This story appears in the July 2025 issue of Utah Business. Subscribe.
Artificial intelligence has rapidly gone from niche technology to mainstream necessity. The explosive popularity of tools like ChatGPT and massive investments from companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft have made AI ubiquitous. But beneath the surface of AI’s user-friendly interfaces and impressive capabilities lies an urgent need for scalable infrastructure to support its growth.
AI’s infrastructure demands are massive due to the immense computing power required to process complex algorithms and handle vast data sets. Troy Rydman, who currently serves as Chief Information Officer and Chief Information Security Officer at Utah-based Packsize, is deeply familiar with the infrastructure needs of the industry. Before his role at Packsize, Rydman led strategic security initiatives at Amazon Web Services [AWS], helping some of AWS’s largest clients safely integrate advanced technologies, including cloud computing and AI.
“AI’s growth doesn’t just require better software,” Rydman says. “It needs energy-efficient processors, stable power grids and secure, scalable data centers to handle the load.”
Utah is already making substantial investments to meet this demand. Novva Data Centers, a Utah-based technology company, recently secured a $2 billion investment to complete its massive “supercluster” campus in West Jordan. Similarly, Meta continues to expand its data center operations in Eagle Mountain. To ensure reliable, high-speed internet, Comcast is also investing $138 million into fiber expansions across the state.
Rydman points out that Utah’s existing infrastructure may not yet be up to this massive task.
“A lot of these changes are going to require us to push a lot more power to critical infrastructure and data centers,” he says. “I don’t think our power grids are up to those specifications.”
All of this new infrastructure requires enormous amounts of energy. For example, one data center campus in Eagle Mountain alone would need 1.4 gigawatts, more than Wyoming’s entire current usage. Recognizing this urgency, Utah recently introduced Operation Gigawatt, an ambitious initiative aiming to double statewide energy production over the next decade with an emphasis on clean energy sources such as geothermal and next-generation nuclear.
Across the country, major tech corporations like Amazon and Microsoft are directly investing in generating power themselves. Amazon is allocating over $500 million to develop small modular nuclear reactors in Washington, Virginia and Pennsylvania, aiming to supply clean energy to its data centers. Similarly, Microsoft has entered a 20-year agreement to purchase power from a facility at Three Mile Island to ensure a steady energy supply for its AI-driven operations.
Still, Utah’s infrastructure expansion brings substantial economic promise, and Rydman sees unique opportunities for local entrepreneurs, especially in niche AI markets.
“There might be an opportunity to create pre-computed models for smaller use-cases, saving on time and energy costs,” he says. “We seem to have the right skill sets coming out of school, and Utah’s entrepreneurial vibe is perfect for this.”
Ultimately, Rydman believes generative AI will become as routine as streaming services. As Utah positions itself for AI’s accelerating future, the state’s proactive approach could become a blueprint for balanced growth, fostering innovation while safeguarding essential resources and infrastructure.
