Dell forecasts AI inference token demand to surge 3,400% by 2030

Dell Technologies projects a massive 3,400% surge in global AI token consumption by 2030, driven by a shift toward agentic AI and on-premises enterprise workloads. This long-term demand is reflected in Dell's blowout fiscal Q2 2027 results, where the company booked a record $60.9 billion in AI server orders, pushing its total backlog to $95 billion. Consequently, Dell raised its full-year fiscal 2027 revenue guidance to $192 billion and its AI server revenue forecast to $74 billion.

Dell AI server orders

• ▪Dell Technologies reported $16.4 billion in AI-optimized server revenue for its fiscal second quarter of 2027, which is double the revenue from the same period a year earlier
• ▪Dell Technologies booked a record $60.9 billion in AI server orders during its fiscal second quarter of 2027

AI server backlog growth

• ▪Dell Technologies exited its fiscal second quarter of 2027 with a record AI server backlog of $95 billion, up from $51.3 billion three months prior
• ▪Dell Technologies management indicated that the company is moving past supply chain bottlenecks, particularly in memory components, which is expected to accelerate backlog conversion into revenue

AI inference demand forecast

• ▪Dell Technologies projected at its Dell Technologies World event that global AI token consumption will grow 3,400% by 2030
• ▪Dell Technologies expects AI inference workloads to represent nearly two-thirds of all AI computing requirements in the coming years
• ▪Dell Technologies introduced the PowerEdge XE9812 system, which the company claims delivers up to a 10x lower cost-per-token for large-scale AI inference compared to previous generations

Enterprise AI deployment shift

• ▪Dell Technologies unveiled Deskside Agentic AI offerings designed for on-premises enterprise use, pitching an 87% reduction in token spending over two years compared to public cloud APIs
• ▪Dell Technologies projects that enterprise agentic AI workloads, which autonomously execute multi-step tasks, will become the dominant category of AI compute by 2028

Dell revenue guidance raise

• ▪Dell Technologies raised its fiscal 2027 adjusted earnings guidance to $25.50 per share, up from its previous May guidance of $17.90 per share
• ▪Dell Technologies raised its full-year fiscal 2027 revenue forecast to $192 billion, up from its previous May guidance of $167 billion

AI infrastructure customer base

• ▪Dell Technologies named CoreWeave, Iren, Lilly, Samsung, Honeywell, and the U.S. military as part of its customer base running workloads on Dell infrastructure
• ▪Dell Technologies reported that its AI infrastructure customer base has grown to over 6,500 accounts, spanning neocloud operators, sovereign governments, and traditional enterprises

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