Explore the 2025 Agenda

As 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 what are the risks of falling behind? 
• How can stakeholders ensure long-term ROI while navigating rapid technological change, regulatory pressures, and geopolitical uncertainty? 

Stargate 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?

As 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 With hyperscale campuses and GPU clusters requiring gigawatts of reliable power, outdated contracting models and grid limitations risk slowing progress—unless bold reforms and private innovation step in.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? 

The 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

As 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? 

With 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?  

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? 

Even 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?

As 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?

The 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. 

• What is the status of the region’s leading exchanges? 

• How is content localisation unlocking the value of AI? 

•  The role of neutral internet exchanges in attracting international players to growing hubs 

India’s digital infrastructure sector is undergoing rapid transformation and growth, driven by enhanced international connectivity and demand for AI. 

• What are the opportunities and challenges for India's digital economy? 

• How is the data centre market evolving, and what impact are hyperscaler investments like Google’s $15 billion AI Hub in Andhra Pradesh having? 

• How critical are new subsea landing stations in ensuring resilient connectivity and attracting new systems? 

As 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?

Diversity 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?

Join 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?