Powering Progress

As demand for data center capacity continues to accelerate, the real estate agreements behind these projects are changing with it. A data center lease today isn't simply about securing space.

Power availability, cooling requirements, construction and equipment timelines, permitting, financing, and even the ability to adapt or exit as technology and business needs change can all affect how these agreements are structured.

In this episode, Vinson & Elkins' Chief Innovation Officer Aubrey Bishai is joined by Real Estate Partner Peter Bergan, who works with clients on data center leasing and development.

Peter recently identified 5 strategies for navigating today's data center leasing market, and we're going to use those as a starting point for our conversation.

Together they discuss what developers, owners, and tenants should be thinking about before they commit to a site, how AI is changing traditional leasing assumptions, and where some of the biggest risks and opportunities are emerging as this market continues to evolve.

Data center demand is surging well beyond the United States, and Latin America is quickly emerging as one of the most closely watched markets.

In this episode, Vinson & Elkins' Chief Innovation Officer Aubrey Bishai is joined by Projects Partner Melissa Raciti-Knapp and M&A Partner Enrique Dancausa to explore why the region is becoming the next data center frontier.

Melissa works extensively on the development and financing of data centers and other major infrastructure projects, and Enrique focuses on cross-border transactions and investments, including across Latin America.

Together they discuss the rapidly developing data center market in the region, what is driving investment, how power and infrastructure are shaping development, and what Latin America can learn from more mature markets.

This series has explored the extraordinary amount of power required to support the growth of AI and data centers, but having demand for power and actually getting that power to a data center are two very different things.

The regulatory framework governing the electric grid was built for a very different era.

Today, developers and utilities are confronting enormous new loads, compressed development timelines, constrained transmission systems, and evolving rules about who can connect to the grid, where the power will come from, and even who can sell it.

In this episode, Vinson & Elkins' Chief Innovation Officer Aubrey Bishai is joined by Energy Regulation Partner Jeff Jakubiak to help make sense of this changing landscape.

Together they discuss the FERC's evolving role, the choices between buying and building generation, different approaches to connecting data centers to the grid, and why regulatory policy may ultimately help determine which states and regions capture the next wave of AI driven investment.

As AI infrastructure investment accelerates, developers, investors, and operators are making long-term decisions based on assumptions about power, financing, and regulation and taxes; but one of those assumptions is changing.

For years, states competed aggressively to attract data center investment through generous tax incentives. Today, however, several states are reevaluating those programs, introducing new taxes, pausing incentive offerings, or reconsidering policies that many investors once viewed as stable. So what happens when today's assumptions no longer hold?

In this episode, Vinson & Elkins' Chief Innovation Officer Aubrey Bishai is joined by Co-Head of Tax Controversy Kathy Pakenham, to discuss the rapidly evolving tax incentive landscape for data centers. Together they explore why tax certainty has become a strategic issue, how recent developments are affecting project economics, and what owners, developers, and investors should be thinking about as they evaluate opportunities across different jurisdictions.

Much of the conversation around AI infrastructure has focused on growth, new data centers, unprecedented capital investment, rising power demand, and the race to build capacity fast enough to keep up. But every major infrastructure boom eventually enters a different phase.

Projects become operational, markets evolve, technologies advance, regulations change, and the contracts that looked straightforward during periods of rapid expansion are put to the test.

So what happens when today's assumptions no longer hold?

In this episode, Vinson & Elkins' Chief Innovation Officer Aubrey Bishai is joined by International Dispute Resolution & Arbitration Partner James Barratt, who advises clients on complex cross-border disputes involving major infrastructure projects and long-term commercial arrangements. James has been at the forefront in identifying where disputes are likely to arise in the operation phase of the AI build-out.

Together they discuss the next phase of the AI infrastructure story, where disputes may emerge, the lessons other industries can offer, and what companies should be doing now to build more resilient agreements in the future.

As AI and data center development continue to accelerate, much of the conversation has focused on power, infrastructure, financing, and scale, but behind every major technological shift is another critical issue that organizations increasingly have to navigate.

Innovation governance is the framework we use at Vinson & Elkins to help companies identify, protect, manage, and ultimately maximize the value of their intellectual property, data, technology, and proprietary systems, including protecting against claims from other rights holders. And in today's environment, that challenge is becoming more complex and more important than ever. Modern data centers are no longer just physical infrastructure assets. They sit at the intersection of software, hardware, AI models, cooling technologies, chip architecture, operational processes, and proprietary engineering. As companies race to innovate, collaborate, and scale, the risks surrounding intellectual property ownership, protection, licensing, and competitive advantage are evolving just as quickly.

In this episode, Vinson & Elkins' Chief Innovation Officer Aubrey Bishai is joined by Hilary Preston, Partner and Co-Head of Intellectual Property & Technology Litigation, to discuss how companies should think about intellectual property risks and opportunities in the rapidly expanding AI and data center ecosystem.

They explore why innovation governance matters, where organizations may be most exposed, and how collaboration and partnerships can create new complexities around ownership and confidentiality, and why protecting innovation is increasingly becoming a core business and infrastructure strategy, not just a legal consideration.

As AI adoption accelerates and data center development expands across the country the conversation around infrastructure increasingly comes back to one central issue: power, but access to power is not simply an engineering or development challenge, its also deeply tied to the regulatory framework that govern wholesale electricity markets, transmission systems, energy trading, reliability requirements, and market operations. The scale and speed of projected data center growth are creating new pressures across the energy ecosystem, raising important questions about how existing regulatory structures will adapt to rapidly evolving demand. In this episode, Vinson & Elkins' Chief Innovation Officer Aubrey Bishai is joined by Energy Regulation Partner C.J. Polito to discuss the federal regulatory landscape surrounding energy markets and what it means for companies developing, financing, and operating AI-driven infrastructure They explore how regulators are thinking about reliability, market design, power transactions, interconnection challenges, and wholesale energy markets as demand from data centers continues to grow. They also discuss how developers, investors, and infrastructure companies should think about regulatory risk, compliance, and long-term market dynamic as the conversions of AI, energy, and infrastructure continues to reshape the industry.

As investment in data centers accelerates, many organizations are pursuing platform strategies and joint ventures to scale development and deploy capital efficiently. In this episode, Vinson & Elkins’ Chief Innovation Officer Aubrey Bishai is joined by Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Partner Robert Hughes, who works with clients on platform acquisitions, joint venture structuring, and capital markets pathways that support large-scale infrastructure investment. Together they discuss how investors and operators are structuring partnerships, allocating development risk, and preserving flexibility for future growth or exit opportunities.

As AI and data center development accelerate, the competition for power, infrastructure, and emerging technologies is intensifying, just as regulators are taking a closer look at consolidation across these markets. In this episode, Vinson & Elkins' Chief Innovation Officer Aubrey Bishai is joined by Antitrust Partner Evan Miller, who advises clients on merger investigations and antitrust counseling across energy, technology, and infrastructure markets. They discuss why antitrust analysis in power markets can differ from traditional transactions and what companies should expect as sectors adjacent to infrastructure, from cooling technologies to energy storage solutions, continue to evolve and potentially consolidate.

Welcome to Powering Progress, where we examine the commercial and legal structures behind the rapid growth of AI infrastructure. Data centers may be powered by energy and technology, but their success also depends on the real estate structures that support long-term operations and expansion. In this episode, Vinson & Elkins' Chief Innovation Officer Aubrey Bishai is joined by Real Estate Partner Courtney Hammond, who advises clients on data center leasing, build-to-suit developments, sale-leaseback transactions, and the evolving real estate frameworks supporting digital infrastructure. Together they explore how lease structures are evolving to accommodate increasing power demands, long development timelines, and the operational needs of hyperscale and enterprise users.