Data Center World 2025 Grew by Over 70%, Brought the Data Center Ecosystem Together to Discuss the Future of Data Centers and Digital Infrastructure

Business Wire

21-04-2025

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Data Center World, the leading global conference for data center IT infrastructure, mission-critical facilities management, new power designs and solutions, emerging construction practices, and the innovative tools and technologies needed to become an AI factory, grew by over 70% and brought nearly 4,500 attendees and over 400 exhibitors to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. to discuss the future of data centers and digital infrastructure. The event offered keynote presentations, panel discussions and case studies on the topics: Emerging IT & Data Center Technologies; Colocation, Hyperscale, and Cloud Innovation; Data Center BUILD; and Power Sourcing & Sustainability. Data Center World is AFCOM's annual gathering of IT and data center professionals.
'The pace of innovation in the data center space is staggering. Powering this evolution is the challenge—and the opportunity—of a generation. We brought the data center ecosystem together to explore, learn and network around topics critical to the data center industry,' said Tara Gibb, Senior Director, Data Center World. 'This year our event grew by over 70% in comparison to the 2024 event. We expect next year's event to be even more robust. We are excited to unite the global data center community again next year at Data Center World 2026, taking place April 20-23 in Washington, D.C.'
Data Center World event highlights:
Expo Hall
Data Center World's Expo Hall expanded by 74% and featured over 400 of the industry's leading solution providers showcasing their latest innovations to attendees, which empowered data center leaders to pick and choose from the technologies that would best improve their data center strategy. The Expo Hall featured a Data Center World Theater that hosted Solution Spotlight Sessions, the Innovation Challenge, and Data Center World's third annual Rack and Stack Challenge, which brought together multiple teams of two to see who could create the tidiest rack space in the shortest amount of time.
Keynotes
This year's keynotes provided a comprehensive overview of the current trends impacting the data center industry including Wade Vinson Chief Data Center Engineer at NVIDIA; Lucia Tian, Head of Clean Energy and Decarbonization Technologies, Google; Jeffrey Olson, Vice President of Business Development & Finance, Kairos Power; and Kevin O'Leary, Shark Tank veteran and renowned investor.
Data Center World Innovation Challenge
The Data Center World Innovation Challenge contest pitted data center technology startups against each other. The panel of judges included Vlad Galabov, Senior Director, Enterprise Infrastructure Research, Omdia; Raymond Parpart, Director Data Center Strategy & Operations | IT Services, The University of Chicago; and Tara Gibb, Senior Director, Data Center World.
Data Center Innovation Challenge Winners include:
Most Disruptive Technology – Energy Efficient HVAC Air Filters | R-Zero
Best Chance for Market Success – Exowatt | A Bold New Future in Energy Starts Here
Best Ability to Gain Additional Capital – FlexConnect for Data Centers
Most Influential Founding Team – Exowatt | A Bold New Future in Energy Starts Here
Data Center World Awards Programs
Data Center World offered two awards programs.
The Data Center World Lifetime Achievement award honors a leader who has made significant contributions to the industry – demonstrating mentorship, dedication to sustainability, and promotion of innovative technologies and processes in the data center. Christian Belady, Senior Advisor, DigitalBridge received the third annual award.
The Data Center Manager of the Year celebrates exceptional leaders in the data center industry and was awarded to Ryan Patten, Director of Site Operations, Novva Data Centers.
Finalists included:
Jakob Bergstedt, Head of Operations, Conapto
Jeffrey Burns, Data Center Manager, NYI
James Hart, Operations & Maintenance Regional Director East, TECfusions
Ryan Osborn, Director of Operations, Scott Data Center
Ryan Patten, Director of Site Operations, Novva
Omdia Analyst Summit
Data Center World hosted the Omdia Analyst Summit presented by global technology research firm, Omdia. The fourth annual Summit featured a vendor-agnostic perspective on industry and technology trends.
Power Up Program
Data Center World hosted its third annual PowerUp Program, which offered STEM students from Northern Virginia Community College sessions with data center professionals, valuable advice for professional development from industry experts, a 'Data Center 101' class, and access to the expo floor, all designed to embolden students and young professionals to consider a career in the data center industry.
NEW: Data Center World Power Conference
Data center power is the lifeblood of modern digital infrastructure, enabling everything from cloud computing to AI, and requires substantial energy for servers, cooling, and other essential systems. Data Center World is announcing that it will host a new event, Data Center World Power, which will take place September 29-October 1, 2025 at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort. To stay up to date with Data Center World Power news, visit https://datacenterworld.com/power.
Data Center World will take place April 20-23, 2026, in Washington, D.C. For additional information on exhibition or sponsorship opportunities, contact Susan Gillespie at [e-mail].
Stay connected with Data Center World on X, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook.
About Data Center World
Data Center World is the global conference for data center facilities and IT professionals. It offers premier education, abundant networking, and the broadest access to best-in-class vendors. Designed to help data center and IT infrastructure professionals with challenging issues, Data Center World presents top quality knowledge without bias towards a specific vendor product or service. CIO Dive named Data Center World one of the top technology conferences to attend in 2024 for the second consecutive year. Additionally, for the third year in a row, Data Center World has been recognized by Trade Show Executive as a fast-growing trade show. Data Center World 2026 will be held April 20-23, in Washington, D.C. Data Center World is produced by Informa PLC. Building on the success of Data Center World U.S., the inaugural Data Center Asia, taking place July 15-17, 2025 in Hong Kong, will serve as the epicenter for data center technology innovations and business transformations in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific markets.
About AFCOM
AFCOM advances data center and IT professionals by delivering comprehensive and vendor-neutral education and peer-to-peer networking to its members around the world. Through forward-looking research, AFCOM supports thousands of IT, operations, facilities, builders/designers and vendors working in the data center and IT infrastructure industry. In serving the data center industry for more than 40 years, AFCOM has earned recognition as the market leader in educating, connecting and guiding the data center community.