Advisory · Capacity strategy
Build, buy, lease, or partner for AI compute.
Karaya helps operators and investors choose how to secure compute capacity, framed against the constraints that actually bind.
Signals that this engagement is relevant
When to bring this decision to Karaya.
- A capacity shortfall is forcing a decision inside a fixed window.
- A build, buy, or lease question has no clear owner or frame.
- A site or region choice has to hold for several years.
- A provider or contract is being chosen under time pressure.
- Capital is committed before the constraints are fully understood.
Constraints assessed
The constraints that shape what is possible.
Power availability and cost
What can be secured, on what timeline, and at what price.
Cooling
What the design and site can actually reject as density rises.
Site and region
Land, grid, latency, and regulatory posture over the hold period.
Supply lead times
When capacity can realistically be energized and used.
Contract terms
What each agreement obligates, protects, and forecloses.
Capital structure
How the choice sits against how it is being financed.
Decision framework
Build, buy, lease, partner.
The four paths compared on control, speed, capital, and risk. A framework, not a fixed answer. Your numbers drive the outcome.
Build
- Control
- Highest control over design and roadmap.
- Speed
- Slowest to energized capacity.
- Capital
- Heaviest upfront commitment.
- Risk
- Execution and lead-time risk sit with you.
Buy
- Control
- Control of an existing asset, as inherited.
- Speed
- Faster than building from ground.
- Capital
- Large single commitment.
- Risk
- Risk moves into diligence on the asset.
Lease
- Control
- Control bounded by the lease terms.
- Speed
- Faster to occupancy.
- Capital
- Lower upfront, recurring obligation.
- Risk
- Counterparty and renewal risk over the term.
Partner
- Control
- Shared control under a joint structure.
- Speed
- Depends on the counterparty.
- Capital
- Shared exposure.
- Risk
- Alignment and governance risk between parties.
Inputs required
What you provide.
- The capacity target and the window it has to land in.
- Known constraints on power, site, and capital.
- Any contracts, proposals, or term sheets already in play.
- The decision owners and what marks the end of the brief.
Outputs delivered
What you receive.
- A documented recommendation with the reasoning exposed.
- A comparison of build, buy, lease, and partner against your constraints.
- A risk register that ties each risk to the decision.
Engagement boundaries
What sits outside this engagement.
- No construction, procurement, or delivery at scale.
- No staff augmentation or seconded headcount.
- No attached team sold behind the principal.
- The work ends with the brief and its handoff.
Questions
Common questions.
- Can you compare paths without fabricated cost figures?
- Yes. The comparison is framed on control, speed, capital, and risk, using your own numbers where they exist. Karaya does not invent cost or savings figures.
- Do you take a position for one path?
- The recommendation follows the constraints and the brief, not a preferred outcome. The reasoning is exposed so you can test it.
- What if a decision is already partly made?
- That is common. The engagement can pressure-test a leaning decision and surface the risks that would change it.
Start with the brief
Bring the capacity decision in front of you.
Two or three sentences on what you are trying to decide is enough to start.