In 2026, data centre chief operating officers (COOs) in Southeast Asia confront a perfect storm: explosive AI-driven growth clashing with sustainability imperatives and fragmented regulations. As AI workloads surge, regional capacity is forecast to double from 13 gigawatts in early 2025, resulting in a significant increase in electricity demand.
Yet, amid strained grids and public scrutiny, innovative COOs can pivot to prosperity by blending tech advances with strategic alliances. Drawing on fresh 2025 trends and insights from Daniel Pointon, Group CTO at STT GDC—a global colocation giant with over 2 gigawatts of capacity across 12 countries—this narrative equips Asia's data centre leaders to thrive.
Southeast Asia DCs 2025?
Southeast Asia's data centre landscape in 2025 buzzes with expansion, fuelled by digital transformation, 5G, IoT, and especially AI. Pointon highlights AI as the "primary catalyst," with operational capacity across the Asia-Pacific region reaching 13 gigawatts, set to double in three to four years.
Research supports this: the region's market is projected to grow at a 19.4% CAGR through 2026, with Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore leading the way. Supportive policies, like Indonesia's renewable incentives, enable this boom, but constraints in Singapore and Johor, Malaysia, signal grid pressures.
Pointon notes the government's enabling role, ensuring that infrastructure supports the benefits of AI for businesses and societies.
By mid-2025, emerging hubs like Thailand and Vietnam are shining, offering vast utilities and approvals, in contrast to North America's gigawatt campuses. For COOs, this means scouting agile locations amid a projected US$30 billion market by 2030.
STT GDC overview
STT GDC stands as a colocation powerhouse, operating in 12 countries with over 100 facilities and two gigawatts of capacity. Pointon describes it as an end-to-end provider, managing physical infrastructure like power, cooling, and security.
In 2025, amid Asia's green push, STT GDC leads with aggressive sustainability targets, predating the AI hype. Research shows that such operators win by integrating renewables and aligning with ASEAN's decarbonisation goals.
Pointon's pride in early achievements underscores how firms like STT GDC help clients meet compliance while scaling.
AI's Energy Influence?
AI workloads are reshaping energy dynamics, boosting demand while spurring efficiencies. Pointon identifies two effects: soaring megawatt needs from GPU computing, which strains grids like Johor's, yet is offset by technologies like liquid cooling. Despite efficiencies, net consumption rises, with 2025 forecasts indicating that data centres will double global electricity use to 536 TWh.
In Asia, AI inference dominates, less intensive than North America's training hubs, but still demanding. Research warns that ASEAN's emissions will spike unless renewables accelerate, with data centres potentially consuming power equivalent to that of millions of homes by 2030.
Pointon praises proactive nations like Indonesia and Thailand for infrastructure builds, urging COOs to anticipate gigawatt-scale challenges. Hyperscalers, take note: AI's power density demands medium-voltage upgrades and solid-state transformers to cut losses.
National sustainability alignment
Data centre operators are syncing with national agendas, but gaps persist. Pointon shares STT GDC's longstanding commitment to targeting Scope 2 emissions via renewables—key since energy is a primary driver of emissions.
Yet, the Asia-Pacific lacks sufficient green supply despite its potential. Regulations are tightening: Singapore, Japan, and South Korea are mandating low PUE for permits, mirroring China's longstanding rules.
Pointon advocates for close utility collaboration in grid planning, as data centres now significantly impact national consumption.
Research highlights ASEAN's push for 10% annual renewable hikes in data centres through 2025, blending efficiency with green power. Progressive regulators, Pointon notes, view AI as a net positive, enhancing productivity and facilitating emissions cuts elsewhere—such as optimised manufacturing.
Reflecting on industry trends around sustainability, Pointon concedes that: "We've operated for quite some time as an industry that's used more and more power every year but now it's kind of got to a threshold where it really is quite material in the context of the total consumption of a grid."
For COOs, participating means co-planning infrastructure over 5-10 years, unlocking renewable energy sources and easing approvals in diverse markets.
Tech for sustainability
Affordable tech innovations promise sustainability without breaking the bank. Pointon highlights GPU computing for AI, achieving 10-20x efficiency gains over CPUs, as measured in tokens per kWh. Generations evolve rapidly, amplifying this.
Liquid cooling follows, reducing PUE from 1.5 to 1.6 to under 1.2, and even to 1.1, by targeting heat sources directly. "We've got a number of liquid-cooled installations across our portfolio. Every new data centre is liquid-cooled ready," he proudly pronounced during the interview with FutureCIO.
"We've got dozens of liquid cooled customers across the group and we see that as a really tangible step forward in terms of the sustainability of the sector." Daniel Pointon
2025 trends align: advanced cooling systems dominate, driven by AI's heat, while green data centres in APAC grow at 14% CAGR to US$295 billion by 2035.
Regulations in Singapore and beyond incentivise these, with AI optimising cooling via machine learning. COOs can deploy these solutions affordably, as costs decrease with scale, ensuring both compliance and competitiveness.
Integrating goals efficiently
For 2026, Pointon advises COOs to select providers that balance technology and sustainability. Whether buying hardware, leasing space, or utilising the cloud, evaluate sustainability ambitions alongside performance.
"I think it's about picking a technology provider be it whether you're buying computer equipment or whether you're leasing collocation space or whether you're subscribing to a cloud service," said Pointon. "I think it's about choosing a product or a service that's not just fulfilling your technology needs but also fulfilling your sustainability needs as well."
STT GDC exemplifies this, offering technologically excellent, eco-friendly services. Research supports the fact that successful operators in Southeast Asia integrate renewables and efficiency to meet growth targets amid rising energy costs.
With AI demand exploding, this dual lens prevents costly retrofits, aligning with stakeholder expectations in a regulated era.
Stakeholder best practices
Sustainability demands stakeholder buy-in - this process alone of getting stakeholder buy-in is in itself a challenge for most leaders.
Pointon recommends mapping material topics—such as energy for tech firms—then proposing solutions, not just problems.
"I think it begins with being able to firstly narrow in onto which of the topics that are really material for the business, not necessarily try and boil the ocean and solve everything from the outset." Daniel Pointon
Benchmark against peers and heed investors like Temasek, which demands rigorous standards. This calibrates ambitions. In 2025, urban digitisation studies stress collaborative transitions, with ASEAN urging joint decarbonisation.
Pointon's experience at STT GDC demonstrates that communicating via materiality, peer insights, and stakeholder alignment motivates action, fostering commitments to the environment and community.
As 2026 dawns, COOs wielding these strategies—blending Pointon's wisdom with the trends of 2025—can transform challenges into triumphs. By embracing renewables, efficient technology, and collaboration, they'll power Asia's digital future sustainably, proving that AI's boom need not come at the expense of the planet.
Click on the PodChats player and listen to Pointon elaborate on how to Achieve Data Centre Sustainability and Regulatory Alignment in 2026 from the perspective of the COO.
- To start, could you provide a brief overview of STT GDC's business?
- In 2025, could you provide a brief overview of the state of DC operations in Southeast Asia? (13 Gigawatts)
- How will AI workload growth influence energy consumption and infrastructure needs?
- How are data centre operations taking national sustainability initiatives?
- How do you see Asia's regional regulations on carbon emissions impacting data centre operations?
- What new technologies can improve both sustainability and compliance affordably?
- For 2026, any advice on how COOs can integrate sustainability goals with business growth targets effectively?
- Identify three best practices for engaging stakeholders to secure public and regulatory support?
