As AI accelerates demand for high-density, energy-intensive data centres across APAC, sustainability is no longer a reporting exercise – it has become a core design, engineering and policy constraint that determines whether projects secure approvals, attract investment and are delivered at speed. In this keynote, Kavickumar Muruganathan, ESG Policy & Planning Director, APAC (Cloud & Artificial Intelligence) at Microsoft, will explore how global cloud providers are re-engineering data centre strategies to operate within tightening land, power, water and regulatory constraints – while still delivering hyperscale capacity, resilience and long-term economic value. Drawing on Microsoft’s experience across diverse APAC markets, the session will examine how early ESG integration, policy engagement and systems-level thinking can transform sustainability from a delivery bottleneck into a competitive advantage. Attendees will gain insights into aligning global design principles with local execution realities, accelerating approvals, reducing execution risk and future-proofing data centre assets in the AI era.