Investor and entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary recently shared what he believes are two of the biggest opportunities for young people today: helping businesses implement artificial intelligence and building the infrastructure that powers it.
In a post on X, O’Leary said the rapid growth of AI is creating entirely new business opportunities.
His advice focused less on inventing new AI tools and more on helping companies actually use the technology.
“If I were 25 today, I’d focus on two massive opportunities: AI implementation and data center development,” O’Leary wrote.
According to O’Leary, the biggest gap in the market right now isn’t awareness of AI. Most business leaders already know the technology is important.
The real problem is figuring out how to integrate it into everyday operations.
The Opportunity In AI Implementation
In a video attached to the post, O’Leary explained that the easiest opportunity may be helping businesses adopt AI tools and turn them into practical solutions.
“I think everything is looking at AI now in a different way,” he said. “I think AI growth is going to be exponential, so anything to do with AI.”
Instead of building new AI systems from scratch, he suggested that young entrepreneurs could focus on helping companies actually deploy the tools that already exist.
“In the simplest form is helping people use the technology,” O’Leary said.
He argued that businesses are already eager to adopt AI but often don’t know where to begin.
“There’s going to be a massive amount of people wanting to use it that don’t know how to, and they’re willing to pay to solve that pain point,” he said.
O’Leary emphasized that the work goes beyond traditional consulting. It involves implementing systems and helping companies organize their data so AI can deliver useful insights.
“It’s implementation and execution,” he said. “Helping a business do that transfer into a world where they’re controlling their data and getting information from it.”
He pointed to small and mid-sized businesses as the biggest opportunity.
“The majority of businesses in America, for example, are between 5 and 500 employees,” he said.
These companies create a large share of jobs and increasingly want to use AI, but often lack the technical expertise to implement it.
Why O’Leary Is Optimistic About Data Centers
O’Leary said the second major opportunity comes from the infrastructure required to support AI.
“The biggest pain point in AI is data centers,” he said. “That’s real estate development.”
Artificial intelligence systems require enormous computing power and storage capacity, which means demand for data centers is growing quickly.
“The demand’s insatiable,” O’Leary said. “There’s only five gigs under construction right now in demand for 30.”
He described the sector as a modern twist on traditional real estate investing.
“You know that old adage, real estate, real estate, real estate?” he said. “Well, add in data center, data center, data center.”
In other words, he believes the long-term winners of the AI boom won’t just be software companies but also the people building the physical infrastructure needed to run the technology.
The Internet Had Other Ideas
While some followers agreed with the AI implementation idea, many focused on the practicality of O’Leary’s suggestion that young people consider developing data centers.
The responses quickly turned sarcastic.
“Always with a boomer take: just build a couple million dollars data center buddy, and then you can become rich,” one person wrote.
Another mocked the simplicity of the advice with a sarcastic response: “Why didn’t I ever think to develop a f***ing data center? So easy!”
Several people argued that data centers require enormous capital, power access, and large customers before construction even begins.
“Data centers require enormous power and investment costs, and competing with giants like Amazon, Microsoft, and Oracle is suicidal for startups,” one person wrote.
Another added: “You can’t build data centers at 25 years without being super mega rich and without having a big customer.”
Still, others said O’Leary’s point about AI implementation is already playing out in the real world.
“The next wave of companies won’t be ‘AI companies.’ They’ll be AI implementation companies,” one person wrote.
“Small businesses don’t need another tool. They need someone who can come in and turn AI into revenue.”
Another person working with businesses described the opportunity in practical terms: “The implementation gap is the opportunity. Most businesses know they need AI. Almost none have someone who can actually set it up for them.”
Even people who supported the idea said the work is less glamorous than many expect.
“Small business owner ‘AI implementation’ is mostly boring ops: clean data, permissions, evals, and ROI tracking,” one person wrote. “The moat is reliability, not demos.”
Others pointed out that the infrastructure side of the industry involves far more than tech jobs.
“Data Centers need HVAC, need plumbers, fabrication, tin work, insulation, and electricians to run cable, crane operators to install,” one person wrote.
Despite the jokes, the discussion highlighted a broader point: as artificial intelligence spreads across industries, businesses are actively looking for people who can help them use the technology and build the systems required to support it.
But constructing a data center is a massive undertaking. The projects require enormous capital, large amounts of power, land, permits, and often major customers lined up before construction even begins.
Even O’Leary acknowledged in his video that the sector is complicated. “Sound complicated? Yes, it is,” he said.
That reality is exactly why many followers reacted with skepticism, arguing that while the AI boom may create opportunities, building a data center from scratch is far from a simple path for most young entrepreneurs.