Data center and AI infrastructure teams in Austin–San Antonio

On CBRE’s count, Austin–San Antonio has more capacity under construction than in its existing inventory: 550.2 MW under construction against 243.1 MW of inventory in H1 2026 (North America Data Center Trends H1 2026, August 27, 2026).

JLL counts differently, including hyperscaler-owned capacity. It said on August 11, 2026, that Austin–San Antonio completed 1.7 GW and absorbed 796 MW in H1 2026, as development extended beyond the urban core along the I-35 corridor. Cushman & Wakefield said on May 20, 2026, that Austin–San Antonio and West Texas led its secondary and tertiary market rankings.

Around San Antonio, state construction filings name the builders. Microsoft’s SAT82 in Castroville is registered at $400,000,000 with a completion date of July 24, 2028, and CyrusOne’s SAT14A in Castroville at $500,000,000 with a completion date of June 1, 2027 (Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, read October 11, 2026). Vantage’s TX12 on Omicron Drive is registered with up to 96 MW of critical IT capacity (Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, read October 11, 2026). Rowan announced in August 2025 that it was beginning construction on its 300 MW Cinco campus near Lytle (Data Center Dynamics, August 8, 2025).

Around Austin, Skybox and Prologis filed for a fourth building at their Hutto PowerCampus, planned for 600 MW of IT capacity (Data Center Dynamics, October 2, 2026). EdgeConneX filed for two 730,000 sq ft buildings at Cedar Creek in Bastrop County, each estimated at $700 million (Data Center Dynamics, June 3, 2026). Meta opened its AI data center in Temple in July 2026, an investment of more than $1.2 billion once completed (KWTX, July 22, 2026).

Texas policy is the main risk here, and it is developing. On September 21, 2026, Governor Greg Abbott directed the state’s environmental regulator, TCEQ, to issue no permits sought by data center projects pending water and power reviews (KBTX, September 21, 2026). The same KBTX report says an update is due to his office by October 19, 2026. The San Antonio Current reported on October 6, 2026, that construction of CyrusOne’s SAT14A in Medina County has gone ahead because the pause covers only TCEQ permits. We read these sources on October 11, 2026.

Abbott has also ordered a full audit of the Texas data center interconnection queue: ERCOT was tracking approximately 474.7 GW of large-load requests as of June 2026, 90.2% of it identified as data centers (POWER, August 4, 2026). SB 6 directs the Public Utility Commission of Texas to set interconnection standards for large loads at a 75 MW threshold (POWER, August 4, 2026). CPS Energy says the rules will include on-site backup generation and mandatory curtailment during emergencies (CPS Energy, March 11, 2026).

Utilities are cautious about new load. CPS Energy had 59 large-load projects requesting 26,146 MW as of January 12, 2026, of which 335 MW was under contract, and it has begun charging for large-load engineering studies (CPS Energy, March 11, 2026). Austin Energy, whose peak load is just over 3 GW, has said it can minimize the risk to existing customers by not connecting new large loads until needed upgrades have been made (Spectrum News, December 31, 2025).

Local approval is not automatic. San Marcos City Council voted 5-2 in February 2026 to deny a land use change for a proposed $1.5 billion data center on Francis Harris Lane (KUT, February 18, 2026). The San Antonio City Council has considered measures to track and regulate how data centers use water and other natural resources (Bisnow, January 12, 2026). The Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance released a report on data centers in the area in April 2026 (San Antonio Report, August 2, 2026).

Large builds here need large crews. Meta’s Temple project supported more than 1,200 skilled trade workers on site at peak construction (KWTX, July 22, 2026). An estimate cited by the San Antonio Report on August 2, 2026, puts employment at 24 to 36 workers for every 150,000 square feet of data center being built.

Employers are advertising build and engineering roles in the metro. In ads we read on October 11, 2026, Microsoft sought a Sr. Retrofit Construction Program Manager for data center retrofit and construction projects ranging from $250,000 to $100 million within the San Antonio metro. Its ads also list Austin among the locations for a Lease Commissioning Manager and a Lease Construction Manager. Amazon advertised senior electrical and mechanical data center engineering roles in Austin, and Meta lists Temple first among the locations for a Critical Facility Engineer.

Local training programs feed data center jobs. The Microsoft Datacenter Academy at Northwest Vista College, launched in spring 2022, runs 2-month training programs in San Antonio (Microsoft Local, read October 11, 2026). Meta has invested in programs at Temple College (KWTX, July 22, 2026). Senior construction and commissioning leads are a separate hire, and our Search practice runs those as permanent searches.