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July 3, 2025
Astrid Groves started with a lesson of history.
During the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale used data to improve hygiene in hospitals and significantly reduce death rates.
“She gathered information on soldier deaths and discovered that infections, rather than battle injuries, were the leading cause,” Groves explained. “She created charts and graphs to illustrate her findings, leading to improved sanitation and a transformation of medical care worldwide.”
That was in 1853.
Fast forward to the modern era and Walmart used data to predict what people would buy during hurricanes.
“By analysing past sales data, they found that items like flashlights and Pop-Tarts were popular during storms,” Groves continued. “This insight helped Walmart stock up on these items before the next hurricane, ensuring they could meet customer needs and increase sales.”
That was in 2004.
“Data has always been at the centre of decision making,” Groves highlighted. “It’s no secret – data has an impact on our business, lives and world.
“This is an exciting time to be in technology. Now we have built a new brain to work on our behalf – an AI brain that can consume much more data, faster and make more predicable decisions. And we love it. We are running the AI race right now.”
As General Manager of Channels, Alliances and Operations at Schneider Electric, Groves speaks with authority on the foundational work required to accelerate the potential of AI.
“This new era of digital transformation isn’t something that can be retrofitted to our networks as easily as AI can be retrofitted to our lives,” Groves cautioned.
Taking centre stage at Moxie Authority 2025, Groves heralded a “new era” of data centres in front of more than 400 of the most influential business and technology leaders across Australia.
Why? Because thriving in the new digital economy is impossible without data.
In other words, feeding insatiable digital – and notably, AI – appetite is no easy task. Yet the data centre is delivering on the promise of compute-intensive workloads at an unrelenting pace, highlighting the need for end-to-end infrastructure modernisation.
Advancement of AI data centres
Aligned to the theme of Inspired Knowledge, Moxie Authority 2025 housed the most influential figures setting the market agenda in business and technology across Australia.
This inaugural and invite-only conference in Sydney hosted more than 400 industry front-runners spanning all ends of the ecosystem, from CIOs, CTOs and CISOs to CDOs, CEOs and Founders.
According to Moxie Research, 70% of Australian businesses are developing an AI strategy and roadmap in 2025.
Beyond that, plans are also underway to lay the technical groundwork for effective AI utilisation – 68% of organisations surveyed are currently selecting the right technology stack and infrastructure while 65% are evaluating data readiness capabilities.
As a result, all roads now lead to the data centre in Australia.
Currently, there is close to 1.5GW of built-out capacity in Australia, with the concentration of capacity in Sydney and then Melbourne. Based on CBRE data – published in the report, Australia’s Data Centres 2024 – the current pipeline of commitment and planned capacity also indicates “significant investment” in Perth, Brisbane and Canberra.
To put this expansion into perspective, the average size of land purchased for data centres across the country increased from 1.3ha in 2018 to 15.7ha in 2024.
By 2028, Australia is expected to become a $40 billion data centre market.
“Today, we stand at the forefront of an engineering challenge that is as monumental as building the roads and infrastructure that our society relies on,” Groves observed. “Just as roads connect cities and buildings provide shelter, our task is to construct the digital highways and fortresses that power the new digital economy.
“In this era, data is the lifeblood of innovation, and our data centres are the beating heart.
They are the foundation upon which businesses thrive, ideas flourish and communities connect.“
Consequently, the infrastructure constructed must be “robust, scalable and resilient” – all while capable of supporting the ever-growing demands of technology and information.
“Like the engineers who design bridges and skyscrapers, we are tasked with creating structures that are not only functional but also visionary,” Groves stated.
“Our data centres must be able to withstand the pressures of a dynamic digital landscape, ensuring that data flows seamlessly and securely. Together, we are building the future, one byte at a time.”
According to Groves, AI data centre advancements span five core capabilities:
“These advancements are driven by the rapid evolution of compute technologies, including the frequent updates of Nvidia GPUs every 12 to 18 months,” Groves added.
“The power density has increased tenfold. Build rates are faster and there is a unique load profile. The architectures differ from traditional data centre facilities.”
Such advancements make each new data centre unique from resiliency and density to flow rates and temperates, plus availability requirements.
For Groves, thriving in this new AI era will require the market to master four key pillars:
Mastering the AI power pillars
As businesses delve into the AI era, Groves said focus often lies on applications and end-user services.
Yet beneath this surface lies the “AI bummock”, where core requirements are essential for successful solution building. A bummock is the downward projection from the underside of an iceberg, highlighting the foundational work needed to maximise the true potential of AI.
“This includes the need for tools and frameworks, meticulous planning around deployment and orchestration, and a thorough examination of data supply and sources,” Groves continued. “Additionally, reviewing cloud services for AI enhancement or delivery is crucial.“
Within this context, Groves cited that one of the most profound challenge in this space is addressing the supporting infrastructure, deep within the bummock and the data centre.
“Purposeful planning is required to determine where to place the load, how to cool it and how to power it,” Groves explained. “By understanding and addressing these foundational elements, we can ensure that our AI solutions are robust, efficient and sustainable.”
As a result, an “unprecedented” change in compute environments is already in transition at local, regional and global levels.
By 2030, an additional 58GW of AI workload is expected to be added to existing data centres.
Of that additional 58GW, the estimated breakdown is:
“The higher the rack density, the more advanced technology and infrastructure are required to support it, including ultra-efficient cooling,” Groves said.
“Data centre providers are investing heavily to accelerate the development of AI-ready infrastructure to capture demand, namely by partnering with key market players. Critically, server and chip manufacturers are central to infrastructure decisions from hyper-scale to enterprise – they have the power seat.”
The need to manage AI workloads – combined with optimising power capacity and efficiency – comes with a caveat however.
“We’ve focused a lot on deploying high-density infrastructure, which is currently in high demand, but this process doesn’t occur in isolation,” Groves shared.
“It’s crucial to optimise the power capacity and efficiency of this infrastructure. If there are capacity issues – and we’re working to manage data growth with limited resources – we must find ways to enhance these aspects.
“Additionally, sustainability challenges remain significant. Our commitments to achieving a balance and environmental stewardship are vital.”
In outlining an energy efficiency strategy for the AI era, Groves detailed the importance of:
The final part of the equation is “partnering for success”, highlighting the crucial role of the ecosystem in executing on the promise of AI.
“In rugby, when you have the right scrum formation, it gives you stability – reducing the risk of every player and ensuring safety,” Groves noted. “It gives you control, dominance and confidence to operate. As partners in the channel, we need to choose the right players for our scrum.”
According to Moxie Research, 46% of Australian businesses will prioritise working with specialist vendors and partners on AI projects.
As indicated by Groves however, the expertise required from this new AI ecosystem is both deep and differentiated. Based on the data, Australian businesses are currently working with the following types of AI specialists:
By order of importance, Australian businesses ranked the most important characteristics of AI specialists as:
“At Schneider Electric, we are dedicated to accelerating IMPACT through our channel ecosystem with cutting-edge data centre and physical infrastructure solutions,” Groves summarised.
“We empower our partners to maximise growth opportunities by focusing on innovation, efficiency and sustainability.”
Moxie Authority 2025 housed the most influential figures redefining business and technology across Australia. This inaugural and invite-only conference in Sydney hosted more than 400 industry front-runners spanning all ends of the ecosystem, from CEOs, CIOs and CTOs to CDOs, CISOs and Founders.
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