AI is not only causing employees to rethink their workflows and processes, but is also causing enterprises to rethink their IT infrastructure.
At the GTC 2025 analyst Q&A, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang spoke about the transformative impact of AI on the computing landscape. He claimed that existing data center infrastructure is essentially obsolete in the face of the demands of modern AI. His statement underscores the magnitude of the shift brought about by the AI revolution, forcing a complete re-evaluation of how businesses handle their computing needs. Huang’s assertion also carries significant weight given NVIDIA’s position at the forefront of AI hardware development, providing GPUs that power much of the current AI boom.
“In order to bring AI to the world’s enterprise,” Huang stated, “we have to first recognize that AI has reinvented the entire computing stack. And if so, all of the data centers and all the computers in the world’s enterprises are obviously out of date.”
Huang then drew a parallel to the ongoing transformation of cloud infrastructure, stating: “And so, just as we’ve been remodeling the world’s AI clouds, all the world’s clouds for AI, it’s sensible we’re going to have to re-rack, if you will, reinstall, modernize, whatever words…the world’s enterprise IT.”
He emphasized that this transformation is not a simple hardware refresh: “And doing so is not just about a computer, but you have to reinvent computing, networking, and storage.”
Finally, Huang addressed the financial implications of this monumental shift: “That part which represents about half of the world’s capex enterprise IT, representing about half of the world’s capex, that half needs to be reinvented,” he said.
Huang was arguing that the computational demands of AI, particularly large language models and generative AI, necessitate a fundamental redesign of data centers, encompassing compute, networking, and storage. This translates to a massive investment opportunity for companies like NVIDIA that offer the specialized hardware and software required for this new era of AI-driven computing. It also signifies a potential disruption for businesses that fail to adapt — companies clinging to outdated infrastructure risk falling behind competitors who embrace the efficiencies and capabilities offered by modern AI-optimized systems. It remains to be seen if AI does end up transforming enterprise IT to the degree that Jensen Huang envisions, but it appears that there could be a big shift coming to the space in the coming years.