Verisk has launched a U.S. Data Center Exposure Database covering more than 2,500 facilities nationwide. The product gives insurers, reinsurers and brokers building-level information for assessing catastrophe exposure and portfolio concentrations.
The database includes rooftop-level geocoding and individual facility footprints. It also contains structural and operational information such as construction type, floor area, capacity and redundancy characteristics, although available fields differ by facility and data source.
Verisk designed the database for use within its Synergy Studio and Touchstone catastrophe modeling platforms. The data set also includes flat-file records, building footprint shapefiles and a 90-meter disaggregation grid for geospatial analysis.
Insurers are paying greater attention to data center exposure as AI investment increases demand for digital infrastructure. Industry estimates cited by Verisk put global data center insurance premiums at about $10 bn in 2026, with the total projected to reach $23 bn by 2030.
Data center construction boom: risks and claims trends, says annual data center investment is set to double from around $500 bn in 2024 to more than $1 trn as early as 2027.
The investment case reaches well beyond server halls. It now pulls in power generation, grid connections, cooling systems, networking assets and semiconductors.
AI demand is changing what data centers represent for investors, insurers and lenders. These assets no longer sit in a narrow real estate category built mostly around storage. They increasingly operate as mission-critical infrastructure for high-performance computing.
That growth brings large concentrations of insured property into individual locations and regions. Data centers often contain billions of dollars in buildings, computing equipment and supporting infrastructure while providing services to businesses and government organizations.
Location quality matters when insurers assess those concentrations. Incomplete or inconsistent property records make it harder to estimate exposure to hurricanes, flooding, severe convective storms and earthquakes across an insurance portfolio.
Verisk built the new database around more detailed information on individual facilities. Insurers will be able to use those records for underwriting, catastrophe analysis, exposure management and accumulation reviews.
“AI is often discussed as a digital transformation story, but it is increasingly a physical infrastructure story,” said Rob Newbold, president of Verisk Catastrophe and Risk Solutions. He said facilities supporting AI growth contain substantial concentrations of physical assets relevant to insurers and reinsurers.
Newbold also pointed to investors and capital markets participants examining the same exposure. Greater investment in AI infrastructure increases the amount of property exposed at individual sites, which changes the size of potential insured losses from natural catastrophes.
Jay Guin, executive vice president and chief research officer of Verisk Catastrophe and Risk Solutions, said data centers have become one of the largest and fastest-growing concentrations of insured value. He said insurers are paying closer attention to where these facilities sit and how exposures accumulate across portfolios.
If you can’t identify the exposure, you can’t effectively measure or manage it. The database provides additional information for organizations assessing those concentrations.
The physical risk extends beyond computing equipment inside the facilities. Data centers remain exposed to hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and severe convective storms like other large commercial properties.
Their concentration of expensive infrastructure raises the financial consequences of physical damage. Operational dependency also gives insurers another reason to examine how several facilities within the same region respond to a single catastrophe event.
Verisk developed the database in response to demand for more detailed data center exposure information. The company said insurers need greater visibility as AI-related infrastructure investment expands across the US.
The U.S. Data Center Exposure Database is available through Verisk Synergy Studio and Touchstone. Insurers, reinsurers, brokers and other risk management organizations will use the data within existing catastrophe modeling and portfolio analysis workflows.
