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An exclusive, half-day, invitation-only workshop designed for senior executives in the digital infrastructure space.
Limited to just 40 participants, the summit ensures an intimate and interactive environment, held under Chatham House Rule to foster open and candid discussion.
Bringing together digital infra CXOs alongside select investors, hyperscalers, and industry VIPs, the summit provides a platform for sharing common challenges, exploring collaboration opportunities, and gaining peer insights that can inform conversations with investors, partners, and customers.
Now in its third year, the Digital Infra Leaders Summit offers C-suite executives a rare opportunity to connect, strategise, and prepare for the busy days ahead.
Agenda
14:00 Scene setting and introductions
14:30 Deep dive 1: Digital Infra for AI
15:30 Deep dive 2: Investment & partnership models
16:30 Wrap up and actions
End of session
If you would like to request an invitation to join, please contact Fran White: fran.white@techoraco.com
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Registration for the main event opens. Please note there is no access to the exhibition hall on the 9th of February.
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- Networking
Welcome receptionPeacock gardenKick off Datacloud Middle East in style, with a bit of winter sun at our event welcome reception.
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Registration area
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Datacloud stageJoin us for an exclusive fireside chat featuring the leading figures behind two of the region's largest digital projects - Oman Digital Triangle and the King Hussein Business Park in Jordan
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Datacloud stageThis opening address provides a strategic overview of the Middle East’s rapidly evolving data centre ecosystem. As the region experiences unprecedented growth driven by AI, hyperscaler investment, and digital transformation agendas, we’ll explore the key trends shaping infrastructure development, connectivity, and capital flows. Attendees will gain insight into the opportunities, challenges, and strategic imperatives that will define the next phase of digital infrastructure across the Middle East.
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Datacloud stageAs AI adoption accelerates across the Middle East, the demand for high-performance computing (HPC) is reshaping the data centre landscape. This panel explores how operators, governments, and hyperscalers are responding to the infrastructure, energy, and strategic challenges of building AI-ready facilities at scale. The panel discusses:
- How are regional energy strategies and sustainability goals influencing the design and operation of HPC environments?
- What role do partnerships between hyperscalers, governments, and local operators play in scaling AI infrastructure across the region?
- How can the Middle East position itself as a global hub for AI and HPC innovation, and how can we manage the risks in these large scale projects?
- How can stakeholders ensure long-term ROI while navigating rapid technological change, regulatory pressures, and geopolitical uncertainty?
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Explore how prefabricated, high‑density, liquid‑cooled modular designs are transforming the way AI‑ready data centers are built. This session reveals how standardized power and IT modules, factory‑integrated quality, and scalable architectures enable faster deployment, higher efficiency, and the resilience required for next‑generation AI workloads.
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Datacloud stageStargate UAE is the first international deployment of the AI infrastructure Stargate program, with the first 200MW of 1GW due to come online in 2026. While Stargate UAE will continue to enable domestic AI consumption it also has the potential to provide connectivity to almost half the world’s population, located within 2,000 miles.
- What are the demand drivers behind such a large data centre deployment?
- The role of nuclear power in providing sustainable, reliable power to the site
- How are we ensuring adequate connectivity to enable Stargate UAE to serve users beyond the UAE?
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Datacloud stageAs MENA accelerates its transition to a data-driven economy, the region’s energy strategy must evolve to meet the demands of AI infrastructure. With hyperscale campuses and GPU clusters requiring gigawatts of reliable power, outdated contracting models and grid limitations risk slowing progress—unless bold reforms and private innovation step in. The session covers:
- Financing the Future of Compute: Can long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) align with hyperscaler timelines and stabilise costs for operators and investors?
- Unlocking Utility Partnerships: What incentives and reforms are needed to enable multi-decade capacity commitments from national utilities?
- Private Generation at Scale: How are operators deploying onsite energy—from solar-plus-storage to modular gas microgrids—to ensure resilience and control?
- Case Study: NEOM & HumAIn: What lessons can be drawn from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign AI strategy and its integrated approach to digital infrastructure and energy planning?
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Networking LunchMarqueeJoin us in our Marquee for an interactive and social networking lunch with a wide range of options available.
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Datacloud stageThe demands of AI are pushing the traditional model of data centre design. Flexibility and scalability are vital to meeting the increasing demands from advanced workloads and the unprecedented demand for compute power.
- How are operators adapting cooling strategies—liquid cooling, rear-door heat exchangers, and AI-driven airflow management—to meet rack densities exceeding 30kW in hot climate zones like the GCC?
- How are proximity to IXPs, submarine cable landings, and grid reliability shaping site selection and architectural decisions?
- How are engineering teams designing for GPU clusters, liquid immersion cooling, and dynamic load balancing to support generative AI
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Datacloud stageAs the global demand for data centres surges—driven by AI, cloud expansion, and digital transformation—the Middle East is emerging as a key growth market. Yet, delivering capacity at speed is increasingly challenged by supply chain constraints and labour shortages.
- What strategies are attracting and upskilling the next generation of talent to meet the scale and complexity of data centre builds?
- How are modern construction techniques and prefabrication models reducing timelines and improving ROI?
- Partnerships and technologies are helping mitigate delays—from generators to semiconductors—and ensuring reliable go-live dates?
- The management of risk in the process of designing ,financing and delivery can create significant bottlenecks in terms of speed to market and quality of delivery. What are the issues on this topic that the industry should be most focussed upon as they embark upon the development of these assets?
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Networking breakDatacloud stageTake some time between content to grab a coffee and snack, served throughout the venue or take a chance to try our smoothie bikes or experience our calligraphy artists.
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Datacloud stageWith leading data centre operators in the Middle East eyeing international expansion into Europe, Africa and the US, they will require new sources of capital to make these plans a reality.
- Will traditional sources of capital, from sovereign wealth funds and national investment banks, finance expansions beyond their home nations?
- What role can global investment banks and private equity firms play in supporting international expansion plans?
- Do operators positioned within broader portfolios have an advantage when expanding, such as those within groups including power generation companies?
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Networking receptionPeacock gardenJoin us to celebrate a day of deal-making in the beautiful event gardens, the perfect space to unwind after day one of Capacity and Datacloud Middle East.
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Registration area
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The region's higher temperatures and requirements for additional cooling drive up PUEs, making sustainability an additional challenge. Despite pushback on sustainability, it remains crucial to many leading customers and operators of data centres.
- Is liquid cooling the inevitable future—or are hybrid and passive systems viable alternatives?
- How are operators managing the energy-water-carbon trade-offs in cooling strategy?
- How are suppliers addressing water scarcity and regulatory constraints?
- What role do heat reuse, smart materials, and predictive maintenance play?
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Networking breakDatacloud stageTake some time between content to grab a coffee and snack, served throughout the venue or take a chance to try our smoothie bikes or experience our calligraphy artists.
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Datacloud stageEven as the AI boom continues full throttle, questions are emerging about who controls the data and potential conflicts with national security, economic goals, and local values. Sovereign AI, trained on local data, offers a solution to these growing concerns.
- How can developing sovereign AI address concerns and meet data sovereignty regulations?
- Is it feasible for each nation to develop the infrastructure and generate the required investment to deploy sovereign AI?
- What can we learn from current projects, such as Saudi Arabia’s HumAIn and the country’s digital embassies approach?
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Datacloud stageAs rack densities are driven ever higher by HPC and AI demands, reliance on air cooling is becoming a constraint for further growth. Liquid cooling is emerging as the best option to meet the demand of ever-growing cooling requirements of the increasingly power-hungry chips needed for AI.
- Is Liquid cooling becoming the only viable option for AI data centres, or do hybrid solutions still have a place?
- How does fluid selection impact your cooling options and overall performance?
- What challenges have operators faced in adopting liquid cooling? And how can we overcome them?
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Networking lunchDatacloud stageJoin us in our Marquee for an interactive and social networking lunch with a wide range of options available.
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Datacloud stageThe role of internet exchanges and peering are often overlooked in the region’s digital transformation. The local exchange of traffic will be essential in the shift to inference and other latency-dependent use cases.
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What is the status of the region’s leading exchanges?
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How is content localisation unlocking the value of AI?
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The role of neutral internet exchanges in attracting international players to growing hubs
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Datacloud stageThis keynote explores how Schneider Electric is accelerating the shift toward high‑density, AI‑ready data centers designed for speed, sustainability, and scale—supported by market insights from across MEA and global infrastructure trends. It highlights the critical role of ecosystem collaboration, together with breakthroughs in power architecture, liquid cooling, and automation, in enabling the next generation of hyperscale, AI‑driven data centers in the region.
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Take some time between content to grab a coffee and snack, served throughout the venue or take a chance to try our smoothie bikes or experience our calligraphy artists.
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Datacloud stageIndia’s digital infrastructure sector is undergoing rapid transformation and growth, driven by enhanced international connectivity and demand for AI.
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What are the opportunities and challenges for India's digital economy?
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How is the data centre market evolving, and what impact are hyperscaler investments like Google’s $15 billion AI Hub in Andhra Pradesh having?
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How critical are new subsea landing stations in ensuring resilient connectivity and attracting new systems?
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Datacloud Networking MeetupJoin us at the networking Oasis, within the Datacloud zone, for a fun and social networking hour. A great opportunity to catchup with old contacts and make some new ones.
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Networking receptionPeacock gardenJoin us to celebrate a day of deal-making in the beautiful event gardens, the perfect space to unwind after day two of Capacity and Datacloud Middle East.
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Registration area
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Datacloud stage
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Datacloud stageAs AI, machine learning, and SaaS reshape the digital infrastructure landscape at unprecedented speed, the capabilities needed to succeed in this industry are undergoing a fundamental transformation. This panel explores how organisations can evolve their workforce strategies to stay competitive and future-ready.
- How are companies addressing the growing talent gap?
- What effective reskilling and upskilling pathways are emerging to prepare teams for AI-driven operations?
- How can mentorship effectively attract and integrate new talent into the industry?
- What strategies are successfully incentivising new talent to join the digital infrastructure workforce?
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Capacity Stage10:00 – 10:10 AM | Welcome & Introduction
10:10 – 10:25 AM | Market Overview by Henry Sutton
10:25 – 11:40 AM | Panel Discussion – Investor, hyperscaler & operator
11:40 – 11:55 AM | Audience Q&A
11:55 – 12:00 PM | Closing Remarks
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Datacloud stageDiversity is more than a buzzword in the digital infrastructure industry—it’s essential for building a truly representative workforce. Innovation thrives when teams bring together different perspectives and experiences, creating a work environment that fuels growth. In this session, we will explore
- What are the current barriers to entry for diverse talent and career advancement?
- How can companies create policies and cultures that support and promote diversity and drive retention?
- How these diverse talent pools helping to address critical skills gaps in the industry?
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Datacloud stageAn informal, unscripted conversation with leading digital infrastructure CEOs. Hear how they built their careers, overcome challenges, and gain candid advice on career advancement, talent development, and navigating the industry. A unique opportunity for Q&A and in-person mentoring insights.
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Datacloud stageJoin us for brunch alongside our sparking discussion roundtables.
Discussion topics:
- How are we fostering belonging?
- How to get the most out of mentorship?
- How to inspire the next generation of talent?
- How to retain new talent?
- How to AI proof your career?