July 20268 min read
The Regulatory Talent Needs Shaping Digital Infrastructure
The race to build digital infrastructure is accelerating. Investment continues to flow into hyperscale data centers, AI infrastructure and cloud capacity, but success depends on far more than securing land, capital and power.
As projects become larger and more complex, legal and regulatory expertise is increasingly influencing whether developments move forward on time, remain commercially viable and can adapt to an evolving regulatory environment. From permitting and energy procurement to data privacy, environmental obligations and commercial contracts, legal professionals are becoming central to strategic decision-making rather than supporting it after the fact.
For developers, operators, investors and technology businesses, regulatory talent has become a competitive advantage.
Jake Knowlton-Parry, Managing Director at Larson Maddox explains further:
Data center organisations are not just hiring regulatory talent to react to compliance issues. They need professionals who can connect land, energy, permits, data privacy and contracts into one risk strategy. That is what makes this talent market so competitive.
Why regulatory talent has become a boardroom issue
The rapid expansion of data centers is creating new legal and regulatory challenges across every stage of development.
Energy remains one of the biggest. The US Department of Energy reports that data center electricity demand has tripled over the past decade and is expected to double or even triple again by 2028. EPRI forecasts that US data centers could consume between 9% and 17% of national electricity by 2030. For operators, securing reliable power is no longer simply an infrastructure challenge; it is increasingly a regulatory one, bringing greater scrutiny around grid capacity, renewable energy commitments and environmental impact.
Permitting is becoming equally complex. New York's proposed moratorium on large-scale data center developments, alongside growing community opposition in markets such as Northern Virginia and the Columbia River region, demonstrates how local planning, water use, labour standards and energy policy can all influence project viability.
Environmental scrutiny continues to intensify. Amazon recently disclosed that its data centers used 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2025, while outlining investment in water replenishment initiatives. As projects grow in scale, resource consumption is becoming a key consideration for regulators, investors and local communities alike.
Cybersecurity and data governance add another layer of complexity. As part of the nation's critical infrastructure, data centers operate within an increasingly demanding regulatory landscape. Guidance from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) continues to reinforce the importance of cyber resilience, physical security and operational continuity, increasing demand for legal professionals who understand how these obligations intersect with commercial operations.
Rather than responding to regulation once projects are underway, many organisations are bringing legal expertise into planning discussions much earlier.
Jake summarises the shift:
Regulatory talent is becoming more important in digital infrastructure because these businesses are managing several forms of risk at once. Energy, permits, compliance, data privacy, commercial obligations, and community impact all influence whether a project can scale with confidence.
Regulatory talent is becoming a strategic business partner
For many years, regulatory and compliance professionals were viewed primarily as advisers, helping organisations interpret legislation, minimise risk and respond to changing requirements.
In digital infrastructure, that role has evolved significantly.
Today's legal and regulatory teams are involved much earlier in the project lifecycle, helping leadership assess site viability, anticipate regulatory hurdles, evaluate commercial risk and inform investment decisions before projects move into delivery. Rather than acting as gatekeepers, they are increasingly enabling businesses to move faster with greater confidence.
This shift has transformed what employers expect from regulatory hires.
Technical expertise remains essential, but organisations are placing equal value on professionals who can communicate with senior stakeholders, balance legal risk against commercial objectives and collaborate across real estate, development, finance, operations and technology teams.
Jake explains:
The regulatory professionals in highest demand are not only technical experts. They are business partners. Data center employers need people who can interpret regulation, communicate risk clearly and work with legal, commercial and development teams to make progress.
From Larson Maddox's perspective, this is one of the biggest changes in the market. Hiring briefs that once focused on narrow areas of compliance are becoming broader, with employers looking for lawyers and regulatory professionals who understand how multiple risk areas connect throughout the lifecycle of a project.
The most successful hires are rarely those with expertise in a single regulation. Instead, they combine specialist legal knowledge with commercial judgement, helping organisations navigate complex decisions while keeping projects on schedule.
The legal expertise supporting every stage of data center growth
Legal hiring in digital infrastructure is no longer centred around individual specialisms. Instead, organisations are building teams that reflect the full lifecycle of a project, recognising that each phase introduces different legal, regulatory and commercial considerations.
Data Center Growth Stage |
Primary Legal Expertise |
|
Site selection |
Real estate and land development |
|
Planning and permitting |
Regulatory and environmental |
|
Construction and procurement |
Commercial contracts |
|
Operations |
Data privacy and compliance |
|
Expansion and investment |
M&A, corporate and capital markets |
|
Workforce growth |
Employment |
While every function plays a distinct role, regulatory counsel increasingly acts as the link between them, helping businesses balance commercial ambition with evolving legal obligations throughout development and operations.
Which legal skillsets command the highest value?
Not every legal discipline carries the same market demand. For employers building digital infrastructure teams, understanding where specialist expertise creates the greatest commercial value can help shape hiring priorities, compensation strategies and succession planning.
Securing suitable sites remains one of the biggest barriers to expansion. Lawyers specialising in land acquisition, zoning, easements and development agreements play a direct role in determining whether projects move forward, making them some of the most sought-after professionals in the market.
As investment in digital infrastructure accelerates, experienced transactions lawyers are supporting acquisitions, joint ventures, financing arrangements and platform expansion. Their work directly influences an organisation's ability to grow.
Regulatory lawyers help businesses navigate permitting, environmental obligations, energy regulation, governance and compliance. As regulatory scrutiny increases, their ability to anticipate issues before they affect delivery has become a significant commercial advantage.
As AI, cloud computing and proprietary technologies become increasingly integrated into digital infrastructure, IP counsel plays a growing role in protecting innovation, technology platforms and competitive advantage.
From customer agreements and technology licensing to procurement contracts and supplier relationships, commercial lawyers help organisations manage increasingly complex contractual ecosystems as operations scale.
Rapid expansion creates workforce challenges alongside legal ones. Employment counsel supports executive hiring, labour strategy, workplace compliance and organisational growth across multiple jurisdictions.
Jake summarises how these disciplines work together:
Regulatory talent is becoming more important in digital infrastructure, but it does not sit in isolation. The highest-value legal teams are built across the full project lifecycle, from real estate and strategic transactions through to regulatory, IP, commercial contracts and employment. Employers need to understand how these practice areas work together if they want to hire effectively.
Why securing regulatory talent has become more competitive
Demand for regulatory professionals is growing faster than the supply of experienced talent, and data centers are competing well beyond their own industry to secure the right people.
Many of the skills employers are seeking are highly transferable. A lawyer with expertise in energy regulation may also be an attractive hire for utilities, renewable energy developers or infrastructure investors. Privacy specialists are in demand across technology, healthcare and financial services, while governance and compliance professionals are increasingly sought after by organisations operating in heavily regulated environments.
For employers, this means the talent pool is both smaller and more competitive than it first appears.
Jake explains:
The most difficult searches are often the ones where the employer knows they need regulatory support, but the role is not clearly defined. In digital infrastructure, the brief needs to be specific. Are you hiring for permitting risk, energy regulation, data privacy, compliance governance or a blend of all of them?
One of the biggest challenges Larson Maddox sees is that organisations often begin recruitment before fully defining the business problem they are trying to solve. While the objective may be to "hire regulatory counsel", the expertise required can vary significantly depending on where the business is in its growth journey.
A development-stage organisation may need expertise in planning, permitting and environmental regulation. A business expanding operations may require leadership around governance, cybersecurity and data privacy. Organisations pursuing acquisitions or new investment may need legal professionals who can work seamlessly alongside corporate and M&A teams.
The clearer the brief, the more focused the search becomes, allowing employers to target the right talent market and position the opportunity more effectively.
How leading employers are responding
As competition for experienced regulatory professionals increases, employers are adapting their hiring strategies rather than relying on traditional recruitment approaches.
Successful organisations are increasingly:
- Defining the business challenge before writing the job description, aligning legal hiring with project objectives rather than generic role profiles.
- Looking beyond direct competitors, recognising that adjacent sectors such as energy, utilities and technology often offer highly relevant experience.
- Prioritising commercial judgment alongside technical expertise, particularly for roles that require close collaboration with development, finance and executive leadership teams.
- Engaging specialist recruitment partners earlier, enabling talent mapping and succession planning before hiring becomes business-critical.
- Benchmarking compensation against the wider legal market, rather than limiting comparisons to the data center sector alone.
This reflects a broader shift in how legal teams are viewed. Rather than recruiting reactively when regulatory issues arise, many organisations are investing in legal capability earlier to support long-term growth and reduce project risk.
Jake adds:
The best regulatory hires give businesses confidence. They help leadership understand what can move forward, what needs to be managed and where risk could affect delivery. In a market like data centers, that clarity is extremely valuable.
Regulatory talent will shape the next phase of digital infrastructure growth
The organisations leading the next wave of digital infrastructure investment will compete on more than capital, land and technology. Their ability to navigate increasingly complex regulatory environments will also play a defining role in how quickly they can deliver projects and scale sustainably.
Legal expertise now influences every stage of the project lifecycle, from securing sites and obtaining permits to managing commercial contracts, protecting data, supporting investment and building compliant workforces. Regulatory professionals have become the thread connecting these activities, helping businesses balance opportunity with risk while maintaining momentum.
For employers, the implication is clear: regulatory hiring should be viewed as a strategic investment rather than a reactive response to compliance requirements.