Digital Realty, one of the world’s largest providers of cloud- and carrier-neutral data centers, has unveiled a new initiative designed to help enterprises experiment with artificial intelligence (AI) and hybrid cloud infrastructure in real-world conditions before going to market.
The company this week announced the launch of the Digital Realty Innovation Lab (DRIL), a dedicated environment within its Northern Virginia campus where partners and customers can test high-density workloads, validate AI deployments, and refine hybrid strategies without risking disruption to production systems.
The facility, situated in a live colocation data center, enables enterprises to bring their own workloads or work with pre-configured infrastructure provided by Digital Realty and its partners. By replicating production-grade architectures in a contained environment, the lab aims to remove a longstanding barrier in enterprise IT: the lack of practical, large-scale testing grounds where new infrastructure can be validated under real conditions. Customers are able to measure performance, tune configurations, and connect seamlessly with cloud and network providers through ServiceFabric, Digital Realty’s global orchestration and interconnection platform.
Chris Sharp, Digital Realty’s Chief Technology Officer, emphasized the business urgency behind the launch. “Innovation isn’t optional – it’s a competitive requirement in a world where data volumes and AI adoption are accelerating,” he said. “Yet, many enterprises still deploy complex infrastructure without the ability to test, validate, or optimize in real-world conditions. The DRIL changes that. It provides a live, high-density environment where customers gain real-time, data-driven insights to fine-tune their deployments before scaling.”
The new lab has been designed with several enterprise priorities in mind. It accommodates power-hungry AI and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads, supporting up to 150 kilowatts per cabinet. It also integrates with the ePlus AI Experience Center, enabling businesses to explore AI-specific requirements around cooling, power, and GPU resources. With direct cloud connectivity, companies can refine hybrid strategies and onboard with ServiceFabric via cross connects, while the Private AI Exchange (AIPx) allows them to orchestrate workloads across different environments. Latency testing across multiple sites is also supported, allowing enterprises to simulate global-scale deployments.
The announcement has drawn strong support from hardware and infrastructure partners that see the lab as an accelerator for enterprise AI adoption. AMD highlighted its role in showcasing the performance of its EPYC processors and Instinct accelerators in a high-density, liquid-cooled environment. Robert Hormuth, Corporate Vice President for Architecture and Strategy at AMD, said the lab represents “a production-grade opportunity to validate real-world use cases and help organizations bring AI-powered solutions to market faster.”
Cisco echoed that sentiment, with Kevin Wollenweber, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Cisco’s Data Center and Internet Infrastructure, underscoring the risks of AI deployments without validation. “AI investment requires complete confidence. The infrastructure supporting AI workloads is too critical to blindly trust without testing,” he said, noting that Cisco’s AI Pods would be available within the lab to test networking, compute, and security requirements across different AI use cases.
CommScope described the project as a showcase of intelligent physical design. The company is providing the fiber and cabling infrastructure underpinning the lab’s rapid deployment capabilities. Lenovo pointed to its Neptune liquid-cooling systems, which are being integrated to support high-performance private AI workloads. Supermicro highlighted the importance of validation, with Chief Growth Officer Cenly Chen noting that customers could ensure optimal performance of products on Supermicro’s advanced platforms before deployment.
Other partners emphasized the lab’s role in unlocking data mobility and extending global reach. Vcinity’s CEO Harry Carr said the initiative will enable enterprises to “access and act on data wherever it resides” and monetize AI investments more quickly. Zenlayer, which is using the lab to showcase AI and edge applications, described it as a way to help enterprises build future-proof expansion strategies across emerging markets such as Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.
The launch of the DRIL builds on Digital Realty’s earlier AI Experience Center, opened in 2024 with ePlus and Vertiv, which was designed to explore AI-centric use cases. The new lab extends that concept by embedding AI testing capabilities directly within an operational data center, providing what Ken Farber, President of ePlus Software, described as “a real-world proving ground that combines strategy, infrastructure design, and global connectivity to turn ideas into AI solutions.”
The Northern Virginia site is the first to host the DRIL, but Digital Realty has already confirmed expansion plans. London will become the next location in early 2026, with further rollouts expected across other global campuses. By connecting sites, the company will enable customers to simulate latency scenarios between geographies, further supporting multinational enterprises in validating global cloud and AI strategies.
For Digital Realty, the initiative underscores its ambition to position colocation not just as a commodity infrastructure service, but as a catalyst for enterprise transformation in an AI-driven economy. As CTO Chris Sharp put it, “Through initiatives like the DRIL and strategic partnerships, Digital Realty is enabling enterprises to accelerate innovation, optimize performance, and drive a more connected, intelligent digital future.”
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