Vertiv Holdings has concluded a Masterclass on AI Data Centre Power Architecture along with a CXO Roundtable aimed at senior leadership, as part of broader efforts to support India’s preparedness for gigawatt-scale AI infrastructure.
The sessions, held in December in Mumbai, were positioned as official pre-summit engagements leading up to the India AI Impact Summit 2026, which is scheduled to take place in February 2026 in New Delhi. The summit, announced by Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Focus on AI-ready power and cooling architectures
The Vertiv-led masterclass and roundtable brought together CEOs and senior technology leaders to examine the evolving requirements of AI-driven data centres, particularly as workloads scale toward extreme density and gigawatt-level power consumption.
Peter Panfil, Distinguished Engineer and Vice President for Global Technical Business Development at Vertiv, led the technical discussions, highlighting the structural changes required to support next-generation AI workloads.
“AI workloads are accelerating toward extreme high-density computing, and data centers must be prepared for power and cooling demands at the gigawatt scale. The adoption of liquid cooling, utility-independent architectures, and ‘bring your own power’ models will be essential to building resilient and environmentally responsible AI infrastructure in India,” Panfil said.
Infrastructure readiness as a strategic priority
According to Vertiv, the sessions were designed to help Indian business leaders better understand the implications of AI adoption on critical infrastructure planning, particularly around power availability, grid resilience, and sustainability.
Shrirang Deshpande, Senior Director – Strategy and New Market Development at Vertiv India, said the discussions were timely as India prepares for rapid AI-led growth.
“India is entering a defining era in its AI journey, and digital infrastructure readiness will determine how effectively the country can scale. Through the Masterclass and Roundtable, Vertiv facilitated critical conversations around the capabilities, standards, and technologies required to operate at GW-scale. These discussions lay a strong foundation as the regional industry moves toward the India AI Impact Summit 2026,” Deshpande said.
Key themes discussed
The sessions outlined a refreshed roadmap for AI-ready data centre infrastructure in India, with discussions centred on:
– High-density AI power system design capable of scaling while maintaining reliability and efficiency
-The growing role of liquid cooling to manage heat from advanced AI processors
– Utility-independent and grid-resilient architectures to ensure operational continuity
– Readiness benchmarks for colocation and cloud service providers as AI workloads expand
Industry participants discussed how these design principles could help India support large-scale AI deployments while addressing sustainability, resilience, and energy efficiency concerns.
Looking ahead to India AI Impact Summit 2026
The masterclass and CXO roundtable form part of a broader ecosystem-building effort ahead of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, which aims to position India as a global leader in responsible and inclusive AI innovation.
Vertiv indicated that it plans to continue engaging with industry, policymakers, and ecosystem partners through similar educational initiatives in 2026, alongside participation in national and global AI-focused forums.
As India prepares for exponential growth in AI compute demand, such discussions underscore the increasing importance of power, cooling, and infrastructure strategy as foundational enablers of the country’s AI ambitions.