Data+AI in 2025: The Opportunity We Can’t Afford to Misread

By Zenia Pearl V. Nicolas

Data+AI has become a boardroom agenda — transforming how organizations invest, scale, and compete. The infrastructure era of AI is here.

Artificial intelligence is no longer just about model breakthroughs or headline-grabbing apps. What’s really transforming the global economy is Data+AI, the blend of data infrastructure, compute power, governance, and sustainability that turns AI from promise into performance.

And in 2025, this shift is unfolding faster than most leaders expected.

Investment Has Moved Into the Real World

AI isn’t just a tech expense anymore, it’s a capital-intensive infrastructure race.Global spending on AI infrastructure is forecast to reach US$1.5 trillion in 2025, surpassing US$2 trillion in 2026, according to Reuters.

That investment is landing in:

• Data centers 

• Cloud compute 

• Power capacity

Yet growth is already running into physical limits. Power constraints are slowing data-center development in major regions, reported by Reuters.

For the first time, electricity availability is shaping where the digital economy can expand next.

Data Governance Has Become a Performance Issue

AI can’t scale if the data behind it is fragmented, questionable, or unaccounted for. More than 60% of companies now say data governance is their biggest barrier to AI success, based on McKinsey.

It is also becoming regulatory territory. New requirements for transparent, traceable training data in high-risk systems are taking shape in Europe, according to Reuters.

Data management is no longer “backend ops” — it’s strategic governance.

Sustainability Will Define Who Scales

As AI workloads surge, so does the environmental cost.Data centers have triggered grid-stability warnings in regions with rising demand, according to Reuters.

Their water footprint is also increasingly scrutinized especially in stressed climates, reported by Reuters.

This is no longer about ESG optics. Sustainability now determines how far and how fast AI can grow.

The Payoff Is Clear — If You’re Ready

Organizations with solid data foundations are already seeing results.In India’s IT sector, generative AI may drive up to a 45% productivity boost in the next five years, according to EY.

High performers share three behaviors:

1. They treat data as a product

2. They embed AI in workflows not presentations

3. They scale responsibly with infrastructure in mind

The takeaway: AI doesn’t create value — Data+AI does.

What Business Leaders Must Understand Now

Data+AI is not a trend, it is the new economic infrastructure. Those who move intentionally and invest wisely will unlock transformation. Those who chase hype without fundamentals risk falling behind fast.

The next era of innovation isn’t just artificial intelligence.It’s intelligence, powered by the data, energy, and governance required to sustain it.

References

Reuters. (2025, November 13). Major analyst and enterprise forecasts AI market growth into 2026. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/business/major-analyst-enterprise-forecasts-ai-market-2025-11-13/

Reuters. (2025, November 06). Power supply constraints slowing EMEA data centre rollout, report says. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/power-supply-constraints-slowing-emea-data-centre-rollout-report-says-2025-11-06/

Reuters. (2024, June 13). EU's new AI rules ignite battle over data transparency. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/eus-new-ai-rules-ignite-battle-over-data-transparency-2024-06-13/

Reuters. (2025, November 18). U.S. data center demand raising power risks this winter, regulator says. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-data-center-demand-raising-power-risks-this-winter-regulator-says-2025-11-18/

Reuters. (2025, September 19). Sustainable switch: AI’s energy, water use increases scrutiny. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-switch-ais-energy-water-use-problem-2025-09-19/

EY. (2025, February 10). GenAI to boost India's IT industry's productivity by up to 45%, EY India survey shows. Reuters. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/genai-boost-indias-it-industrys-productivity-by-up-45-ey-india-survey-shows-2025-02-10/

McKinsey & Company. (2023). The State of AI in 2023: Generative AI’s breakout year. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai-in-2023-generative-ais-breakout-year

Carbon Brief. (2024). AI and data centre energy use: Five charts that put the issue in context. Retrieved from https://www.carbonbrief.org/ai-five-charts-that-put-data-centre-energy-use-and-emissions-into-context/