Our Cloud & AI Infrastructure 2026 themes

As AI becomes essential to business strategy, organisations must deploy it at scale - without overengineering or overspending. This theme explores how AI-as-a-Service and optimised cloud architectures enable smarter, faster adoption of AI. From managing compute demands to simplifying deployment, learn how to build agile, cost-effective infrastructure for today’s AI workloads and tomorrow’s innovation.

Sub-Themes: AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS), cloud-native AI workloads, infrastructure for LLMs & agentic AI, performance & cost optimisation, and simplifying AI deployment.

Encompassing long-term operational resilience, financial performance, and strategic growth, business sustainability is key in relation to the Cloud. AI technologies can drive greater automation, optimise resource allocation, and unlock new opportunities for value creation - all while maximising ROI and minimising risk.

Sub-Themes: Green FinOps, energy-efficient AI workloads, sustainable infrastructure & co-location, AI for sustainability, and cloud lifecycle optimisation.

As AI adoption accelerates, infrastructure decisions are becoming more complex. From colocation and edge computing to hyperscale cloud, each model offers unique advantages in performance, scalability, cost, and compliance. This theme examines how these approaches can work independently or together - helping organisations assess the right mix of infrastructure to future-proof operations and scale AI effectively.

Sub-Themes: Latency vs Scalability Trade-offs, Data Locality & Sovereignty, Cost Efficiency & Resource Management, AI Use Case Alignment, and Hybrid & Distributed Architecture Design.

As AI adoption grows, organisations face rising ethical and regulatory demands. This theme explores responsible AI frameworks, data sovereignty, and the role of sovereign cloud in safeguarding sensitive data, ensuring compliance, and building trust through transparent, fair, and accountable automation.

Sub-Themes: Ethical AI Frameworks and Best practices, Governance models for AI deployment, Data sovereignty and cross-border data flow challenges.

As cloud and AI reshape the digital enterprise, effective leadership must evolve to prioritise people as much as technology. This theme explores how organisations can foster resilient, purpose-driven teams through inclusive management, mental health awareness, and strategic workforce development. It highlights the cultural foundations of successful transformation in an era of rapid technological change.

Sub-Themes: Mental health, people leadership, business strategy, cultural change, diversity and inclusion.