The next phase of data infrastructure will not be defined by how fast we build, but by how intelligently we choose to build. Scale is no longer the differentiator. Direction is.
As AI accelerates demand for compute, power, and land, the real pressure point has shifted upstream, into decisions that are made long before a single facility is constructed. Where infrastructure is placed, how it integrates with energy systems, and whether it aligns with environmental and societal expectations are no longer secondary considerations. They are now the foundation on which long-term viability rests.
This is the moment where strategy becomes infrastructure.
In Part 5 of this series, we turn to a leader operating at the intersection of expansion, sustainability, and long-horizon infrastructure planning, where early decisions define not just performance, but permission to operate. This feature explores Anna Kristin Pálsdóttir’s perspective on data center development strategy, the growing importance of location intelligence, and why future-ready infrastructure begins at the point of intent, not execution.
As our “Top 10 Impactful Players in Data Infrastructure” unfolds, one insight continues to sharpen: in the age of AI-scale infrastructure, success is not defined by how much you build, but by how responsibly and strategically you choose to scale.
Executive Profile
Anna Kristín Pálsdóttir
Chief Development Officer at atNorth
Anna Kristín Pálsdóttir is Chief Development Officer at atNorth, where she leads the strategic management and expansion of the company’s Nordic data center portfolio. With extensive experience in global leadership, she oversees site selection, design, and delivery of new and existing facilities, driving sustainable growth across the region.
Anna brings a strong track record in strategy execution, digital transformation, and portfolio development, having held senior executive roles at Marel, including President for North America and Executive Vice President of Innovation. There, she led global operations, product development, and innovation strategy for a multinational organisation.
Recognised for building high-performing, cross-functional teams, Anna is also an active mentor and advocate for emerging female leaders. She has served on multiple boards and is a frequent keynote speaker at international innovation events. She holds engineering degrees from Reykjavík University and the Technical University Berlin.
No Filters, Just Foresight with Anna Kristin Pálsdóttir
A candid deep dive into how early decisions shape the future of infrastructure, and why getting it right starts far upstream.
Q1. Data infrastructure is often discussed in terms of scale, but impact lies in enabling that scale. What specific decisions or initiatives in your role have most directly shaped how and where next-generation data centers are being built today?
Scaling digital infrastructure is only possible when the right foundations are in place early in the process. There is growing awareness of the impact of data centers and it is no longer enough to reduce our carbon footprint, we must prove the benefits of our presence to that community at the land acquisition stage. Our data center blueprint is built for the future, but grounded in what matters today. We think of our sites as “data center ecosystems”. Designed to support not just digital infrastructure, but the communities and environments around them.
At the same time, we’re clear on what our customers need: speed and cost efficiency. In a world where demand is only accelerating, getting capacity online quickly and at the right price point is critical. Our atNorth design caters for this. That’s why we focus on smarter design and streamlined delivery, so we can move faster, control costs, and still create long- term, sustainable value.
The very presence of data centers can help drive investment into more resilient power networks, enhanced connectivity, and improved transport infrastructure that supports the wider local community. An example of this impact can be seen in Akureyri, Iceland, where atNorth has invested significantly. The investment has extended far beyond the construction of a data center and has facilitated a new point of presence (POP) – a location where telecommunications networks interconnect to enable data transmission – which has bolstered the reliability and security of the local telecoms network for the benefit of the wider region.
Heat reuse, whereby waste heat from the data center cooling process is recycled in the local community, is a fundamental initiative that lowers the carbon footprint of the data center and the receiving organisation and contributes to a circular economy. atNorth has secured a number of innovative heat reuse partnerships including agreements with retail giant, Kesko Corporation in Finland, waste-to-energy company, Vestforbrænding in Denmark to heat local homes and a community greenhouse in Iceland.
At the same time, atNorth is committed to the restoration and regeneration of local landscapes where possible, for example, a large portion of our new DEN02 data center campus in Denmark will be dedicated as a public space to support biodiversity and for local people to enjoy. We also actively invest in community initiatives, from funding swimming lessons for children in Kouvola to sponsoring cultural festivals and local sports teams in Iceland, as well as supporting a young Icelandic skier on the path to the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Q2. One of the biggest constraints in data infrastructure today is access to reliable, sustainable power. How have you helped align data center development with long-term energy availability?
Energy availability has become a defining factor in data center development. The growing demand for renewable power helps drive investment in new energy infrastructure, supporting the development of more resilient, future-ready energy systems and better grid planning. Our approach has been to integrate energy considerations at the earliest stages of site selection and land acquisition, ensuring long-term access to reliable, renewable power.
atNorth also has a robust land banking strategy, meaning that we secure and prepare sites well ahead of demand, enabling us to work closely with energy providers to plan digital infrastructure in parallel with power and grid development.
Q3. The Nordic region has emerged as a key hub for sustainable data infrastructure. What role has your work played in strengthening this positioning on a global scale?
The Nordics have a unique combination of available land, a naturally cool climate that supports energy efficient cooling, an abundance of renewable energy and excellent connectivity, making it an ideal location for data centers. However, unlocking that potential requires deliberate strategy. Our sole focus is the Nordic region and by promoting the specific advantages of this location in line with a thoughtful, responsible approach to development we have positioned atNorth as a key enabler of sustainable digital infrastructure in the region.
Projects such as our FIN02 and SWE02 metro sites in Finland and Sweden respectively, and the development of large-scale sites like our DEN02 campus in Denmark and SWE04 site in Sweden demonstrate how the Nordics can support hyperscale and AI-driven demand sustainably, strengthening the region’s reputation as a global hub for sustainable digital infrastructure.
Q4. With increasing pressure to deliver capacity quickly, how do you balance rapid development timelines with long- term infrastructure resilience and sustainability?
Speed and sustainability are often seen as competing priorities, but they can, and must coexist. By investing early in land, power, and connectivity, we significantly reduce development timelines without compromising long-term viability. At the same time, our blueprint design utilizes a modular approach to support rapid development and also ensures that every facility meets high benchmarks for technical excellence, energy efficiency and security. This allows us to deliver AI ready capacity at speed and scale.
Q5. To what extent has energy availability shifted from being a constraint to becoming the starting point for data center development strategy?
Yes, certainly site selection is fundamentally driven by access to sustainable, reliable power and the ability to integrate with local energy ecosystems. Yet this shift has led to deeper collaboration with utilities and partners, as well as a greater emphasis on circular solutions such as heat reuse. Energy is no longer just an input, in the same way that data centers are no longer just buildings. They are both necessary civic infrastructure that are core to economic resilience, digital society, and the secure, sustainable functioning of modern life.
Q6. What does “future-proof” truly mean in the context of data centre development today, and how do you ensure assets remain relevant over long investment cycles?
Future-proofing infrastructure today has two critical pathways. Firstly, data centers must be built to adapt to and support rapid technological change and increasing density requirements, particularly driven by AI and HPC. This could be in terms of hardware or cooling technologies that necessitate different rack architecture or power distribution models. We achieve this through our modular data center design that can accommodate evolving hardware and cooling technologies, including Direct Liquid Cooling. This, combined with our strong location strategy ensures our facilities remain competitive and efficient throughout long investment cycles.
Secondly, to ensure the sustainability of the industry long term we must continue to find new ways to increase energy efficiency and reduce the impact that data centers have traditionally had on the natural world. This will require collaboration with energy providers, technology partners, local municipalities, industry associations and governments in order to incorporate data centers as a critical component of sustainable urban planning.
Q7. Looking ahead, how do you see data center development evolving in response to AI demand, energy constraints, and sustainability expectations?
AI is fundamentally changing the requirements for data center infrastructure, driving demand for higher density, greater power, and increased flexibility. In response, development must become more proactive, energy-aligned, and adaptable.
Looking ahead, I expect continued pressure on power and land, making early-stage planning and partnerships even more critical. At the same time, sustainability expectations will intensify, with greater emphasis on energy reuse, biodiversity, and community integration. Additionally, I suspect there will be increasing regulation of data center development to ensure best practice across the board. This will undoubtedly include more stringent security and compliance initiatives that will become an integral part of infrastructure planning and data center operations.
Digital sovereignty will also play a bigger role in how clients choose a data center partner and segment their workloads across different geographies. This will have an impact on the types of data centers needed, with a potential increased demand for smaller regional facilities as opposed to larger centralized campuses. There will certainly be a need for greater transparency from operators who must be able to demonstrate where data is stored, who can access it, and under what legal framework it is protected. Overall, the future of data center development will be defined by the ability to scale responsibly and securely whilst adapting to evolving technical demands.
Q8. Any recent project, milestone, or development initiative you would like us to reference?
Over the past two years, we’ve clearly demonstrated our ability to scale, underpinned by our own reference design – one that hyperscalers and other mission-critical customers trust, adopt, and deploy with confidence. At the same time, we have established what we believe is one of the strongest landbanks for future data center development, positioning us to meet growing demand with speed and certainty. We’ve successfully delivered new projects to satisfied customers across Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, while building a robust and an expanding pipeline of developments now underway.
Our community and regeneration initiatives are an integral part of our commitment to responsible growth. We have introduced a Community Engagement Framework to provide a structured approach to identifying and assessing value-adding community engagement activities across atNorth.
The framework links activities to planetary boundaries and social foundations to ensure initiatives positively address the current systemic challenges, helping to build strong, meaningful, and trusted relationships with the local communities.
Anna Kristin Pálsdóttir — Where Strategy Shapes Scale
Anna Kristin Pálsdóttir’s role in this series reflects a broader shift that atNorth is helping to define, whereby infrastructure is no longer constrained by engineering alone, but by the quality of decisions made before ground is ever broken. Her perspective brings focus to a new kind of risk. Not failure at the point of operation, but misalignment at the point of origin, where poor site selection, weak energy integration, or short-term thinking can limit scalability before it even begins.
What distinguishes this approach within atNorth, is its horizon. By treating data centers as ecosystems rather than assets, it reframes development as a long-term commitment to geography, energy, and community. The result is infrastructure that is not only built to perform, but built to endure.
As this series progresses, one principle becomes increasingly clear: the future will belong to organizations who understand that the most important infrastructure decisions are made long before infrastructure exists.
