Agenda 2026
9.00
Arrival and networking
10.00
Opening
10.10
Keynote Panel: Data Centres as a Planning and Urban Challenge
Data centres are becoming one of Saudi Arabia’s most strategically important infrastructure assets. The market is expected to grow rapidly to 2030, with over $4.27bn invested and nearly 2.7GW of new IT capacity in the pipeline. Rapid expansion of cloud regions and colocation demand, alongside AI‑driven hyperscale growth, is outpacing planning cycles. This panel sets the conference scene, examining grid, cooling, land and supply‑chain pressures, and how stakeholders can coordinate resilient, Vision‑2030‑aligned digital‑infrastructure growth.
10.50
Panel: Powering AI - The New Data-Centre Demand Curve
With AI and high-density compute driving power needs faster than Saudi Arabia’s grid-planning timelines, developers face long connection queues, substation congestion and delays that can slow deployment. As the Kingdom shifts towards clean energy, on-site solutions such as microgrids, private substations and battery-energy storage are becoming more important. This session explores how data centre teams can secure power, build resilience and scale capacity at the speed AI growth requires.
11.30
Panel: Water Demand – The Emerging Data Centre Challenge
In Saudi Arabia’s arid climate, water could become a major constraint on data centre growth. AI-driven heat loads increase cooling-related water use, adding pressure on desalination systems, municipal networks and water-scarce communities that also depend on limited supplies. This panel explains what rising demand means for site selection and operations, and how recycled water, non-potable cooling loops and resilient supply options can reduce risk as digital infrastructure expands.
12.00
Presentations: Next-gen cooling: Technologies Enabling AI-Scale Data Centres
Saudi Arabia’s extreme climate makes cooling an engineering challenge for data centre design. GPU‑dense AI clusters generate intense heat, making traditional evaporative systems harder to sustain. These presentations highlight next‑generation liquid and immersion cooling, hybrid approaches, high‑density rack thermal management and AI‑optimised control. Speakers will show how these technologies cut water use, boost efficiency and support hyperscale growth.
12.20
Break
12.50
Panel: Modular & Offsite Construction: Building at the Speed of Data Centre Demand
Saudi Arabia’s digital economy ambitions require data centre capacity that can be delivered rapidly, reliably and at scale. Modular and offsite construction is becoming essential as demand accelerates across giga-projects, cloud regions and enterprise campuses. This panel highlights advances in prefabricated power rooms, modular cooling blocks, factory-built white space and skid-mounted electrical systems. Speakers will explore how modularisation shortens delivery timelines, reduces on-site risk, strengthens supply-chain resilience and supports high-density compute environments.
13.30
Presentations: Autonomous Operations: The Next Leap in Digital Infrastructure
Automation is becoming fundamental as Saudi Arabia rapidly scales its digital infrastructure. These sessions explore DCIM platforms, digital twins, predictive maintenance, automated fault detection and AI‑driven resource scheduling. With the Kingdom’s fast‑growing market, automation is now essential for resilience and efficiency. Speakers will show how autonomous operations increase uptime, reduce manual intervention, lower operating costs and continuously optimise power and cooling performance in real time.
14.00
Lunch
15.00
Panel: Designing Secure & Resilient Mission-Critical Data Centres
As data centres take on a larger national-infrastructure role, both physical security and cybersecurity are becoming core design priorities. This panel explores how facilities can stay secure and resilient in high-density, always-on environments. Speakers will cover Tier certification, redundancy planning, access control, climate-resilient design and protection of operational-technology systems, focusing on how operators can manage physical, digital and environmental risks while maintaining continuous availability.
15.30
Presentation: High-Performance Connectivity for AI-Scale Data Centres
AI and cloud workloads are driving extreme pressure on data centre networks, demanding faster, lower‑latency connections across facilities and campuses. As Saudi Arabia positions itself as a digital hub linking Asia, Europe and Africa, high‑performance connectivity becomes a strategic advantage. This session examines the challenges of scaling bandwidth, eliminating bottlenecks and building fibre‑rich, AI‑ready campuses that can support the Kingdom’s rapidly accelerating compute demand.
15.40
Presentation: High-Density Compute for the AI Data Centre
AI hardware relies on high‑power, high‑heat chips that push rack densities far beyond traditional server designs. As GPU‑heavy systems become standard, facilities must rethink power delivery, cooling, floor layout and space planning. This session explains the practical implications of higher‑density compute and outlines how operators can prepare for next‑generation AI hardware - from electrical and thermal upgrades to the design choices required when building or modernising data‑centre campuses.
15.50
Presentation: Intelligent Infrastructure: AI-Driven Orchestration in Data Centres
As data centres scale up to support AI and cloud growth, managing them the old way becomes too slow and too complex. This session explains how software orchestration tools can automate routine tasks, balance workloads, prevent bottlenecks and improve overall efficiency. It will show how these platforms help data centre teams run larger, more complex environments with greater speed, reliability and visibility - capabilities that are increasingly essential as a country's digital-infrastructure footprint expands.
16.00
Panel: The Edge Advantage - Compute for Smart Cities & Giga-Projects
Saudi Arabia’s smart cities, giga‑projects and industrial zones are driving demand for compute closer to where data is created. This session explains why edge data centres are becoming essential and how they complement large hyperscale facilities. It explores the design of small, fast‑deployable sites and their integration with 5G/6G networks. The discussion shows how edge sites cut latency, support real‑time applications and form a critical layer of the Kingdom’s expanding digital‑infrastructure landscape.
16.30
Panel: The Next 10 Years of Data Centre Technology
Saudi Arabia’s data centre landscape is accelerating rapidly, requiring long‑term planning that anticipates technologies that reshape how facilities are built and operated. This session explores the breakthroughs likely to define the next decade - from new chip architectures and photonic computing to advanced cooling loops, hydrogen‑ready backup systems and even nuclear‑powered campuses. Speakers will examine how AI‑driven design, new materials and energy technologies could transform capacity planning, site selection and operational strategy across the Kingdom.