Data Centre Leaders Summit Returns to Sydney: Inside the 2026 Program on Investment, Energy, and Scale

The event has grown quickly. After two years establishing itself as the go-to annual gathering for hyperscalers, operators, developers, investors, and government stakeholders, the 2026 edition expands the program and brings in a stronger international contingent than previous years. Australia needs 175 new data centre facilities by 2030, and the people responsible for funding, building, and powering them will all be in the same venue on the same two days.​

Where the Capital Conversation Happens

Day 1 - MSCI's Benjamin Martin-Henry opens the capital markets session with a read on where global institutional money is moving across hyperscale, edge, and colocation assets. There will also be a panel that brings together Kate Mitchell from Centuria Capital Group, Jing Zhou from Nuveen's Hong Kong Strategic Transactions team, and Fredrik Johansson of Balder Investment. The agenda covers co-investment structures, foreign investment considerations, and how capital allocators are comparing Australian and APAC data centre markets.

Clean Power Moves to the Centre of the Build Conversation

On sustainability, Microsoft's ESG Policy Planning Director APAC Kavickumar Muruganathan presents an international case study on net-zero commitments at the facility level. The Day 1 closing panel brings together NEXTDC's Head of Energy Shayne Kumar, AusNet's Richard Pawlik, ENGIE Australia's Chief Renewables Officer Laura Caspari, and Origin Zero to cover renewables, battery storage, grid partnerships, and the economics of small modular nuclear reactors.

Five Things Worth Noting About the 2026 Program

• International capital in the room. Nuveen, MSCI, Balder Investment, and White and Case's global head of data centres all attend, a signal of how offshore capital is now watching the Australian market.​

• AI moves past hype. DCI Data Centers CEO Sumit Mukhija's Day 2 keynote reframes the conversation from "AI-ready" to real-world deployment outcomes, sustained utilisation, and what that means for facility design.​

• Sovereign capability on the main stage. CDC's Glenn Uidam opens Day 1 with a strategic outlook placing sovereign needs alongside cloud and AI as Australia's three core growth drivers.​

• A full day dedicated to construction. Multiplex, Evolution Precast, JLL, Vertiv, and Autodesk lead Day 2 on modular delivery, hyperscale acceleration, and the speed-versus-quality equation.​

• Roundtable sessions doubled. Thirteen facilitated roundtables across both days cover everything from non-potable water cooling to self-build trends in APAC — and delegates can attend multiple sessions.​

The 3rd Annual Data Centre Leaders Summit runs 17-18 March 2026 at The Star Sydney. Full program and registration cab be found at datacentreleaders.com.​

We look forward to seeing everyone there.

Written by CertifiedStrategic Editorial Team

CertifiedStrategic.com  - Australia's independent data centre index tracking capacity, certification and market news across the country's critical infrastructure providers.