Insurance broker Willis, a WTW business, has launched a specialised, forward-looking risk management model designed to navigate the increasingly complex data centre landscape.
This unveiling comes as the industry moves away from viewing data centres as standalone assets and starters seeing them as “critical, interconnected digital infrastructure underpinning global technology strategies, AI adoption and economic growth,” the broker explains.
Willis developed this model drawing on its work with five of the 10 largest global owners and developers, and many of the top data centre construction companies.
“Willis is responding to a fundamental shift in the sector’s risk profile – one that is increasingly systemic, interconnected, and difficult to address through traditional insurance solutions alone,” the firm stated.
The explosive growth of AI is driving a global surge in demand for data centre capacity, significantly expanding risk exposure beyond just physical, insurable assets.
Although the data centre sector is forecast to generate an estimated $10 billion in insurance premiums this year, operators are grappling with a complex, interrelated set of challenges.
These challenges include climate volatility, power and water constraints, cyber threats, geopolitics, supply-chain disruption, and operational resilience.
George Haitsch, North America Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) Industry Leader at Willis, commented: “Willis operates with a deep belief in strength through specialty. Data centres have become a critical part of the global supply chain, and with that evolution, they face a growing list of complex and integrated risks.
“A ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach is no longer a viable option. Our industry must switch from singular products to customizable frameworks that embed risk mitigation from the earliest stages of development—and that is exactly what Willis is doing.”
Willis’ new data center risk management model was developed as an integrated eight-point digital infrastructure risk framework.
It has been designed to address the full spectrum of risks facing data centre owners, operators, and investors across the entire lifecycle of a project—from development and construction through steady-state operations.
The framework adopts a holistic view, considering both current and emerging risks, particularly those that are systemic, difficult to model, or still evolving.
According to Willis, the new eight-point framework will reduce operational disruption, optimise balance sheet protection, drive sustainable growth and strengthen corporate resilience, as well as leverage strong cyber and data risk management to safeguard client trust and reputation.
The framework will also help strengthen corporate integrity and global growth, boost operational resilience, cost efficiency and competitive advantage, manage operational risk for smooth business transformation, and strengthen long-term competitiveness and resilience by proactively managing emerging and strategic risks.
Bill Creedon, Chairman of Willis Global Construction, stated: “Data centres sit at the heart of the modern economy. From the construction phase through to long-term operations, we’re working with some of the world’s largest data centre developers, owners, contractors and hyperscalers, and seeing firsthand how the sector’s unprecedented pace of growth is making risk more systemic, more interconnected and more material.
“These exposures extend well beyond the technology sector and demand a fundamentally different approach—one that looks across the entire data centre lifecycle, not simply the placement of insurance capacity.”
Energy security is also the most critical risk for data centres, Willis noted, as power demands strain global grids.
Willis addresses this by leveraging deep expertise in traditional, renewable, and nuclear energy, including advising on the potential use of Small Modular Reactors for data centre power supply.
“Working in close collaboration with Willis’ construction, natural resources, other related industry and broking specialties, and risk analytics, Willis provides clients with nuclear power insights during both the initial construction and operational phase,” said Willis.
