ISC High Performance 2026: AI Infrastructure Is Becoming the Main Topic

Event overview by
Vera Yurkevich, CMO at BiXBiT

After several inspiring days at ISC High Performance 2026 in Hamburg and dozens of conversations with customers, partners, and technology companies, I came away with one clear conclusion:

The conversation is no longer only about GPUs.

AI infrastructure has become one of the main topics across the entire industry. Wherever I went, discussions were centered around power distribution, liquid cooling, modular data centers, AI factories, energy efficiency, and infrastructure that can support the next generation of AI computing.

AI is changing the way we build data centers

A few years ago, the main question was: "Which GPU should we choose?"

Today, the questions are much bigger:

• How do we deliver enough power?
• How do we cool increasingly dense AI clusters?
• How do we deploy new capacity faster?
• How do we build infrastructure that will still be relevant in five years?

The conversation is moving beyond individual hardware components. It is becoming a conversation about the entire infrastructure.

Complete solutions are becoming the new standard

Another trend I noticed was the growing demand for complete solutions.

Customers are no longer looking only for servers, cooling systems, or power equipment separately. They want integrated solutions that combine infrastructure, cooling, power distribution, monitoring, and deployment into one ecosystem.

This shift makes perfect sense.

As AI infrastructure becomes more complex, customers are looking for partners who can simplify deployment and take responsibility for the complete solution.

The challenge is no longer just computers

Many discussions at ISC highlighted the same reality. As AI workloads continue to grow, the challenge is no longer simply adding more computing power. It is about building infrastructure that can scale efficiently and reliably.

This is no longer just about improving power efficiency. It's about designing ecosystems that can support the next generation of AI factories and high-density computing environments.

Innovation goes far beyond GPUs

ISC also demonstrated how quickly our industry is evolving.

Photonic computing, quantum technologies, AI agents, advanced power architectures, and new cooling technologies are all moving from research into real-world projects.

While these innovations are very different, they all have one thing in common: they require reliable, scalable infrastructure.

My biggest takeaway

For me, the biggest takeaway from ISC 2026 is that infrastructure is no longer behind the scenes. It has become one of the key drivers of AI development. Building AI is no longer only about choosing the best hardware. Success increasingly depends on how well power, cooling, infrastructure, and operations work together.

At BiXBiT, we see this as a strong confirmation that our strategy is aligned with where the market is heading.

Our focus on modular data centers, direct liquid cooling, and turnkey AI infrastructure is built around the challenges customers are trying to solve today.

ISC has always been much more than an exhibition.

It's a place where ideas are validated, partnerships begin, and future projects take shape. It was a pleasure meeting customers, partners, and technology leaders from around the world.

Looking forward to continuing these conversations — and turning them into projects.