An Applied Digital Original Docuseries

Episode 1: The Builders

What does it actually take to build a multi-billion AI data center campus in rural North Dakota — on a fixed deadline, with no room for error?

In Episode 1, we follow Keith Leir, Campus Director for Polaris Forge 2, and Barry LaFreniere, Senior Superintendent at Adolfson & Peterson Construction, as they race to turn open land into one of the largest AI infrastructure projects in the country. Mid-build design changes, North Dakota winters, billions on the line, and a schedule that doesn't move. Behind the Build is Applied Digital's original docuseries taking you inside the construction of large-scale AI infrastructure and hyperscale data centers — from groundbreaking to ready for service. Every episode follows the people, decisions, and pressure behind projects that most people only hear about in press releases. This is what it actually looks like.

Episode 2: The Townhall

In Episode 2 of Behind the Build, Applied Digital takes viewers inside a town hall in Harwood, North Dakota, where residents came with questions about what was being built, why it was happening there, and what it could mean for the community.

The episode goes beyond the job site to show a part of data center development most people never see: the conversations that happen before trust is earned.

Questions are asked. Concerns are raised. Answers matter.

For Applied Digital, building responsibly means being willing to sit in the room, listen directly, and work through those conversations face to face.

Because before anything gets built in the ground, trust has to be built in the room.

Episode 3