The biggest constraint facing data centers is finding the people capable of operating those data centers, says Brent Burnett, Managing Director and Head of Infrastructure and Real Assets at Hamilton Lane.
Burnett tells Cool Vector that as capital floods into digital infrastructure, the pool of management teams equipped to run complex, cap-ex-heavy platforms remains small, and the price of accessing them keeps growing.
In an in-depth conversation with Cool Vector's David Snow and United Integrity Advisors' Eli Scher, Burnett explains how Hamilton Lane screens operators, why current valuations concern him, and how the firm structured its recent continuation vehicle investment in Flexential.
Key takeaways:
• Digital infrastructure now dominates infrastructure portfolios. What was 8-10% of a typical fund's allocation a decade ago has grown to 30-40% today, with most fresh capital targeting data centers specifically.
• Valuation risk is "very acute" right now. Multiples that historically ran 16-18x have climbed into the mid-to-high 20s, and Burnett says he's seen irrational excitement among sellers with unrealistic expectations.
• Hamilton Lane avoids speculative build-and-hope bets. The firm favors platforms where growth is backed by existing, already-contracted tenants and a powered, permitted land bank.
• While many believe the biggest risk is technology disruption, it's actually execution. Burnett and Scher agree over-leveraged capital structures paired with growth plans that don't materialize pose a greater threat to the sector than any black-swan tech shift.
• Community and political pushback are rising risks too. As data centers scale, "stroke of pen risk" is growing, and Burnett says operators need to get smarter about community engagement or risk political backlash to their build-out plans.
Access the full transcript and a searchable content library on the Cool Vector Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/coolvector/p/for-hamilton-lane-good-data-center?r=4tjd55&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
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Note: Hamilton Lane has $1 trillion in assets under management and supervision, composed of $141.8 billion in discretionary assets and $905.3 billion in non-discretionary assets, as of March 31, 2026.
