Data Center Sustainability & Energy Management

Sean James runs Microsoft’s datacenter research and development program within the Microsoft Cloud Infrastructure and Operations group. MCIO provides the foundational cloud infrastructure for over 1,000,000,000 Customers, 20,000,000 Businesses, 200+ Microsoft online services, in 90 Markets. Sean drives new datacenter technology for Microsoft’s next generation data centers including the evaluation, development, and testing. Sean joined Microsoft in 2006 to manage one of Microsoft’s datacenters. Later, he joined the construction team and oversaw the design and building of new Microsoft data centers. Prior to joining Microsoft, Sean worked in datacenter management overseeing the day-to-day maintenance and repair operations for both IT hardware and critical infrastructure, such as electrical infrastructure and cooling equipment. Prior to joining Microsoft, Sean served in the US Navy Submarine Fleet as an electrician. Sean holds many patents related to datacenters and energy, a computer science degree, and is a certified Project Management Professional from the Project Management Institute. He enjoys spending time with his family, guitar, and technology.

Sam is a Global Sustainability Manager in Oracle’s Global Sustainability Office. He began his career at Oracle managing supplier relationships and new market integration for Oracle’s Corporate Development team. His focus areas include renewable energy adoption, customer enablement, and non-financial reporting and transparency related to Oracle’s sustainable performance. He also is a Green Team lead, a grassroots program focused on driving environmental, and volunteering efforts with a local impact.

Raiford Smith leads teams with global responsibility for Google’s data center energy supply, market development, and supply planning analytics. Mr. Smith is based out of Google’s offices in Sunnyvale, CA. Before joining Google, Mr. Smith worked for 29 years with electric and gas utilities such as The Southern Company, Duke Energy, CPS Energy, and Entergy, holding various leadership roles in analytics, distribution, product development and management, energy trading, legal, mergers and acquisitions, and technology. A native of Savannah, Georgia, Mr. Smith earned a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from the University of Georgia, a Masters of Business Administration degree from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, and a Juris Doctor from the Charlotte School of Law. Mr. Smith is a licensed attorney and member of the North Carolina Bar Association; holds seven patents on grid optimization and electric grid technologies; has published several papers on the future of the electric grid, energy efficiency, asset optimization, and price forecasting; and has served on several advisory and not-for-profit boards.

Karen Beachy was appointed Senior Vice President - Growth and Strategy effective Aug. 26, 2019, having previously served as Vice President - Growth and Strategy from 2018 to 2019, Vice President - Supply Chain from 2016 to 2018, and Director of Supply Chain from 2014 to 2016.

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.