About Our 2023 Keynote Speakers
Scope 4: A Blueprint for the Future of Data Center Sustainability
Data Center BUILD Keynote
Time: Monday, May 8 | 8:45am - 9:20am
Location: Ballroom BC
We are excited to announce Chris Crosby, CEO of Compass Datacenters, as our keynote speaker. Chris is a recognized visionary and leader in the data center space and has served as founder and CEO of Compass Datacenters since 2011.
In his keynote presentation, Chris Crosby, will share a blueprint for the future of sustainability in the data center industry by outlining his bold vision for Scope 4. He will also share innovative best practices that the data center industry can implement across the life cycle of development and operations to focus not only on de-carbonization but also on the non-carbonization principles of Scope 4.
*Data Center BUILD pass required to attend this keynote
Chris Crosby
CEO, Compass Datacenters
Up, up, and away! Data centers in 2023
Time: Monday, May 8 | 8:45am - 9:20am
Location: Room 9BC
Bill Kleyman is a data center, cloud, and digital infrastructure leader. He was ranked globally by an Onalytica Study as one of the leading executives in cloud computing and data security. He has spent more than 15 years specializing in the cybersecurity, virtualization, cloud, and data center industry.
Digital infrastructure has seen unprecedented growth, and these last few years have been a masterclass in the critical nature of our data centers. Fast forward to today. We're seeing new designs, new approaches to bringing capacity online, and all-new industry challenges. In this keynote, you'll hear about the latest findings from the all-new AFCOM State of the Data Center Report.
Bill Kleyman
AFCOM Data Center World Program Chair
How Robots and AI Will Change Digital Infrastructure
Time: Tuesday, May 8 | 8:30am - 9:45am
Location: Ballroom A
Dr. Burcin Kaplanoglu is a recognized industry technologist, innovator, thought leader, and keynote speaker. He is leading innovation for the Oracle Vertical Industries and is the Co-Founder of Oracle Industry Labs. Kaplanoglu recognized by LinkedIn as one of their Top Voices for sharing developments in AI, robotics, 5G, and other emerging technologies.
Join Burcin Kaplanoglu as he discusses the future of digital infrastructure. In his talk, he'll showcase the latest innovations and trials with robotics in the data center, how data is being used to bring capacity online faster and far more sustainably, and how data-driven solutions will impact the future of the data center.
Burcin Kaplanoglu
Vice President, Oracle
Blurring the Lines: How Connectivity, Data, and now ChatGPT Influences Data Centers
Time: Wednesday, May 10 | 8:30am - 9:45am
Location: Ballroom A
Garima Kochhar
Senior Distinguished Engineer, Dell
Shweta Saraf
Director of Platform Networking, Netflix
Rebecca Weekly
Vice President - Hardware Systems Engineering, Cloudflare
The data center industry has entered a new, infinitely more connected era. Did you know that tools like ChatGPT reached 100M active monthly users faster than any other application in history? External influences of data, new AI systems like ChatGPT, and connectivity requirements all impact how we bring critical infrastructure online and how we connect these systems.
This special fireside keynote will explore how data, connectivity, and new compute-heavy workloads are changing and modernizing data center infrastructure. We'll also explore how leaders can prepare for a more connected, data-driven future.
The keynote panel includes three distinguished industry leaders:
Garima Kochhar, Senior Distinguished Engineer working on High-Performance Computing and AI systems at Dell Technologies. She has worked on several areas of HPC including system architectures, compute performance tuning, high-speed interconnects, parallel file systems and storage, and cluster deployment and management techniques.
Shweta Saraf is Head of Network Modernization at Equinix. In her role, she is transforming the one of the largest network’s on the planet by driving efforts around network disaggregation, network efficiency and network intelligence with focus on open source. She previously scaled the Edge Infrastructure teams that built the Equinix Metal - baremetal cloud offering and Network Edge - network NFV offering at Equinix. She has also held leadership roles at Packet, DigitalOcean and Cisco.
Rebecca Weekly, Vice President - Hardware Systems Engineering at Cloudflare, leads the organization that builds Cloudflare’s compute, network and storage hardware systems. Rebecca is the Open Compute Project President and Chairperson, is on Fortune’s 40 Under 40 2020 list of most influential people in Technology, and is on Business Insider's 2022 Cloudverse100 list of the builders of the next generation of the Internet.
Innovation & Convergence In The 21st Century
Time: Thursday, May 11 | 8:30am - 9:30am
Location: Ballroom A
Kian Gohar is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and futurist, and inspires organizations to build exponential teams to thrive in a world of hybrid work. He is founder of Geolab, an innovation research and leadership development firm focused on coaching, strategy, and design. A former executive director of the XPRIZE Foundation and Singularity University, Kian has coached the leadership teams of dozens of Fortune 500 companies, unicorns and startups on disruptive innovation, exponential technologies, leadership and the future of work.
What will the world look like in 10 years, and how will technology change the future of your organization? Kian’s keynote highlights the major technology trends that are changing every major industry, including the convergence of AI, robotics, sensors, human computer interfaces, 3D printing, and digital medicine, all of which will inspire you to prepare for a future of exponential growth.
Kian Gohar
Founder, Geolab