Data centre LIVE: Debating AI and the data centre revolution

The data centre industry has long operated to a familiar playbook. Sites were selected for their proximity to network infrastructure, facilities were designed to last two decades and supply chains were optimised for cost and efficiency. 

The reality now is that artificial intelligence has torn that playbook to shreds. 

At the recent instalment of Data Centre LIVE: The London Summit 2026, four senior industry figures came together for The AI Data Centre Debate to discuss the challenges and opportunities created by AI's voracious appetite for compute, power and space. Their verdict: almost every assumption underpinning data centre development is being challenged simultaneously.