As AI drives unprecedented demand for digital infrastructure and energy, industry leaders discuss how data centers are evolving to deliver the capacity, efficiency, resilience, and sustainability needed to support the next wave of innovation.
Recorded during New York Climate Week 2026 as part of Powering the New Energy Reality in the Age of AI, Johnson Controls, Microsoft and Accenture brought together industry leaders to discuss how data centers are evolving to deliver the capacity, efficiency, resilience and sustainability needed to support the next wave of AI innovation.
The discussion explores how organizations are navigating the rapid growth of AI while balancing the need for speed, reliability, efficiency, resilience and sustainability.
Topics include the growing demand for digital infrastructure and energy, the evolving role of data centers, increasing power and cooling requirements, utility and grid challenges, infrastructure planning, and the importance of collaboration across the value chain.
Featured speakers:
Elnaz Azolaty, Business and Sustainability Strategy, Accenture
James Mazurek, Utilities Strategy Lead, Accenture
Arushi Srivastava, Deal Solutioning, Innovations GTA and Strategy Lead, NTT DATA North America
Matt Kightlinger, Vice President of Commercial Sales, Data Centers, Johnson Controls
