As VP and GM at Iron Mountain Data Centers North America, Rick Crutchley is responsible for General Business Operations for Iron Mountain Data Centers in North America. His experience and demonstrated history of working in the Information Technology and services industry enables him to build diverse teams to solve the challenges IMDC's customers need to conquer. Rick is also a strong sales professional skilled in Operations Management, Sales, Data Center, Management and Software as a Service (SaaS).

Mark Bauer has been involved in commercial real estate for over 25 years and has specialized in the data center and colocation industry for the past 15 years. Mark has served as broker to tenants, landlords, buyers and sellers, as well as serving as national consultant to a number of brokers, clients and data center developers across the United States. Mark’s experience includes an in-depth knowledge of the data center and telecommunications industries that assists clients with their mission-critical primary data center and disaster recovery needs. Mark has established himself as a master leader and recognized expert in his field and is a Managing Director and National Director at Jones Lang LaSalle and is a leader in their Data Center Solutions (DCS) group that focuses on globally representing companies with their real estate planning and the execution of mission-critical data center relocations and expansions.

Arman Khalili is the Founder and CEO of Foundation Data Center and is a Board Member of Evocative and brings with him over 25 years of experience in Internet Infrastructure industry.

Prior to joining the company, Arman served as a Principal at Industry Capital a real assets based private equity firm in San Francisco. He was the founder and CEO of CentralColo also known as Element Critical. Prior to that, he was the CEO of Black Lotus, a leader in DDoS mitigation company, which was acquired by Level 3, and was the Founder/CEO of UnitedLayer, the largest privately held colocation provider in San Francisco. He was the founder of Sirius – one of the first ISPs in Silicon Valley, as well as the Co-founder and CTO of MusicBank, the first music subscription company. He has held numerous senior consulting positions at Level3, AT&T and Apple Computers.

With over 30 years of industry experience, Phill has played a pivotal role in shaping the future of data center infrastructure, network architecture, and cloud solutions worldwide.

As Chief Innovation Officer at Aligned Data Centers, Phill spearheads the identification of emerging trends and technologies, strategically leveraging them to shape Aligned's innovation roadmap. He's instrumental in cultivating a culture of creativity, driving the development of new products and partnerships that ensure the company remains both competitive and highly adaptable in today's rapidly evolving market.

Before joining Aligned, Phill served as Chief Innovation Officer at EdgeConneX, where he was instrumental in developing edge-based network data centers that underpin today’s digital content ecosystem. His career spans senior executive roles at Virtacore, Alcatel-Lucent, SAVVIS (now CenturyLink Technology Solutions), and MCI (now Verizon Digital Media Services), as well as Compaq/HPE.

Phill holds eight active technology patents and serves as a board member for organizations such as Netrality Data Centers, the Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA), and the Nomad Futurist Foundation. Known for his ability to distill complex technical concepts into actionable strategies, Phill is a sought-after speaker and advisor, recognized for his innovation and commitment to advancing sustainability in the digital infrastructure sector.

Phill’s unique journey—from his early roles in enterprise systems development and digital infrastructure to his leadership in global technology firms—reflects his passion for challenging the status quo and empowering the next generation of technology leaders.

Mr. McClarty is an accomplished senior executive with extensive experience in information technology and computer networking. He has a proven track record in relationship building, vendor management, network operations, and colocation and data center administration, along with project methodology and processes, both on strategic and tactical levels. He has been instrumental in transforming startup organizations into highly successful and profitable corporations while maintaining high client satisfaction levels. His strong management and leadership skills are complemented by his ability to motivate and engage all levels of an organization to maximize productivity and drive positive results. He is an excellent communicator who puts a special emphasis on building solid vendor, client, and employee relationships.

Mr. McClarty holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management, and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. He also holds a BS in information technology and a BS in electronics engineering technology, both from DeVry Institute of Technology.

Bruce Armstrong Taylor is a co-founding partner of SmartNations Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, dedicated to ESG Impact Investing and developing highly sustainable digital infrastructure in frontier, emerging and developing economies. The purpose is to support and help those societies at any level achieve UNSDG and UNEP objectives through Digital Transformation, Industry 4.0, Smart Cities and Clean Energy technologies and infrastructure. Taylor serves on the United Nations Environmental Programme Digital Transformation Task Force and its Coalition for Digital Environmental Sustainability (CODES). He is a 30-year award-winning veteran ICT journalist in all media formats who has specialized in the data center and digital infrastructure industry over the past 17 years, first as a founding principal of Uptime Institute’s Symposium series on data center uptime resiliency and sustainability, then as Executive Vice President North America for London-based Datacenter Dynamics.

Adam Knobloch has been involved in the commercial real estate event and media space since 2010, having held roles in sales, account management, production and coordination. He joined Bisnow Media as the Global Director of Data Centers after having led event sales and strategy efforts in the CRE space for nearly a decade. Since 2012, he has found a significant passion for the data center and technology sectors, while building an international network of active followers across numerous asset classes in the US, UK, Canada and Ireland. In his current role, Adam oversees Bisnow Media's event and sponsored media strategy for the data center sector, having expanded its Datacenter Investment Conference & Expo (DICE) Series event offerings to more than 15 markets, with an international presence in the UK and Canada.

He previously held a board member role on the Telecom Exchange (TEX) Advisory Board, collaborating on content, speaker recommendations and event strategy. Additionally, he has made a point of promoting local and national organizations with a focus on STEM education and advancing the next generation into the technology sector through support, collaboration and ambassadorship. Notable organizations include the Nomad Futurist Academy, Infrastructure Masons, H5 Data Centers' STEM Fest and local chapters of both 7X24 Exchange and AFCOM.

In his personal life, Adam is a musician, having toured the east coast as the drummer of The Gantry. He was a frequent member of the NYC folk/indie rock music scene and is currently the drummer for A.M. County.

Adam holds a Bachelor's Degree of Business Administration from American University's Kogod School of Business, with a focus on Marketing and Public Relations.

J.R. Sloan is a results-driven leader with over 20 years of experience in technology and 15 years in leading product and program teams. As State CIO, J.R. oversees technology innovation development and IT policies. He also serves as Chairman for the State of Arizona Information Technology Authorization Committee (ITAC) which approves and monitors high-cost technology projects statewide. In addition, J.R. serves as chairman of the body responsible for monitoring and overseeing high-risk technology projects across all state agencies.

Prior to joining the state, J.R. gained experience in both operational and executive roles in product management, marketing, business development, and customer service for enterprise software companies. He has extensive experience in leading cross-functional teams, building consensus, and achieving strategic objectives. His broad knowledge of business and processes coupled with technology and systems integration experience enable him to effectively engage all parts of an organization. He is customer-centric in his approach and results-oriented in his deliverables.

J.R. is certified in Pragmatic Marketing and Product Management. His educational background includes Electrical Engineering at the University of Arizona and Architecture and Environmental Design at Arizona State University.

Carl Beardsley is a Director in the Capital Markets Group for Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) where he focuses directly in the data center space. He works with investors, operators, developers, and end-users with a variety of services such as site selection, acquisition, disposition, debt & equity placement, leasing, and colocation strategies. His well-developed technical knowledge of real estate process gives him a broad understanding of the important principles that must be incorporated into any transaction.

Carl started at JLL in 2016 with a background in the specialty finance sector. He brings over ten years of experience in commercial real estate and structured finance. He holds an active real estate license in the state of Arizona, a debt origination license in the state of Arizona and a debt origination license in the state of Nevada.

Bhu is in charge of architecting Hybrid IT Solutions for

ViaWest’s strategic customers and prospects. Bhu has been

with Flexential for seven years and has over 19 years of

experience in IT infrastructure technology. He is responsible

for designing hundreds of unique and successful customer

implementations of cloud, Disaster Recovery, colocation,

customized managed infrastructures, custom networks, and

storage environments that have allowed Flexential customers to enjoy high

performance, highly available and efficient solutions. Prior to Flexential, Bhu was an

IT Manager at Zoll and Watermark Financial Partners. He has a Master’s of Science in

Business Administration and Computer Information Systems.

Therese is based in the Company’s Denver office and leads EdgeCore’s day-to-day data center operations and customer-lifecycle activities, from lease execution and move in through expiration and move out, including space build out, on-going support, and incident management. Therese brings significant experience in designing strategy and leading execution and operation of end-to-end service-delivery and customer-support teams, systems, and processes. Therese joined EdgeCore following roles of progressive accountability at CoreSite Realty Corporation, most recently as Vice President supporting and leading the company’s activities around customer-lifecycle management for more than 1,200 customers and $500M+ in annualized revenue. Her responsibilities included a) on-boarding and capacity deployment, b) on-going support via self-service systems (portal management) and a team of Strategic Account Service Representatives, c) capacity and contract management, d) service-processes design and improvement, and e) incident engagement, remediation, and avoidance. Prior to CoreSite, Therese was a Dean’s Research Fellow at the University of Colorado Law School, where she authored and collaborated in authoring works related to cybersecurity, telecommunications, and technology. Therese holds a B.A. in International Business from The University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law.

As a Market Executive with nearly 14 years of experience, Darryn is focused on problem solving, making use of his experience to anticipate needs, and searching for opportunities to develop strategic partnerships to deliver value Mortenson’s customers. Darryn is responsible for setting the strategy for the development of healthcare, industrial, and mission critical assets for Mortenson’s Phoenix Office. Darryn previously served as the Vice President of Emerging Technologies at the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, where he was responsible for bringing projects to the market that delivered over $600M in capital investment and over 3,000 jobs. A native of Baltimore, Darryn received both his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Johns Hopkins University, where he was a Bill and Melinda Gates Millennium Scholar.

Tom is a native Arizonan with over 30 years of experience as a contractor, data center developer,

and facility design and construction engineer. He is the Southwest Advanced Technology Core

Market Leader for DPR Construction, one of the country’s top technical builders and #3 ranked

data center and telecommunications contractor in the U.S. (ENR 2017).

He has built data centers for many leading wholesale, colocation, cloud and network services

developers, and internet/telcom, healthcare, financial and energy enterprise clients. He is also

active in sustainability, renewable energy, and advanced manufacturing projects.

Tom is a board member for the 7x24 Exchange Arizona chapter and received his Bachelor of

Science and Master of Science Degrees in Civil Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of

Technology (MIT). He is a licensed Civil Engineer and USGBC LEED® AP accredited. He has

been part of project teams receiving Uptime Institute, Green Grid, AIA, CMAA, NAIOP, ASLA,

AZRE Red and ASHE awards.

For more information about DPR Construction, please visit www.dpr.com.

Mr. Busch is the CEO of BigData Southwest & Chairman of Az4Solar.Org. Mr. Busch has over 25 years experience in the Global Semiconductor Industry. For the last decade, Mr. Busch has focused on Economic Development in the Energy and Data Center Industries. Mr. Busch currently serves on the Board of AzSTEM & Arizona Energy Consortium.