC Group, a global search firm dedicated to the commodities sector. Today we return to the subject of data centers. Are we in the midst of a huge AI bubble and building overcapacity in data centers that are destined to end up as dusty sheds in the middle of the world?

Nowhere with huge power supplies attached? Or are data centers the rate limiting factor and the crucial midstream of the future industrial age? Here to discuss bubbles and data centers is Eugene McGrane, Executive Managing Director at Cushman Wakefield, servicing all manner of clients with respect to real estate needs for the power and data center sectors. As always, you can really support the show by leaving a positive review on the platform you're listening on, and I hope you enjoy the episode. Eugene, welcome back to the show.

Well, thanks for having me. It's always a pleasure. A couple of bits of housekeeping. So firstly, this is somewhat of a part two to the episode we just did with Erikhans Kok, the senior partner at McKinsey, on sort of the big CapEx build that's going on across not only the United States, but also much of the Western economy and actually globally, of which data centers are a very big part.

So that's where we're talking. We're talking data centers themselves, in the context of are they a bubble, how challenging they are, what the demand is, and how challenging they are to implement, and sort of some of the economics and the reasons behind them. And I should also say that we're recording this June 9th, and it goes out in two weeks' time, prior to SpaceX's IPO. So the bubble might have burst by the time this goes out, just as a caveat to everyone.

I just, I can't wait to be featured in the made-for-TV movie where I'm the guy claiming there is no bubble while the stock prices are crashing. I thought that was a great part to that wonderful movie. We should talk first and set the stage a little bit on both terms, but as well as kind of the current state of affairs,

and sort of somewhat to how we got there before we do a deep dive into data center demand, data center construction, data center future. And I think we're all, even Sam Altman himself, even last year, allude to the fact that there's probably lots of exuberance in the market about AI. And in fact, you know, stock markets are topping all-time records, particularly in the US, despite major economic turmoil as a result of the Strait of Hormuz and all this good stuff.

You know, all this terrible stuff, I should say, because of the amount of money that is flowing into AI. AI and the perceived transformation, transformatory capabilities of AI in the modern economy and the produc...

Data Centers aren't the bubble with Eugene McGrane

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.

Data Centers aren't the bubble with Eugene McGrane

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.