Data Centre LIVE: Day One is Under Way

Data Centre LIVE's first in-person event is officially her.

The first of two days is now under way, with executives gearing up for keynotes, fireside chats and panels.

Insights from data centre professionals and experts in the field are expected – speaking about topics including AI, emerging technologies, hyperscaling, sustainability and the energy transition in modern data centres.

The first roundtable from Nyxium kicked off at 9:30am BST, and the introductory keynote, Powering the AI Era, delivered by Rolls Royce, started at 10:20am BST.

Who is speaking on the keynote?

Leading the keynote is Vittorio Pierangeli, SVP Global Power Generation at Rolls-Royce Power Systems. 

As AI workloads grow larger and faster, the pressure on data centres is all about energy.

In this keynote, Vittorio explores how the industry can keep pace with AI’s soaring infrastructure demands while still moving toward ambitious net-zero goals.

Representing Rolls-Royce Power Systems, Vittorio examines the next generation of resilient energy solutions shaping the future of high-performance data centres, from hydrogen-ready technologies to the growing role of microgrids in delivering stable, scalable power.

The session dives into the challenge facing operators worldwide: how to support increasingly dense AI environments without compromising sustainability ambitions.

Attendees can expect insight into the engineering strategies, energy innovations and long-term infrastructure thinking required to power the AI era reliably and responsibly.

Nyxium's roundtable

Away from the main keynote stage, attendees at Data Centre LIVE had access to an exclusive invite-only roundtable hosted by Nyxium called Why the Pre-Development Gap Is Killing Infrastructure Timelines – and How to Close It.

Led by Dr Paul Seurin, the private session brought together a select group of senior infrastructure developers to explore one of the industry’s biggest bottlenecks: the lengthy and unpredictable process between identifying a potential site and actually making it deployable.

With AI-driven infrastructure demand accelerating globally, the discussion focused on how permitting delays, grid connection queues, planning complexity and community approval challenges are increasingly slowing the delivery of both data centre and renewable energy projects.

The roundtable offered a practical demonstration of Nyxium’s agentic infrastructure intelligence platform, showing how developers can analyse critical site-selection data far earlier in the process.

Participants explored how the platform brings together insights traditionally scattered across months of consultancy work, from grid capacity forecasts and permitting timelines to regulatory risk indicators and deployability scoring across multiple locations simultaneously.

The session also highlighted how infrastructure intelligence is increasingly becoming a competitive advantage for developers seeking to move faster in an AI-led market.

By treating permitting velocity, regulatory stability and future grid headroom as measurable variables rather than post-commitment risks, the conversation centred on how operators can make smarter site decisions earlier and avoid costly delays later in the project lifecycle.

What is the next panel in the Enterprise Theatre?

The conversation continues from 10:45am to 11:30am BST with Global Data Centre Strategies, a panel set to explore how operators are rethinking infrastructure planning in response to soaring digital demand, AI growth and increasingly complex global markets.

Bringing together leaders from across the data centre ecosystem, the session will examine how organisations are balancing resilience, sustainability and cost as they scale capacity across international portfolios.

Topics are expected to include location strategy, emerging markets, regulatory pressures and the infrastructure requirements needed to support the next generation of cloud and high-density AI workloads.

The panel features Giampiero Frisio of ABB, Justin Lawson from CBRE and Alex Bennett of NTT Global Data Centers, alongside Nomin Chinbat representing the Government of Mongolia and Craig Doyle from Wesco Anixter.

Moderated by Data Centre Magazine Senior Editor Ben Craske, the discussion is set to provide attendees with a global view of how the sector is preparing for its next phase of growth.