Data Center World Middle East: Day 2
As 100MW+ capacity projects and 40kW+ rack densities become the norm across the Gulf, builders and operators are addressing the reality of how to power and cool data centers in hostile >50°C ambient environments. This session welcomes a panel of cross-sectors technical experts dedicated to solving this complex design and engineering problem.
Panellists will explore how high-density data centre delivery in the Gulf demands a modern, holistic grid, power availability and cooling architecture strategy that comprises energy procurement, connection timelines, hybrid sourcing models, and other upstream grid realities.
They’ll look at how developers are using BESS as a utility connection bridge to mitigate lengthy energy deployment timelines, and how AI-driven power management and dynamic load balancing helps heavy GPU workloads align electrical demand with liquid-cooled thermal capacity.
- Technical takeaway: floor loading and pump energy trade-offs to islanded capability that protects always-on critical cooling systems.
- Technical takeaway: structural and mechanical demands of thermal stability in high ambient temps: hydraulic performance, secondary cooling loop design, direct-to-chip and immersion architectures.
In fast-moving data centre builds, commissioning is often treated as a ‘final hurdle’ before handover; in reality, it’s where design assumptions, controls logic and operational resilience are stress tested. This fireside chat examines how Gulf data centre projects can use commissioning, Building Management Systems (BMS) & Electrical Power Monitoring Systems (EPMS) controls validation and integrated systems testing to identify failure points before live workloads are introduced.
The conversation will give attendees a complete understanding of the required steps for optimal data centre commissioning in the Gulf - from sequencing, load-bank testing, controls integration to failover scenarios, documentation, and operator training - identifying the common gaps between design intent and site reality. You’ll gain a clearer view of how to structure commissioning programmes that reduce downtime risk and avoid late-stage surprises before go-live.
Against the backdrop of The UAE’s Net Zero 2050 ambitions and the Gulf’s extreme operating conditions, this panel examines how the region’s data centre sector can scale sustainably as high-density AI workloads push power, cooling and water systems to their limits.
The discussion unpacks the technical and architectural options available to those targeting sustainable MW growth in a constrained market, ending dependence on diesel and other legacy backup models through behind-the-meter strategies such as captive solar, modular BESS and smarter grid interaction.
Panellists will explore the sustainability implications of The Middle East’s changing power and water equation: reducing the region’s average 1.8 PUE, integrating WUE as a national priority, and the viability of water reuse and heat recovery as routes to greener data centers.
We’ll close with a look at strategic options for Gulf governments reconciling the need for rapid sovereign capacity growth with the sustainability imperative, and those available to data centre builders and operators targeting long-term serviceability.
- Technical takeaway: specific fluid chemistry challenges posed by local ambient temperatures.
- Technical takeaway: the breakthroughs allowing efficient, replacement of legacy air-cooling - from warm-water loops, CDU architecture, Direct-to-Chip (D2C) & single/2-phase immersion cooling.
This case study explores how operational excellence is delivered inside a Middle Eastern data centre designed for high-density, AI-ready environments. Unpacking the practical systems, processes and controls required to maintain uptime, efficiency and resilience across power, cooling, monitoring, incident response and facilities teams, attendees will gain a grounded view of what works in live operations, where technical risks emerge, and how operators improve performance across increasingly complex facilities.
The Gulf cannot simply import standard data center cooling models. Extreme heat, limited nighttime relief, and reliance on desalination require an operational equation bespoke to the Middle East - one dictated by technical mandates comprising Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) and site-specific cooling designs.
This panel explores the realities of balancing water strategy with thermal management in harsh ambient conditions, examining Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) alongside operational efficiency and mechanical limits of cooling performance in desert climates.
Expect a rigorous discussion on optimizing WUE, navigating constrained non-potable water networks, implementing thermal storage, and developing resilient advanced water treatment strategies.
- Technical takeaway: cooling performance drift in extreme ambient conditions; water strategy, treatment, and heat rejection trade-offs
- Technical takeaway: the engineering trade-offs of closed-loop liquid cooling and advanced refrigerants against traditional evaporative methods
The modern high-density data center generates an overwhelming volume of telemetry data, requiring a new approach engineered to build a resilient, intelligent operational layer capable of autonomous infrastructure orchestration.
We’ll explore the latent vulnerabilities and slow response times of legacy, siloed monitoring tools and look at how DCIM, BMS, EPMS, automation, predictive analytics and AI-enabled operations can help teams identify risk earlier and coordinate response.
Attendees will gain practical insight into how to evaluate the operational software stack, avoid integration gaps, and use software to improve uptime, energy efficiency and control in high-density Middle Eastern facilities.
The race to build facilities with the capacity to host the high-density workloads inherent with the AI revolution have pushed the ‘retrofit versus greenfield’ discussion to the top of the Gulf data centre agenda.
Across the region, investors, developers and operators are looking at current estates and asking the same question: ‘does it make sense to upgrade legacy 5–10kW/rack infrastructure, or build a purpose-built facility?’.
This panel addresses that exact question, unpacking the complexities of an answer which broaches CapEx, speed, supply chain constraints, policy, and the demanding Gulf environment. We’ll examine where retrofit and zoning for AI inside existing shells make sense, and where engineering and commercial breakpoints demand purpose-built greenfield development, with Middle Eastern players from across the data centre value chain to bring you a nuanced look at the decision process.
- Technical takeaway: approaches to solving physical constraints such as ‘stranded power’ and upgrading legacy floor-loading capacities to support 3,000kg+ liquid-cooled pods.
- Technical takeaway: viability of legacy chiller plants, and executing mechanical upgrades - like pipe routing & slab reinforcement - without disrupting service delivery for existing enterprise tenants.
As data centre markets in the Gulf compete to deliver larger, denser, more technically complex facilities, workforce readiness has become a critical constraint. From design, commissioning, cooling & control specialists to MEP engineers and operational talent, the challenge is no longer simply hiring, but building the skilled delivery ecosystem that matches the region’s ambitious AI-ready infrastructure goals.
This session examines where major talent gaps sit across the project lifecycle, how labour shortages affect timelines, quality & resilience, and what operators, contractors, governments and universities are doing to strengthen delivery in one of the world’s most ambitious data centre growth markets.
Expect a practical discussion on the complex reality of attracting, hiring and training data centre talent when the world is doing the same - set against the backdrop of the Middle Eastern paradox of localisation mandates and a shortage of regional talent.
Closed-door 90-minute workshops allowing a deepdive into technical topics with stakeholders from across the value chain. Chaired by an industry expert and, where sponsored, a client representative, these workshops will dig into a specific challenge to explore constraints and practical outcomes in a diverse yet intimate setting.
Workshop Topics
- Retrofit Clinic: Turning Cloud-Ready or Enterprise Halls into AI-Capable Space
- Build or Buy: Infrastructure Choices for Enterprise and Public Sector End Users
- Operational Software: Uptime, Capacity Provisioning