In a year that will come to be known for rapid and dramatic transformation in the data center industry due to the accelerated demand for AI deployments, DCD>Connect Madrid 2025 commanded the attention of the industry. The event, organized by Datacenter Dynamics (DCD), was held May 20 and 21, 2025 at the Eurostars Madrid Tower with more than 1,700 industry leaders from around the world. Keynote speakers included Angie Garza, VP of Data Center Infrastructure at Google, and Paul Meaney, VP of Infrastructure at AWS, who led powerful conversations around the emerging opportunities and challenges.

Taking place less than one-month after the 2025 Iberian Peninsula blackout, Madrid set the perfect stage for such an experience due to its growing relevance in Europe’s tech and connectivity spaces. Pedro Sánchez, CEO of Eurostars Madrid Tower venue, highlighted the strategic location choice, noting Madrid’s unique position as a hub connecting Europe’s digital infrastructure.

In sessions ranging from panels to debates, and workshops to briefings, attendees dove into some of the most pressing questions facing data centers today: Can we keep up with AI-driven demand? How do we manage regulatory pressure to build and operate sustainably? And what does it mean to design long-lasting infrastructure in a fast-changing climate?

More Than Buzzwords: Real Talk on AI, Energy, and Edge

AI, naturally, became a recurring theme, although it was discussed in much more concrete and immediate terms than it once was. The conversation centered on the drastic impacts AI demand is already having on real-world operations, particularly in terms of power usage, cooling demands, and infrastructure design. These are no longer vague, futuristic pressures. Operators and engineers spoke openly about the pressing need to redesign data center environments to handle this growing demand and to reevaluate many of the systems at the edge.

Energy efficiency is another topic that captured much of the attention. Many discussions emphasized the shift from traditional metrics such as PUE to more comprehensive energy and carbon accounting frameworks. Meeting ESG goals has become the bare minimum as the pressure to prove them to customers, regulators, and investors becomes increasingly impossible to ignore. Paul Meaney spoke specifically about how AWS’s renewable energy contracts are evolving to support rising loads while balancing sustainability goals.

Simultaneously, edge infrastructure is continuously gaining traction as both a technology investment and a strategic tool. Panel sessions and conversations with providers highlighted a clear trend: new data center builds are becoming more localized to boost speed, ensure regulatory compliance, and support scalable growth, especially in crowded cities and underserved regions. Maria Lopez, Head of Edge Solutions at Telefónica, stressed this, reinforcing the importance of localized edge deployments in meeting response time and regulatory demands in such areas.

From Boardroom to Site Floor: Cross-Sector Collaboration

One thing that separates DCD>Connect Madrid from other industry events is its near-perfect balance of high-level strategy and well-grounded insights. The event brought together a blend of voices, from major executives to operations leads, analysts, and even startups, creating a space for all angles to be voiced.

In discussions led by executives from Google, AWS, and Equinix, among others, the imperativeness of cross-sector collaboration was driven home. New challenges arise every day, from talent shortages to new power procurement strategies, to keeping up with AI, and the solutions will call for more coordination and collaboration than ever before. To keep up, vendors, operators, governments, and financiers will all have to come together.

That same sentiment stretched beyond the panels and into the networking format itself. DCD’s approach to curated meetings and group discussions allowed for meaningful conversations that went deeper than a surface-level business card swap. For many attendees, more intimate moments such as those were just as, if not more, valuable than the mainstage dialogue. And this model is replicated across DCD’s vast portfolio of regional events.

A New Kind of Urgency

Data centers are integral to modern life. This sentiment is becoming more urgent to convey, as the industry adapts to meet demand from all directions, including cloud, AI, edge, content, and enterprise. The central role of data centers means that accountability is more important than ever. Environmental scrutiny is rising, and expectations surrounding uptime and performance are only getting higher. Moreover, the competition for resources, including land, energy, and talent, is growing fiercer and more competitive and costly as new entrants enter the field, eager to share in the projected profits of the billions of dollars of global investments.

DCD>Connect Madrid 2025 captured this tension well. Today’s leaders have no choice but to rethink their choices, including scale, investment, and partnership models at once. The event’s ability to convey those realities, while maintaining positivity and a focus on progress, made it stand out. Madrid didn’t just host a conference, it created space for the industry to come together, evaluate, reevaluate, and paint a clearer picture of what the future must hold.

For more event information, visit: www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/dcdconnect-live/madrid/2025

To learn about DCD’s global Connect Series of events, visit: www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/dcd-connect-live