Engineering System S.A.S. speeds sovereign AI adoption across Colombia

On-demand private AI, with full data control 

Engineering System S.A.S. set out to make enterprise AI adoption practical for its Colombian customers, without sacrificing data sovereignty, performance, or cost control. Through a strategic alliance with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Equinix, the company launched an on-demand private AI infrastructure for its enterprise customers. The high-performance platform scales quickly and supports multiple use cases, all while providing customers with maximum data control.

When AI demands meet sovereignty and infrastructure reality 

Across Colombia, organizations eager to move forward with AI initiatives faced the same set of barriers. Sensitive data had to remain in-country, regulatory pressure was increasing, and there was growing uncertainty about the long-term costs of deploying and scaling AI in the public cloud. Engineering System tackled these challenges head on. For more than 25 years, the company has helped Colombian businesses optimize their network, compute, and storage architectures, most recently through a managed services partnership with HPE. AI was just the next frontier. To deliver an AI-ready infrastructure to its customers, Engineering System had to manage workloads requiring higher power densities, increased cooling demands, and lower latency between data, models, and applications. At the same time, many enterprise AI applications still relied on public cloud services. This created a hybrid reality, with the application layer in the cloud, and the infrastructure layer processing data and running models closer to the source. For highly regulated sectors such as government, healthcare, and financial services, there was an urgent need for AI infrastructure that could preserve sovereignty, privacy, and security without slowing innovation.

Engineering System ran its operations in a standard data center using a traditional colocation model. The company recognized that this architecture lacked the private and secure connectivity that data-intensive, low-latency applications require across clouds, networks, and data ecosystems. It needed a foundation that could handle compute-intensive workloads and deliver fast, strategic connectivity, enabling customers to adopt AI without compromising governance or operational confidence.

A private AI foundation with cloud-like flexibility

Engineering System created private, purpose-built AI infrastructure, delivered via HPE’s GreenLake storage consumption model and hosted in an AI-ready Equinix data center in Bogota. “HPE is the gold standard in terms of stability, operability, and as-a-service consumption models in Latin America, and Equinix gives us the global interconnection ecosystem to deliver that experience for AI,” says Acosta. The strategic alliance brings Latin America’s first on-premises private AI infrastructure to market.

The AI platform combines the flexibility of the cloud with the control of local infrastructure. Through GreenLake, Engineering System’s customers gain access to the AI infrastructure as a managed service. Engineering System also offers the in-country deployment, integration, and operational expertise to keep sensitive data governed, compliant, and close to the source. 

Equinix provides the physical and interconnection foundation for the model to succeed at scale. Using Equinix Fabric, Engineering System seamlessly connects public cloud environments to the on-premises AI infrastructure. “Equinix provides critical value through Fabric technology, enabling a unique integration between public cloud environments and on‑premise AI infrastructure,” says Acosta. The result is a hybrid AI environment that supports innovation without compromising security, sovereignty, or performance. “With HPE and Equinix, we can offer customers sovereign AI with fast access to public cloud services,” says Acosta. “It’s the best of both worlds.”

The AI-ready environment enables customers to test and validate their AI models before full production, reducing financial risk and accelerating innovation and deployment. “For us, the cloud is not a destination, it’s an experience,” says Juan Martin Barrero, managing director of HPE Colombia. “Our aligned vision with Engineering System enables customers to take their AI from pilot to production securely and cost effectively.” 

Supporting the next generation of enterprise AI

Engineering System quickly moved from concept to market traction. Within a few months of deployment, utilization reached 75% amongst enterprise customers, with steady growth continuing as they pursue new AI initiatives.  To support long-term growth and capacity planning, Engineering System expanded from a shared footprint within the data center to a dedicated hall featuring a private cage with space for eight racks and the high-density power infrastructure needed for modern GPU-driven computing, such as training and fine-tuning AI models. 

Live customer use cases include personal AI assistants integrated with corporate repositories, public-sector automation for citizen requests and document workflows, and AI-driven video analytics and quality monitoring in manufacturing. “The long-term opportunity for sovereign AI infrastructure in Colombia is far greater than what’s already in production,” says Acosta. “We have dozens of projects in motion and we expect to continue expanding across industries over the next year.”

The model also helps customers address cost uncertainty, one of the biggest barriers to enterprise AI innovation in Colombia. As public cloud AI services become increasingly expensive and difficult to forecast at scale, Engineering System gives customers a more predictable path forward with a private cloud AI environment powered by HPE infrastructure within Equinix. Customers can run the AI models their businesses require with greater visibility into infrastructure costs, making it easier to measure return on investment (ROI) and build confidence in long-term AI investments.  By facilitating that connectivity through Equinix, Engineering System’s customers also reduce latency and have a significantly higher probability of success. 

“Through our partnership with HPE and Equinix, we created an AI foundation that delivers both innovation and control,” says Acosta. “Together, we’re making it easier for enterprise customers across Colombia to embrace AI.” 

Benefits

Sovereign AI

Equinix supports a hybrid AI environment that ensures sensitive data remains local for regulated workloads.

Predictable economics 

Consumption-based model with underlying Equinix connectivity improves cost control and reduces financial risk.

Hybrid performance

Equinix enables low-latency connectivity that links public cloud apps to private AI.

Rapid scalability 

A high-density private cage in the Equinix data center supports growing GPU compute and power needs.