AI Week – a week of curated video and editorial content from DCD focused on the impact of artificial intelligence on the data center – is back this year, and the content is more powerful than ever.

Since the start of 2025, we have seen a data center launched into space, trade mayhem following tariffs, natural disasters, nationwide power outages, and supply chain chaos due to geopolitical tensions.

This is the uncertain world in which AI has emerged not only as a fast-growing enabler of advanced compute functions, but a foundational driver of global digital infrastructure. While companies race to build AI into their operations, the data center industry is faced with a time where speed, scale, sustainability, and resilience must coexist in entirely new ways.

We are seeing every layer of infrastructure being reshaped, from power and cooling to networking, batteries, and chip design. Traditional architectures are straining under the weight of high-density GPU clusters, spiky power profiles, and enormous bandwidth requirements.

While forecasts suggest that AI could improve energy efficiency in the long run, the growth of AI data centers will have a significant impact on supply chains and power demands.

So, DCD’s week-long curated video and editorial coverage of the latest developments in the AI space returns in 2025 at a time when the issues being discussed have never been more challenging, or, indeed, of more immediate corporate and commercial value.

Like the global power demand, this year’s DCD content has registered significant growth. Running from 28th July - 1st August 2025, AI Week will see more than 50 contributors examine the past, present, and future of AI’s impact on the data center industry, through industry opinions, DCD>Talks, supplements, eBooks, and 18 broadcast episodes.

In his opening keynote in 2024, Vertiv CEO Giordano Albertazzi highlighted some of Vertiv's strategic priorities in supporting AI, and he considered AI imperatives, from rack density growth, to the major design/build challenges, examining the relative benefits of greenfield and retrofits. Albertazzi will be joining us again to discuss if the market is evolving as expected.

We will hear a lot about the future, but what is happening right now?

In an article published by DCD in April, NTT President and CEO Doug Adams highlighted the impact of AI on energy demands, examining, among other things, the need for energy-efficient solutions and a resilient power supply. Adams will expand on this during his episode on AI’s role in the data center evolution.

AI may have remained one of the catchiest buzzwords of the year, but the conversations presented during AI Week will go deeper, to examine the serious infrastructure challenges that it entails. As Adams notes in his article, “we must modernize energy infrastructure with the same urgency and innovation that has defined the digital revolution.”

In an episode that aired as part of our Keeping IT Cool: Liquid event in May 2025, Iceotope Products VP Neil Edmunds spoke to me about the role of AI in reshaping data center heat management. He noted that thermal demands are rising because of the knock-on impact of rising power demand – and traditional cooling is increasingly outmoded since liquid cooling now dominates the space.

Liquid cooling domination will be a key topic during AI Week as we have seen a technology that was previously optional become a necessity for all those looking to keep up with the latest generations of chips. Yet, while the volume of available liquid-cooled technologies grows, owners and operators remain hesitant, torn between the long-term energy savings and the risk of the upfront investment, especially evident with smaller, low-density facilities that still contend with the choice between what is necessary and what is merely desirable.

Throughout the week, we will find out more about these challenges. Among others, Edmunds will address Iceotope’s emphasis on the central role of precision liquid cooling in managing the high thermal design power of next-gen AI chips, while Vertiv’s Thermal Data Centers VP Steve Madara will spotlight thermal resilience through next-generation cooling technologies.

The way forward seems clear - working together is key.

I have never heard the word “partnership” come up more than in conversations preparing for the 18 episodes we will be sharing during AI Week. Conapto’s Stefan Nilson will explore this issue through the lens of responsible AI, as he’s joined by Vertical Data’s Hamid Djam. Schneider Electric’s Marc Garner will be joined by Compass Data Centers’ Amy Marks to show how this essential partnership will help meet AI scalability requirements. Vertiv’s Greg Stover with Nvidia’s Ali Heydari will discuss the key role of collaboration as innovation at the silicon and system level drives new requirements for power, thermal design, and performance optimization.

DCD is thrilled to share the latest insights from some of the industry’s biggest players, so join us from the 28th July to 1st August as we take you on a week-long journey through trends, investments, AI-ready facility requirements, power, cooling, network infrastructure, chip innovation, future outlooks, and more.