Real Talk: Luis Carlos Torres Zárate, Head of Sales Colombia

In our Real Talk series, we spotlight leaders who shape how sovereignty, infrastructure and operations work in the real world.

Following recent conversations with Ilkari’s operational leadership, we now turn to the commercial front line. Luis Carlos Torres Zárate, Head of Sales Colombia, brings more than two decades of experience across banking, telecommunications, data centers and cloud infrastructure. His career has placed him directly at the intersection between enterprise technology strategy and the infrastructure that supports it.

Working closely with CIOs and technology leaders across the region, Luis Carlos sees first-hand how digital transformation, compliance and artificial intelligence are reshaping infrastructure decisions in Colombia and across Latin America.

From capital investment to infrastructure as a service

One of the biggest changes Luis Carlos has witnessed over the past two decades is how organizations approach infrastructure investment.

Previously, companies invested large amounts of capital to build and maintain their own computing environments and data centers. These investments often became outdated within only a few years as technology cycles accelerated.

Today, many organizations are shifting toward infrastructure services that allow them to access certified environments without large capital expenditures. Organizations can now access compliant data center services and infrastructure platforms while focusing their internal investment on business innovation rather than physical infrastructure.

At the same time, dependence on digital systems has increased dramatically. Businesses rely on continuous access to information and services, which means the infrastructure supporting them must operate with high availability, strong security and strict operational discipline.

Digital transformation is accelerating across Colombia

Luis Carlos sees strong momentum across Colombia and Latin America as companies modernize their technology environments. Organizations across sectors are accelerating digital transformation efforts to support online transactions, real-time business decisions and increasingly digital customer interactions.

Data centers play a foundational role in this shift, providing the secure and reliable environments required to support cloud computing and enterprise systems. Artificial intelligence adds another layer of demand, requiring far greater processing capacity and infrastructure performance than traditional applications.

What CIOs are really focused on today

When Luis Carlos meets with CIOs and infrastructure leaders, several priorities consistently appear in the conversation.

Technology leaders are under pressure to deliver reliable digital environments while carefully balancing capital investment and operational costs. At the same time, they must ensure resilience across the systems that support business operations.

Common priorities include:

• Managing capital expenditure while controlling operational costs
• Ensuring system resilience and business continuity
• Maintaining strong governance over data and infrastructure
• Meeting compliance requirements across multiple standards

Certified data center environments and cloud infrastructure services help organizations strengthen resilience while maintaining operational control.

Sovereignty in practical terms

For Luis Carlos, sovereignty is not an abstract concept. It is about operational control.

Organizations want to know where their data is located and ensure that only authorized parties can access or manage their information. In practical terms, sovereignty means the organization defines the policies, controls the infrastructure resources and provisions services according to its own business requirements.

That level of control provides the foundation for operational continuity and long-term trust in the technology environment. 

AI workloads are reshaping infrastructure expectations

Artificial intelligence is introducing a new set of infrastructure requirements. Servers supporting AI environments consume significantly more energy than traditional systems due to the scale of parallel processing required. Cooling systems must also operate at higher levels to maintain stable operating conditions.

This shift means that many legacy data centers will struggle to support the electrical and environmental demands of AI workloads.

Organizations planning AI adoption must carefully evaluate whether their infrastructure environment can meet these new requirements.

Why infrastructure still inspires him

After more than two decades in the industry, Luis Carlos remains motivated by the pace of technological change.

The infrastructure sector sits at the center of global digital transformation. Being close to the technologies that shape how businesses operate, and how societies access information continues to drive his interest in the field.

Explore more Real Talk conversations

If you enjoyed this edition with Luis Carlos Torres Zárate, you can also read our previous Real Talk with Bob Wright, Ilkari’s Chief Data Centre Officer, which explores the operational foundations behind sovereign infrastructure.

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