Data Centre World debuts in Middle East as Gulf AI build-out accelerates
Data Centre World will hold its first Middle East edition in Abu Dhabi on 17 and 18 November 2026, bringing together data centre operators, hyperscalers, AI hardware vendors and UAE federal ministries under one programme. The event is organised by inD, a joint venture between Informa Group and the Dubai World Trade Centre, and follows regional debuts in Australia, Latin America and Europe earlier in 2026.
The Abu Dhabi edition arrives at a pivotal moment for Gulf digital infrastructure. Research and advisory group Omdia estimates the Middle East added 1 gigawatt of new IT capacity in 2025 alone, with data centre capacity growing at a compound annual rate of approximately 25%. The UAE is central to that trajectory: the government is targeting a doubling of the digital economy's contribution to GDP, from 9.7% to 19.4%, within a decade, while Abu Dhabi's Department of Government Enablement has launched a AED 13 billion digital strategy aimed at full sovereign-cloud migration and an AI-enabled government by 2027.
Who is on the floor
Confirmed participants include UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, UAE Ministry of Investment, Gulf data centre operators Khazna Data Centres, Core42 and Tabreed, alongside hyperscalers AWS, Google and Oracle and Nvidia. That line-up gives the event credibility beyond a typical trade show, combining regulatory principals with the builders and buyers of regional capacity.
Khazna is separately constructing the G42 UAE Stargate cluster, a 1 GW facility developed with OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco and SoftBank. The overlap between event participants and active Stargate partners suggests the conference floor will function in part as a deal-making venue for a pipeline already in motion.
Power, cooling and grid stability
Two technical themes dominate the programme: energy efficiency and grid stability under extreme thermal conditions. The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, working with Khazna, has launched a pilot targeting a 40% reduction in cooling-related power consumption. Mooza Al Neyadi, the ministry's chief AI executive and an opening-session speaker, framed the approach in terms of water and energy co-efficiency: "Every megawatt we save through cooling is a megawatt of compute capacity the grid does not have to build." She described data centres as a national efficiency opportunity rather than a pure load burden, citing liquid cooling, closed-loop systems and mandatory efficiency standards as the combined toolkit.
Nvidia distinguished engineer Sean James addressed grid-stability risk specific to AI workloads, noting that shifting hundreds of megawatts within seconds is a power-quality problem before it becomes a capacity problem. On-site battery storage that smooths load transients, he argued, reframes the grid-connection conversation from feasibility to timing.
The Gulf's extreme climate, with ambient temperatures reaching 50 degrees Celsius, makes cooling strategy non-negotiable. Closed-loop and liquid-cooling systems suited to those conditions feature in dedicated closed-door workshops alongside AI hall design and electrical design sessions tailored to AI-specific load profiles.
Market context and competitive landscape
The Middle East data centre market is attracting capital from sovereign wealth vehicles, hyperscaler region-builds and independent colocation developers simultaneously. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain feature in the event's 2030 market-outlook session alongside the UAE, reflecting a Gulf-wide rather than single-market dynamic.
The region's rapid expansion is not without risk. Power-grid headroom, water scarcity and the cost of renewable energy integration at scale remain structural constraints. The Gulf's regulatory environment for cross-border data flows and AI governance is still forming: the UAE has published an AI strategy and a data-protection law, but alignment with emerging international frameworks, including the EU AI Act's extraterritorial provisions affecting international cloud providers, is an ongoing process that buyers should track when committing long-term infrastructure spend.
Data Centre World Middle East takes place at the Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi hotel. Registration and the full programme are available at www.datacenterworldmiddleeast.com.