Agenda

We are living in an extraordinary moment of transformation. Since the pandemic, global internet traffic has nearly quadrupled—driven by explosive growth in social media and accelerated adoption of AI applications across both the public sector and global enterprises seeking operational efficiency.

According to the IEA, global energy demand rose by 2.2% last year, led by industrial activity. Data centers alone now account for more than 50% of recent global electricity growth, and the sector’s energy consumption is expected to outpace most other industrial segments in the years ahead.

The digital infrastructure landscape is evolving rapidly, with billions of dollars being invested in the design and deployment of gigawatt-scale AI cluster data centers—reshaping the future of digital, energy, and grid ecosystems.

Join us for this opening keynote to hear from industry thought leaders with deep expertise and global recognition. We’ll explore how to reinvent conventional thinking and strategically deploy capital—billions per year—with clear, intentional outcomes to drive a generational transformation in digital infrastructure for the AI era.

In a world of costly delays and evolving customer expectations, proactive coordination throughout the entire data centre value chain is essential, from the powered shell developer to land acquisition, utilities, connectivity, and permitting. While a neutral model is essential, there are clear synergies to be unlocked when portfolio companies collaborate on the same project.

• What risks does a lack of coordination pose to project timelines and the knock-on effect on ROI?

• How best can we encourage this collaboration across hyperscaler projects to ensure on-time delivery?

• How do coordinating developers need to adapt their approach to different deployment types, especially as we move from LLM training sites towards inference?

Led by the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin, this talk introduces a multidisciplinary, data-driven forum, "COMPASS"- Collaborative Optimization & Management of Power Allocation: Surface & Subsurface strategies - for planning large electric loads. We bring shared maps, methods, and metrics across power, water, land, and workforce to convert demand into reliable capacity. See how integrated planning and continuous learning de-risk siting, shorten timelines, and align developers, utilities, communities, and regulators—so Texas builds where it truly works.

Even as AI drives an unprecedented acceleration in demand for digital infrastructure, the next leap forward in innovation is emerging: quantum computing. With quantum’s ability to solve intractable problems, unprecedented advances in cybersecurity, medical and material sciences, finance, sensing, and even more powerful AI are just over the horizon. These new use cases will require massive investment into digital infrastructure, but also offers ROI for the investors who get it right. Join us to hear from leading investors and innovators in quantum computing to discuss:

• How will quantum computing disrupt the traditional compute offering of data centers?
• Which use cases exist that make them commercially viable?
• What will quantum digital infrastructure look like, how will design evolve, and how can operators prepare for this new form of computing?
• Will the convergence of quantum and space tech unlock a new era of secure global communication?