In this discussion, Nishchal Khorana, Associate Partner (Global) and Managing Director (South Asia) at Frost & Sullivan speaks with Cyrus Adaggra, President of Equinix Asia Pacific, to explore how the company is enabling digital transformation with cloud and AI deployments, seamlessly connecting enterprises and networks through a globally integrated platform. The conversation delves into the latest trends shaping digital infrastructure, emerging opportunities in data centers, and Equinix’s visionary Build Bolder strategy.
Cloud and AI: Megatrends Revolutionizing Digital Infrastructure in APAC
Nishchal Khorana: Cyrus, thank you for joining us today. The technology industry has evolved dramatically in recent years, especially in the context of digital infrastructure.
Which transformative megatrends are driving this change?
Cyrus Adaggra: There are two major trends that stand out — the first one being the advent of cloud and the widespread adoption of cloud technologies, and the second one is the rise of AI.
The cloud has been revolutionary for enterprises across Asia Pacific (APAC). While overall adoption is still at varying stages, the speed of adoption is as rapid as anywhere in the world. In mature regions like Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore, cloud usage is already high and continues to increase. Meanwhile in emerging markets such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia, the story is slightly different but equally exciting.
Even where hyperscalers have limited local zones or availability zones, enterprises are increasingly engaging with us to explore how to best leverage cloud models and hybrid/multi-cloud architectures. The focus now is on deploying the right workloads in the right cloud environments, while maintaining control over sensitive information or customer data within private infrastructure. That hybrid approach is one of the defining megatrends today.
The second, of course, is AI. In geographies like Japan and Australia, we’re seeing enterprises having serious and detailed conversations about how to deploy AI effectively. In some of our emerging markets, we’re seeing early green shoots of adoption.
While APAC may trail the Americas slightly in terms of AI maturity, I have no doubt we’ll catch up very quickly.
Maximizing Value Through Hybrid Multi-cloud Networking
Nishchal Khorana: These are interesting and very powerful forces. How are they creating new opportunities for Equinix?
Cyrus Adaggra : The biggest opportunity for us lies in hybrid multi-cloud networking.
Equinix is the largest data center provider in APAC, with over 60 data centers across 10 countries. That footprint allows our customers to deploy in the geographies they need. Customers benefit not only from our physical infrastructure but also from our position as the leading provider of cloud on-ramps.
We hold a 35%+ share of cloud on-ramps (as of 2025 Q3 earnings) across major hyperscale players, including Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. When enterprises seek to optimize workloads across different clouds while maintaining full control and security over their data, they can safely turn to Equinix.
Further, through our interconnected platform, customers can gain high-speed, secure connectivity across multiple clouds, as well as access to colocation services — including space, power, and both private and shared cages.
This combination of connectivity, scalability, and infrastructure reliability forms the core of our value proposition and continues to be one of the strongest drivers of customer interest and growth for Equinix.
Balancing Growth with Sustainability
Nishchal Khorana: APAC is clearly a fast-growing region for digital infrastructure. What are the main challenges that come with this rapid expansion?
Cyrus Adaggra: The region is currently a key growth hotspot for digital infrastructure. But with rapid growth comes significant challenges — particularly around how governments handle expansion in the data center space, while managing critical resources like power and water.
At Equinix, we take a proactive and collaborative approach. Whether entering a new region or deepening our presence in an existing one, we build strong relationships with local, state, and federal governments. Our goal is to help policymakers understand the difference between an interconnection-rich data center model, which creates economic value, skilled jobs, and digitization opportunities versus just a pure hyperscale model, which is more resource intensive.
This understanding is crucial when we engage with utility and water providers. They know that Equinix is not a short-term or speculative operator, we have over 10,000 customers globally that we’re going to bring to that location, and we’re going to draw on that power to enable digital growth in that region. We emphasize that we are not chasing “bragging watts” —speculative megawatt capacities that are announced but never built — but are committed to sustainable, responsible expansion. I’m also a part of the Asia Pacific Data Centre Association. In this role, we work closely with governments and utilities to highlight the economic and social benefits of a thriving, responsibly managed digital infrastructure ecosystem.
As emerging economies such as Malaysia, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines continue to expand their digital capabilities, managing this growth sustainably will be critical — ensuring that innovation, infrastructure, and environmental responsibility progress hand in hand.
Build Bolder: Designing Future-proof Infrastructure
Nishchal Khorana: Given these opportunities and challenges, what are the key pivots or tenets of the strategy that Equinix is looking at to drive the growth?
Cyrus Adaggra: We recently welcomed our new CEO, Adaire Fox-Martin, about 12 to 18 months ago. She introduced a clear and visionary strategy built around three key pillars, and the one I’d like to highlight is Build Bolder.
Build Bolder is about effectively meeting the demand from our customers. It’s not just about expanding capacity — it’s about building smarter and more interconnected, hybrid campuses that can serve the full spectrum of our customers: from retail and wholesale clients to hyperscale operators. These campuses are powered with strong connectivity, reliable power availability, and flexibility to meet diverse requirements, all within one integrated ecosystem.
From an APAC perspective, we have large hybrid campuses across some of our most mature metros. But Build Bolder goes beyond scale — it’s also about innovation and adaptability. Our customers are increasingly asking for denser, more power-intensive deployments. Instead of traditional setups in the 50–150 kVA range, we’re now seeing requests for 1 to 3 megawatts at a time.
Through technologies such as liquid cooling, we can now support these high-density workloads within our interconnected retail data centers. This allows us to seamlessly serve the entire spectrum of customer needs — from small enterprises to hyperscalers — under the same, highly efficient infrastructure framework.
Sustaining Leadership in a Consolidating Ecosystem
Nishchal Khorana: Based on your experience, how do you think this industry will evolve over the next three to five years?
Cyrus Adaggra: I believe that industry consolidation is on the horizon.
Right now, we’re seeing many new entrants in the data center space, often financially backed by investors who recognize the sector’s tremendous growth potential. However, designing, building, and operating a data center isn’t a short-term endeavor. It requires deep expertise and a long-term mindset, with a life cycle of 20 years or more — not the 5-to-7-year horizon many new players envision.
As the industry matures, I expect we’ll see more consolidation, as newer operators either merge with or are acquired by more established providers. In the end, the companies that will thrive will be those with proven operational excellence, trusted customer relationships, and a resilient business model built on interconnection.
That’s where Equinix stands out. With over 27 years of experience, a broad customer ecosystem, world-class products, and interconnection at our core, we’re uniquely positioned to continue leading the market through this next phase of evolution.
Closing Reflection: Shaping the Future with Purpose and Vision
As digital transformation continues to accelerate across Asia Pacific, Equinix stands at the heart of the region’s growth story, providing the critical infrastructure that powers cloud, AI, and connectivity. The company’s journey reflects a larger truth: the future of digital infrastructure depends not just on speed and scale, but on sustainability, partnerships, and strategic vision.
About Cyrus Adaggra
Cyrus Adaggra was appointed as President of Asia-Pacific in December 2024. In this role, Cyrus is responsible for the management, strategy, and growth plan for Equinix in the APAC region to meet the demands of customers and partners in today’s fast-changing technological landscape. Cyrus joined Equinix in 2021 as Vice President, Corporate Development, Asia-Pacific. During his tenure at Equinix, Cyrus led the company’s market entry into Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines and organic expansions in existing markets across the region.
Cyrus has over 20 years of experience in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), financial strategy, strategy consulting, and corporate development. Before Equinix, he held senior positions at Telstra and Ernst & Young. He led numerous strategic acquisitions, including data centre transactions across Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, and Singapore to maximize returns and organizational growth.
Cyrus holds a bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Macquarie University, Australia, and an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management.
Nishchal Khorana is the Associate Partner and Managing Director (South Asia) at Frost & Sullivan. He has been a strategic advisor to ICT vendors, services providers, and industry/government bodies, specializing in growth strategy. He is a global business leader driving high-impact strategic initiatives across the digital ecosystem. Nishchal is passionate about supporting companies to achieve their strategic goals through effective growth strategies. He has been a speaker and panellist at several global industry events and is frequently quoted in media publications.
Is your organization ready to take advantage of new developments in digital infrastructure?
Frost & Sullivan’s Transformational Growth Leadership program provides the intelligence, best practices, growth opportunities, and expertise organizations need to thrive through the evolution of cloud, AI, and data center infrastructure.
Next steps on your growth journey:
✔️ Subscribe to our ICT Growth Opportunity Newsletter.
✔️ Join the Growth Council — an exclusive community for innovators.
✔️ Share your transformation journey with a global audience.
✔️ Engage with our ICT growth experts to explore latest growth opportunities, technologies, and megatrends.
Appendix
To know more about lucrative growth opportunities, emerging megatrends, companies to action, and best practices in AI, cloud, and data centers, view Frost & Sullivan’s detailed portfolio of exclusive analysis on the subject:
