For Metro Connect 2026 keynote speaker Marc Ganzi, the future of digital infrastructure is about more than building bigger data centres. It’s about anticipating demand, coordinating networks and creating systems that can scale efficiently and sustainably.

As CEO of DigitalBridge, Ganzi is focused on three priorities for 2026: power, partnership and pipeline. 

Reliable, low-carbon power has become a critical factor in deciding where and how to build infrastructure.  

Without it, even well-funded projects can face delays or limitations. Partnerships with hyperscalers, AI companies, carriers and utilities ensure infrastructure works as an integrated platform rather than disconnected assets and a robust pipeline of projects keeps the company ready to meet growing AI-driven demand. 

However, for Ganzi, success comes down to planning, collaboration and foresight, creating infrastructure that is ready before demand arrives. 

On SoftBank’s recent acquisition 

Recently, it was announced SoftBank signed a definitive agreement to acquire DigitalBridge, in a deal worth $4 billion. 

As a result, the acquisition will help SoftBank expand and finance the critical infrastructure needed for next-generation AI technologies. 

“As AI transforms industries worldwide, we need more compute, connectivity, power, and scalable infrastructure,” SoftBank chairman and CEO, Masayoshi Son, said.

“DigitalBridge is a leader in digital infrastructure, and this acquisition will strengthen the foundation for next-generation AI data centres, advance our vision to become a leading ASI platform provider, and help unlock breakthroughs that move humanity forward.” 

Ganzi added: “The buildout of AI infrastructure represents one of the most significant investment opportunities of our generation. “SoftBank shares our DNA as builders and long-term investors committed to scaling transformational digital infrastructure.  

“Their vision, capital strength, and global network will allow us to accelerate our mission with greater flexibility, invest with a longer-term horizon on behalf of our investors, and better serve the world’s leading technology companies as they scale their AI ambitions.” 

Misunderstood trends in AI infrastructure  

While AI continues to dominate industry discussions, Ganzi warns that certain narratives are oversimplified. 

“One misunderstood idea is that AI is only a data centre story. AI is a network story that stresses every layer of infrastructure, from subsea cables to street-level small cells. Underinvesting in any layer creates bottlenecks that limit overall value,” he notes. 

However, equally important is the misconception that AI infrastructure can scale without addressing power and sustainability. 

“Another misconception is that AI infrastructure can scale without rethinking power and sustainability. The reality requires disciplined, long-term coordination with utilities, regulators, and communities. That work is harder than the hype suggests, but it is where durable returns are created,” Ganzi explains. 

For operators and investors, this means that long-term planning and integrated platform thinking are no longer optional, they are essential. 

Priorities for 2026 

As a result, Ganzi reveals, lessons from 2025 have sharpened his priorities for this year, which includes power, partnership and pipeline. 

“Power means securing and optimizing it across platforms. Partnership means deeper collaboration with hyperscalers, AI companies, carriers, and utilities,” he says. 

“Pipeline means continuing to raise and deploy capital into the most compelling global opportunities. 

“Ultimately, our role is to ensure infrastructure is ready before demand arrives. 2025 reminded us that the window between concept and scale is shrinking, and 2026 will be about staying ahead of that curve,” Ganzi explains. 

Execution risk remains central. Even with abundant capital, permitting delays, grid constraints, and workforce shortages can stall projects, as a result, operators and investors who account for these constraints from the outset will have a strategic advantage. 

Lessons learnt from 2025 

Looking back, Ganzi identifies several lessons from 2025 that will define the next phase of infrastructure growth. 

“Execution risk, not lack of capital, is the primary limiting factor in this cycle,” he says. 

“It also reinforced the importance of diversification across data centres, towers, fibre, small cells, and edge assets, because AI demand does not concentrate in a single asset class,” Ganzi notes. 

However, according to the DigitalBridge CEO, innovation in 2025 was no longer linear, but compounding. 

“The speed of change in AI workloads, semiconductor architectures, and software forced a shift toward platform thinking rather than individual assets,” Ganzi states. 

“We also saw innovation in financing, including larger sector-specific funds and creative credit and securitisation structures, that enabled continued build-out despite higher interest rates.” 

“Ultimately, our role is to ensure infrastructure is ready before demand arrives. 2025 reminded us that the window between concept and scale is shrinking, and 2026 will be about staying ahead of that curve.” 

Metro Connect USA through the years 

Commenting on the Metro Connect USA event, which Ganzi is keynoting at, he says: “Metro Connect started as a niche gathering for carriers and fibre operators.  

“It has evolved into the premier strategy event for the entire digital infrastructure value chain- and has done so against a backdrop in which digital infrastructure increasingly underpins economic competitiveness and technological innovation on a global scale. 

“Today, hyperscalers, private equity, infrastructure funds, credit investors, tower and data centre operators and policy leaders are all in the same room,” he says. 

“The content has evolved as well, moving from bilateral deals and route maps to discussions around AI workloads, power markets, securitisation, ESG, and now the geopolitics of connectivity. It has become the place where the industry takes stock of the year and sets the agenda for what comes next,” Ganzi adds. 

Milestones in Metro Connect 

For Ganzi, three milestones stand out in the event’s growth, which includes the scale, the shift from telecom to infrastructure and the prominence of AI. 

“The event has grown from a few hundred attendees to well over 2,000, mirroring the growth of digital infrastructure as an institutional asset class.  

“Metro Connect now reflects a converged ecosystem where towers, fibre and data centres are financed and operated as one interconnected platform.  

“It’s where investors, operators, and customers compare notes on what actually happened in the prior year, pressure-test assumptions, and recalibrate capital allocation,” Ganzi explains. 

As the conference occurs early in the year, its discussions have an outsized impact. 

“The themes that emerge here, such as AI infrastructure, open-access models, wholesale fiber pricing, and cost of capital, tend to shape boardroom and investment committee discussions for the rest of the year,” he says. 

“A few years ago, it was something people kept on their radars. Today, it is central to nearly every session and boardroom discussion, from power planning to network architecture to M&A,” Ganzi concludes. 

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