#United States #San Jose #Schneider Electric #NVIDIA #AVEVA

Schneider Electric and NVIDIA's Groundbreaking Collaboration

On March 16, 2026, Schneider Electric, alongside its subsidiary AVEVA and NVIDIA, made a significant announcement at the NVIDIA GTC event held in San Jose, California. This collaboration aims to revolutionize the design, simulation, construction, operation, and maintenance of Gigawatt-scale AI factories. The partnership is set to enhance the operational landscape for data centers by offering proven blueprints that leverage the latest in AI technology.

The newly developed reference design compatible with NVIDIA's Vera Rubin features a comprehensive roadmap for power and cooling architectures tailored to NVIDIA's latest rack-scale systems. The design supports optimal token revenue generation per megawatt by integrating AVEVA's advanced software capabilities into the NVIDIA Omniverse, creating a rich lifecycle digital twin architecture tailored for large-scale AI factories.

Innovations in Power and Cooling Architecture

One of the key highlights of this collaboration is the introduction of a new reference design, the NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 rack. This design implements validated power supply and cooling strategies integrated with Schneider Electric’s control systems. Notable features include:

• - Support for high-voltage power distribution at 480VAC.
• - Allowing a TCS loop supply temperature of up to 45°C to enhance energy efficiency.
• - Adoption of a novel IT room architecture that facilitates shared resources across network, storage, CPU, and GPU racks, ensuring both high voltage and physical proximity for large clusters.

Furthermore, the design allows data centers to implement maximum performance (MaxP) and maximum efficiency (MaxQ) operating points for GPU racks, thereby maximizing token performance. This innovative approach not only overcomes power constraints but also optimizes computing performance through redundancy.

Advanced Lifecycle Digital Twin Architecture by AVEVA

Simultaneously, AVEVA introduced a new lifecycle digital twin architecture designed to support rapid deployment of AI factories while maximizing GPU efficiency. Schneider Electric is engaged in constructing SimReady assets and digital twins using AVEVA's advanced software integrated within the NVIDIA Omniverse. This incorporation streamlines engineering processes and significantly reduces time-to-token acquisition through specialized simulations and digital visualization tools.

After building the system architecture within the NVIDIA Omniverse, AVEVA will conduct multi-domain simulations to validate the operational conditions, covering power distribution, thermodynamics, airflow performance, and control models. This thorough validation process ensures optimal design performance, expedites the engineering cycle, and enhances overall construction accuracy.

The Future of Data Centers: Addressing Challenges with AI

As the scale and complexity of AI workloads grow, the margin for error in data center design shrinks. Manish Kumar, Executive Vice President at Schneider Electric, highlighted the critical need for tightly integrated electrical, cooling, and digital architectures that can meet unprecedented performance demands while maintaining energy efficiency. By combining advanced software, digital twins, and verified reference designs, operators can simulate and optimize their infrastructure before implementation, ultimately reducing risks and accelerating deployment.

In line with these advancements, NVIDIA’s Vladimir Troy emphasized that Gigawatt-scale AI factories demand fundamentally new infrastructures characterized by high energy efficiency and predictability. In cooperation, Schneider Electric and NVIDIA aim to provide the necessary power, cooling, and digital twin architectures that will minimize token acquisition times for customers worldwide.

NVIDIA Nemotron AI for Alarm Management

In a complementary move, Schneider Electric validated the NVIDIA Nemotron model to establish a new agent-based AI alarm management capability. This service tackles longstanding challenges in the data center industry by analyzing system-level alarms and identifying root causes to determine appropriate corrective actions. Utilizing real-time streaming IoT data, Schneider Electric's agent-based AI autonomously analyzes, diagnoses, and recommends actions across multiple systems. This innovative technology enhances operational resilience by enabling faster and more consistent problem resolution while reducing unnecessary interventions.

This announcement marks a significant milestone in Schneider Electric’s commitment to redefining asset performance management through cutting-edge AI innovations.

Overall, this collaboration between Schneider Electric and NVIDIA represents a cumulative achievement of their ongoing partnership, focusing on innovation in data center design and operation. Schneider Electric continues to lead the way in providing sustainable, efficient, and technologically advanced solutions across various industry sectors.