NextDC CEO Craig Scroggie has outlined the company’s strategy to build on a year of rapid growth and prepare for what he described as a “once‑in‑a‑generation” opportunity to support the global acceleration in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting, held at its S3 Sydney data centre, Scroggie said NextDC was positioning itself at the centre of a fundamental transformation in how digital infrastructure is designed and delivered.
Pay rejection
However, at the AGM, shareholders delivered a strong rebuke to the company’s executive pay arrangements. At the meeting, 72 % of votes were cast against the remuneration report, which included a AUD 150 million bonus package intended to retain the CEO and key executives.
In his chairman’s address, Douglas Flynn had pointed out that the board’s approach “is solely focused on growing shareholder value over the long term” and that standard ASX pay frameworks are “not competitive for attracting, rewarding or retaining the people needed to deliver our growth objectives”. The board also noted that less than 10% of global data centres are publicly listed, and thus the remuneration structures needed to reflect global market dynamics.
“We are faced with the reality that standard ASX pay frameworks are not competitive for attracting, rewarding or retaining the people needed to deliver our growth objectives and create shareholder value,” said Flynn.
The failed vote represents a first strike under the ASX “two‑strike” regime, and puts the company on notice that a repeat could trigger a spill resolution at next year’s meeting.
Building for scale
Scroggie said FY25 had been a “defining year” for the company, as it met or exceeded its financial guidance and continued its rapid build‑out of capacity nationwide. NextDC closed the year with 244 MW of contracted utilisation – up 42% year on year – and 72 MW of new sales over the period.
The company ended FY25 with 121 MW of capacity under construction and more than 100 MW in planning. “Across Australia, we have never seen builds at this scale, or at this pace,” Scroggie said. He emphasised that “Safety First remains our number one priority,” noting that NextDC maintained a zero lost‑time injury frequency rate during the year.
In Sydney, construction continues at the S3 and S6 sites, while planning has begun for the S4 facility, expected to exceed MW on completion. Development approvals are also progressing for S5 and S7, which are designed to deliver 80 and 550 MW respectively. Together, the three sites will form a hyperscale cluster of around 1 GW.
In Melbourne, NEXTDC is targeting 120 MW for M2, while M3 has grown into one of the largest data centre campuses in the southern hemisphere, designed for up to 200 MW. The company is also advancing approvals for M4 at Fishermans Bend, a 150 MW facility backed by what Scroggie described as “the Victorian Government’s continued support for this AUD 2 billion investment in state infrastructure.”
Expanding the national and regional footprint
NextDC’s domestic development pipeline now exceeds 500 MW outside Sydney and Melbourne, including expansions in Brisbane, Perth, Darwin and the Sunshine Coast. Work has begun on SC2 Sunshine Coast, while new projects are being evaluated in Geelong, the Gold Coast and Adelaide.
Scroggie said these developments extend the company’s “Core‑to‑Edge” strategy, ensuring consistent interconnection and security across metropolitan, regional and edge locations. The company’s regional facilities are positioned near key subsea cable routes such as the Japan‑Guam‑Australia South, Darwin‑Jakarta‑Singapore and Sydney‑Melbourne‑Adelaide‑Perth cables.
“These facilities bring digital infrastructure closer to where data is created and consumed, reducing latency and enabling real‑time AI and IoT applications across enterprise and government sectors,” he said.
Entering Asia
NextDC’s first international expansion is under way in Southeast Asia and Japan. Construction of the KL1 data centre in Kuala Lumpur has reached the topping‑out stage, with opening scheduled for the second half of FY26. The first phase will deliver 15 MW of capacity, with 10 MW already contracted ahead of opening and an additional 10 MW in planning.
“Our secured anchor capacity for KL1 ahead of opening is a clear signal of the strength of demand for premium, sustainable data centre infrastructure in Southeast Asia,” Scroggie said. In Tokyo, NextDC has secured a 30 MW site near Tokyo Tower, with construction expected to begin before the end of 2025. Both projects mark what Scroggie described as “a new chapter for NextDC as we take our expertise and trusted, sovereign‑scale infrastructure into global growth markets.”
Preparing for the AI Factory era
A central focus of the company’s strategy is the emergence of what Nvidia calls the “AI Factory” – high‑density environments purpose‑built for artificial intelligence workloads. Scroggie said NextDC’s facilities were already “AI‑infrastructure ready”, featuring direct‑to‑chip liquid cooling, high‑density power and extensive interconnection capabilities.
“AI is now a defining driver of digital infrastructure investment,” he said. “Every AI application and process depends on the next generation of power and liquid cooling. Our long‑term engineering investment means we are ready.”
Scroggie said the company’s AXON interconnection platform, which links more than 750 clouds, carriers and service providers, would play a growing role as AI and high‑performance workloads become more distributed.
Sustainability and innovation
Scroggie reaffirmed that sustainability remains central to NextDC’s growth strategy. “We view sustainability not as a constraint but as a source of innovation and competitive advantage,” he said. The company continues to prioritise energy efficiency, water conservation and renewable energy sourcing as it scales.
He pointed to NextDC’s progress on carbon reduction strategies, renewable energy procurement and circular economy initiatives, noting that the company’s latest ESG and Climate and Nature reports provide further detail on these programmes.
NextDC is also expanding its use of digital twins, AI‑driven analytics and modular construction to improve speed and efficiency. “Innovation remains at the core of NextDC’s success,” Scroggie said. “We are continually re‑engineering how we design, build and operate.”
Outlook
Looking ahead, Scroggie said NextDC’s future development pipeline now exceeds 3 GW across the region, including more than 1 GW each in Sydney and Melbourne, and a further gigawatt of international opportunities.
He described the next decade as a defining period for digital infrastructure. “The decade ahead will be defined by exponential demand for digital infrastructure, and NextDC is uniquely positioned to deliver on this next wave across Australia and Asia,” he said.
“We often overestimate what can be achieved in a year and underestimate what can be achieved in a decade,” he added, quoting Bill Gates. “The next ten years will be the most exciting in our history. We are ready to seize the opportunity.”