For each selected category of virtual machine, a cardinality of virtual machines of the category that are requested is recorded over time. For each category of virtual machine, a prediction algorithm is used to predict a cardinality of virtual machines for the selected category to be requested in the future, such that the prediction algorithm weighs under-prediction of the cardinality of virtual machines as costlier than over-prediction. For each category of virtual machine, a cardinality of virtual machines of the category of virtual machines are composed and booted with generic virtual machine artifacts such that the cardinality of virtual machines of the selected categories is the predicted cardinality of requested virtual machines for the selected category. The booted virtual machines are caused to enter a state in which the booted virtual machines are polling for a configuration with user-specific compute settings and user-specific networking settings.