According to a new survey commissioned by Ciena, which questioned over 1,300 data centre decision-makers across 13 countries, this surge in demand for AI model training and inference is predicted to lead to a significant increase in bandwidth needs.
Some 87% of respondents also believe that a fibre optic capacity of 800 Gb/s or more per wavelength will be required to meet the demand.
The survey also revealed the growing role of pluggable optics in addressing bandwidth, power, and space challenges.
However, nearly all respondents (98%) agree that pluggable optics are essential for reducing power consumption and the physical footprint of network infrastructure.
Ciena CTO, Jürgen Hatheier, said: "AI workloads are reshaping the entire data centre landscape, from infrastructure builds to bandwidth demand.
"Historically, network traffic has grown at a rate of 20-30% per year. AI is set to accelerate this growth significantly, meaning operators are rethinking their architectures and planning for how they can meet this demand sustainably.”
Hatheier added: "The AI revolution is not just about compute, it’s about connectivity. Without the right network foundation, AI’s full potential can’t be realised. Operators must ensure their DCI infrastructure is ready for a future where AI-driven traffic dominates."
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