Connect | New York // Welcome Panel: Too fast to last? Building AI infrastructure responsibly

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  • —
  • Main Stage
  • Energy & Sustainability
  • Mission Critical Power
  • Management & Operations
  • Open Session
  • Main Stage
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Speakers

Kat Sullivan

Head of Channels, Compute, DatacenterDynamics and SDxCentral

Brian Hearst

Data Center & Life Sciences Builders Risk Leader, Aon's Construction and Infrastructure Practice, Aon

Mike Revock

Solutions Architect, Mission Critical, Albireo Energy

Kushal Dagli

Global Data Center Deliver Optimization Lead, Microsoft

Phill Lawson-Shanks

Chief Innovation Officer, Aligned Data Centers

Operators are racing to deploy AI, triggering the fastest, largest period of market expansion the digital infrastructure industry has ever seen. But building at scale and pace is also testing limits, with constrained grids, rising costs and increasing public scrutiny putting additional pressure on data centers to demonstrate they can sustain growth. The challenge is no longer about whether we can build capacity, it’s about whether the industry can deliver it responsibly, efficiently and with long-term resilience in mind.

This major panel explores:

  • The economics of ‘speed to power’ - managing cost, capacity and interconnection bottlenecks
  • Strategies for balancing speed with sustainability and compliance to build public trust
  • How to plan for AI-scale operations without exhausting local grids and communities
  • The role of policy and regulation in shaping responsible growth
  • What choices will separate lasting market leaders from un-sustainable operations?