Abu Dhabi’s push to become a regional artificial intelligence powerhouse is driving a new focus on collaboration between government, hyperscalers and data centre operators as demand for computing power accelerates across the UAE.
That challenge is set to dominate discussions at Data Center World Middle East, which makes its regional debut in Abu Dhabi next week, bringing together major technology companies, infrastructure operators and policymakers to address the practical requirements of building AI infrastructure at scale.
Abu Dhabi is already the Middle East’s largest data centre market, with 374MW of IT capacity, according to JLL. The emirate’s Department of Energy expects AI infrastructure to require around 2GW of power in its initial phase, rising to 5GW over time, supported by AED250 billion of planned investment in energy and water infrastructure between 2025 and 2035.
Industry leaders say meeting those ambitions will require a coordinated approach rather than isolated projects.
“The biggest gap in making Gulf data centers AI-ready is the lack of a coordinated approach to scale,” said Mehdi Paryavi, chairman and chief executive of the International Data Center Authority. “The region needs adaptable standards, a skilled workforce, long-term regional planning, reliable energy at the scale AI requires, and greater stability.”
Paryavi added that developers must work closely with governments, utility providers and industry partners to create “an ecosystem that can support sustainable, large-scale AI infrastructure”.
For operators already expanding capacity in the Gulf, the challenge is not only securing power but also preparing facilities for increasingly demanding AI workloads.
Khazna Data Centers, which operates 30 data centres with 673MW of capacity, is among the companies helping to advance the UAE’s AI infrastructure plans.
“The biggest adjustment for operations teams as AI workloads become more demanding is recognising that operational readiness cannot begin at handover,” said Morten Tidemand, senior director of operations at Khazna Data Centers. “Higher densities require us to rethink cooling strategies, maintenance regimes and emergency procedures well before new capacity goes live.”
Tidemand said operators must also ensure teams understand how increasingly complex systems work together “not in isolation”.
The conference, taking place on 17-18 November, will feature speakers from AWS, Google, Microsoft and Oracle, alongside representatives from the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Investment. Technical sessions will examine topics ranging from liquid cooling technologies to managing mixed-density data halls.
According to Tara Gibb, senior event director for Data Center World, the event comes at a critical moment for the sector.
“Abu Dhabi has made the commitments,” Gibb said. “Turning them into capacity that runs reliably at 50°C depends on everyone working from the same plan, and that is the conversation this event is built for.”
Source: Khaleej Times