Ambrosia Energy and Bloom Energy to Discuss AI Infrastructure at Disrupt
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 will bring Ben Longmier, CEO of Ambrosia Energy, and Bill Thayer, SVP and Head of Datacenter Solutions at Bloom Energy, to the Smart Systems Stage for a session titled “Where the AI Infrastructure Boom Is Creating Winners.” The event runs from October 13 to 15 in San Francisco, with doors opening at Moscone West at 8 a.m. PT on October 13.
The session focuses on the physical systems required to scale artificial intelligence. TechCrunch says the conversation will examine which constraints are creating durable business opportunities, where new categories are emerging, and what founders can build as AI demand reaches beyond software.
AI growth depends on a physical stack
Models, chips and applications are prominent parts of the AI discussion, but they do not operate independently. Scaling depends on power generation, grid connections, data centres, cooling, electrical equipment and the operating systems that keep these assets running.
The central issue is whether demand for compute can grow faster than power and supporting infrastructure can be delivered. The session is intended to distinguish temporary shortages from constraints that could reshape markets over a longer period, and to consider when a bottleneck becomes a business category in its own right.
That framing aligns with the energy challenge in AI energy constraints at Disrupt as the industry considers how physical capacity can determine the pace at which AI systems are deployed.
Founders and investors look beyond applications
Longmier and Thayer will address AI infrastructure through the lenses of energy and data-centre solutions. TechCrunch expects the discussion to cover where constraints are appearing, how the market is responding, and which parts of the stack may receive sustained spending as capital flows into AI infrastructure.
Possible areas include energy, data centres, cooling, grid technology, electrical equipment and infrastructure software. The article also leaves room for categories that do not yet have established names, while identifying the common driver: AI is creating new demands on the physical world that require practical solutions.
What the session means for business planning
For founders, the message is to look beyond the most obvious AI application. For investors, the question is where infrastructure demand could support defensible markets. Technology leaders must also account for the physical systems that increasingly shape where and how AI can scale.
The practical business implication is to assess power, grid access, cooling and data-centre capacity alongside compute strategy, and to pursue opportunities only where an infrastructure constraint supports a durable need.