Data Center Investment Conference & Expo (DICE) Southwest
Where the Desert Builds, Powers, and Operates What’s Next in Digital Infrastructure
to be Hosted in Phoenix
Event Ended On: Thursday April 2 2026
Registration Questions?
**Please note we have pricing tiers based on ticket availability. Ticket prices will increase once we sell out of the current pricing tier. We cannot redeem a lower price once the ticket prices have been raised.
**Bisnow is a cashless, checkless operation. Please only submit payment via credit card.
Looking to save on your stay?
Save on your stay near the event venue! Enjoy convenience, comfort, and special rates—book now while availability lasts HERE.
Are you an end user*?
Click here to be considered for a complimentary pass. *Hyperscaler, colocation provider (non-sales), investor, private equity, or enterprise tenant.
Speakers and Panels
Morning Keynote: The New Reality for Data Center Development in the Southwest
Anthony Wanger
Picking Winners in the Desert: Site Selection Strategies Across the Southwest
Smarter, Safer Sites: Operational Excellence, Sustainability and Risk Management Across the Asset Lifecycle
From Clicks to Concrete: Construction Tech and Standardized Playbooks for Faster AI-Era Builds
Jason Madison
Ryan Bradshaw
Travis Tomanek
Blueprint to Build: Best Practices for Physical Security Throughout Development
From Shell to Super-Campus: Reimagining Development Models for the Southwest
Megawatts Matter: Mapping the Power Journey for the Next Wave of Compute
Jonathan Martone
Mark Moody
Justin Leon
Why You Can't Miss this Data Center Conference
What You'll Learn:
- How the Southwest’s data center boom, power and water constraints, and evolving policy landscape are reshaping its position relative to other leading U.S. regions.
- What project planning and site selection strategies are winning in Arizona, Nevada, and nearby corridors—from power and land evaluation to navigating water use, zoning, and community partnerships.
- The most effective risk mitigation approaches for issues ranging from climate and resource stress to regulatory scrutiny, ESG expectations, and long-term reputational exposure.
- How teams are compressing schedules without sacrificing reliability by leveraging modular designs, standardized platforms, and more integrated delivery models in high-demand markets.
- How deal structures and capital flows are evolving amid rising build costs, AI-driven demand, and new macro and policy variables, including platform plays, JVs, and power-constrained underwriting.
- Which practical AI, automation, and data intelligence solutions are moving from pilot to real deployment in operations, risk management, and energy optimization—and how they’re changing the role and economics of the data center.
- How leading operators are balancing advanced technology, processes, and workforce strategy to keep facilities resilient, efficient, and compliant in hotter, more resource-constrained environments.
- Which innovations in integrated design, engineering, digital modeling, and construction tech are setting new benchmarks for time-to-market, performance, and sustainability in the desert?
How You’ll Do More Business From Attending This Conference:
- Gain actionable strategies to deliver projects faster and smarter—from picking the right sites and markets to aligning design, construction, and commissioning with aggressive timelines.
- Understand how to futureproof risk management, respond to shifting regulations, and structure capital and power strategies that create durable value for customers and investors.
- See which emerging technologies in AI operations, energy management, cooling, and construction are actually moving the needle in the Southwest—and how to deploy them for real ROI.
- Build relationships that connect you to new deals, JV and capital partners, utility and policy decision-makers, and peers solving similar delivery and operational challenges.
- Leave with concrete next steps, benchmark insights, and a trusted network to help you plan, fund, power, and operate the Southwest’s next wave of digital infrastructure.
Who You’ll Network With:
Connect with industry leaders defining the future of the Southwest’s data center landscape:
- Developers, Owners & Operators — platform builders, engineers, and delivery leaders scaling mega campuses and retrofits across Phoenix, Reno, and emerging hubs.
- Construction & Design Professionals — architects, GCs, engineering firms, prefab and modular specialists turning complex desert projects into repeatable delivery models.
- Utility & Infrastructure Partners — grid planners, energy providers, and power procurement experts working to balance surging data center load with system reliability and public expectations.
- Investors & Financial Partners — institutional investors, lenders, and capital providers deploying billions into data center platforms, campuses, and power-constrained strategies.
- Technology & Solution Providers — innovators in advanced cooling, high-density infrastructure, automation, and monitoring that enable AI-ready, resource-efficient facilities.
- Policy & Regulatory Experts — public officials, advisors, and industry advocates shaping zoning, water and energy policy, and community engagement frameworks for responsible growth.
- Relevant News and Developments:
- The cost of compute: A 7 trillion dollar race to scale data centers
- Data Centers: Are The Winning Odds Less Certain In 2026?
- The AI-Driven Transformation of Data Center Investment
- Data Centers a Small, But Growing Factor in Arizona’s Water Budget
- Proposed data center prompts Tucson to regulate large water users
- Fort Meade data center will have a big footprint, documents show
- Are data centers depleting the Southwest’s resources?
- Growth of data centers requires new policies to mitigate local community impacts
- Local Governments are Learning How to Negotiate With Data Center Developers
- Data Center Trends 2025: The Future is Modular, Green and AI-Ready
- 8 Challenges Data Center Managers Must Overcome in 2025
- Data Center Development Model (Updated Sept 2025)
- Large Energy Users Want Power. Here’s How to Protect Other Ratepayers from the Costs
- AI data centers need a lot of power. That creates challenges for electric companies in the West
Are you an end user*?
Click here to be considered for a complimentary pass. *Hyperscaler, colocation provider (non-sales), investor, private equity, or enterprise tenant.
Why You Should Attend:
DICE Southwest is the essential gathering for anyone invested in how the desert’s data center boom evolves from opportunity to long-term ecosystem. With content built around real market pressures—AI-driven demand, power and water constraints, policy shifts, capital deployment, and operational excellence—this event helps you stress-test your strategy against what’s actually happening on the ground. Whether you’re breaking ground on a new campus, optimizing existing assets, or entering the region for the first time, you’ll come away with sharper perspectives, new partners, and a clearer plan to compete and succeed in one of the country’s most closely watched data center markets.
For questions or interests in becoming a speaker or sponsor, please email our global director, data centers, Adam Knobloch, at adam.knobloch@bisnow.com
To request disability-related accommodations, please contact ally.araco@bisnow.com no later than seven business days prior to the event.
Looking for a national perspective on where the data center market is heading?
Join Bisnow’s largest data center event of the year - Data Center Investment Conference and Expo (DICE): National - May 12–14 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.
What’s new and elevated this year:
• A Lifetime Achievement Award honoring Joseph Kava, followed by a keynote session
• Golf at Blue Mash Golf Course to close out three days
• Three days of programming on hyperscalers, AI, power, cooling, development and capital
• 100+ speakers, 3+ keynotes and 12+ hours of networking
• The return of Bisnow’s DICE Casino Night
Our most ambitious DICE National yet - built for senior decision-makers. Learn more and register: https://www.bisnow.com/events/national/data-center/data-center-investment-conference-and-expo-dice-national-9604
Venue
Marriott Phoenix Chandler
1600 South Price Rd
Chandler, AZ 85256
Ballroom/Floor: Chandler Ballroom / Lobby Level
Looking to save on your stay?
Save on your stay near the event venue! Enjoy convenience, comfort, and special rates—book now while availability lasts HERE.
Agenda
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
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8:00 AM 8:55 AM |
Coffee, Networking & Breakfast
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8:55 AM 9:00 AM |
Opening Remarks: Welcome to DICE Southwest 2026!
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9:00 AM 9:25 AM |
Keynote - The New Reality for Data Center Development in the Southwest
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9:25 AM 10:05 AM |
Picking Winners in the Desert: Site Selection Strategies Across the Southwest
Choosing the “right” desert site now goes far beyond cheap land and a nearby substation, as water availability, wastewater partnerships, and long-term resilience rise to the top of the checklist. Developers and operators are co-locating with infrastructure, modeling climate and regulatory risk, and exploring creative land and concession structures to unlock viable locations. With new local ordinances and water-use scrutiny emerging across the region, how will leading players recalibrate site selection strategies for the next decade?
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10:05 AM 10:35 AM |
Networking Break
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10:35 AM 11:15 AM |
Smarter, Safer Sites: Operational Excellence, Sustainability and Risk Management Across the Asset Lifecycle
From entitlement battles over water and power to cyber and physical threats in live facilities, risk now permeates every phase of a data center’s life, from siting and community engagement through day to day operations in AI ready environments. Operations and sustainability teams must juggle higher rack densities, evolving ESG mandates, and stakeholder expectations while also navigating regulatory scrutiny, reputational risk, and public concern about water use and resource impacts, especially in fast growing regions like the Southwest. As operators deploy automation, AI driven monitoring, and real time ESG and water use analytics, the same tools that boost uptime and efficiency can also surface early warning signals, provide needed context for communities, and inform better governance. How can organizations build integrated playbooks where people, processes, and platforms work together to both optimize performance today and de risk portfolios for tomorrow, while communicating transparently about water, energy, and the broader societal role of digital infrastructure?
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11:15 AM 11:55 AM |
From Clicks to Concrete: Construction Tech and Standardized Playbooks for Faster AI-Era Builds
AI and hyperscale growth are forcing teams to move from one-off projects to repeatable ways of building, where speed is just as important as cost. Builders, prefab partners, and tech providers are combining modular building blocks with tools like BIM, digital twins, and real-time field data so they can spot issues early and keep projects on track. But power delays, supply chain swings, and ESG pressure can still derail even the best-laid plans if everyone is not working from the same playbook. How can owners, contractors, prefab specialists, and construction tech partners actually get on the same page so what they design on screen turns into on-time, reliable facilities in the field?
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11:55 AM 1:05 PM |
Lunch & Networking Break
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12:20 PM 12:40 PM |
From Blueprint to Build: Best Practices for Physical Security Throughout Development
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1:05 PM 1:45 PM |
From Shell to Super-Campus: Reimagining Development Models for the Southwest
In the Southwest, land constraints, water scarcity, and tighter scrutiny are pushing developers to treat greenfield and brownfield as parts of a single, flexible development toolkit. New models emphasize early cross-functional planning, data-driven site evaluation, and modular systems that can span from retrofitted industrial shells to ground-up AI campuses. What does it take to orchestrate a portfolio where some sites are repurposed at speed, others are engineered from bare ground, and all must meet rising expectations on reliability and impact?
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1:45 PM 2:30 PM |
Megawatts Matter: Power Strategies for the Next Wave of Compute
Power has moved from a checkbox to the central strategic question for data center growth, especially as AI drives dense, power-hungry deployments. Operators and utilities are exploring new interconnection approaches, grid services, long-term PPAs, on-site generation, and storage to secure capacity and manage cost and carbon. With forecasts of surging demand colliding with aging grid infrastructure and public concern, what power strategies will actually work at scale?
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2:30 PM 3:30 PM |
Post-Event Cocktail Party
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DON'T MISS OUR PREMIER NATIONAL Data Center Investment Conference And Expo IN MAY
Join us for our annual National Data Center Investment Conference And Expo (DICE) May 12 - May 14 in Rockville, Maryland! Learn more about our largest event of the year by clicking here.
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