Craig Scroggie on AI’s hunger for power

Craig Scroggie on AI’s hunger for power

From ABC Business Daily by ABC Australia

May 1, 2026 · 43 min

About this episode

Craig Scroggie discusses the implications of AI's demand for data centres and the associated challenges and opportunities.

Artificial intelligence - and the data centres that support it - are no longer just a share market story. It’s become a conversation about power, water, land, security, and who gets to build the infrastructure behind the next wave of the economy. Craig Scroggie has spent 15 years building NEXTDC into one of Australia’s biggest data centre companies - and now the AI boom is sending that business into overdrive. What does he make of the surge in demand, and the enormous build-out now under way? And what about the harder questions that come with it: how much energy will AI need? Do data centres like his push up power bills? What does it all mean for jobs? And can Australia turn this into a genuine strategic advantage? NEXTDC chief executive Craig Scroggie joins Alan Kohler to unpack it all on That's Business with Alan Kohler. Got a burning business question? Send a short voice recording to the ABC Business Daily team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au

People in this episode

Host: Alan Kohler

Guest: Craig Scroggie

Topics covered

  • artificial intelligence
  • data centres
  • energy consumption
  • infrastructure
  • economic impact
  • strategic advantage

Keywords

  • AI
  • data centres
  • energy
  • NEXTDC
  • infrastructure
  • Australia
  • economic growth

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NEXTDC, ABC Australia

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