2026 Tickets coming soon!
  • Management & Operations
  • Investment & Markets
  • Invite-only Session
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Speakers

Vlad-Gabriel Anghel

Director of Solutions Engineering, DCD>Academy

Vlad 2025

Vlad-Gabriel Anghel

Director of Solutions Engineering, DCD>Academy

Vlad-Gabriel Anghel is Director of Solutions Engineering at our sister training company, DCD>Academy. He is a tinkerer at heart and a problem solver by trade, with a deep passion for all things tech, especially computer networks and distributed systems.

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Management & Operations Hosted Lunch

  • Management & Operations
  • Hospitality & Networking
  • Invite-only Session
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DCD>Academy Taster Session | Infrastructure Evolution Series

  • Data Center Cooling
  • Management & Operations
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Phillip Koblence

Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, New York Internet (NYI)

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Phillip Koblence

Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, New York Internet (NYI)

Phillip Koblence is a strategic executive and thought leader in the data center and network space. He co-founded NYI (www.nyi.net) in 1996 and has grown the company from a single data center in Lower Manhattan to a robust network with executional capabilities in key national and international markets. His leadership, focus on customer experience, and ability to cut through complexity and hype, has positioned NYI as an industry leader in high-touch infrastructure and connectivity solutions.

As Co-Founder of the Nomad Futurist Foundation and related podcast, Phillip is committed to demystifying the world of critical infrastructure and empowering younger generations through exposure to the underlying technologies that power our digital world. He and Co-Founder Nabeel Mahmood are currently working to aggregate institutional knowledge of the industry and create educational initiatives for integration into existing STEAM curricula. As part of this mission, Nomad Futurist and Data Center Dynamics are partnering to cross-promote initiatives to help address the data center industry’s workforce challenges.

Phillip is a frequent speaker at industry events and has been profiled by Data Center Knowledge, TheWHIR, MSPMentor, and NJ BIZ. He serves on the DE-CIX North America Advisory Board and as Vice Chair of the OIX Board, and as an Advisor for Apolo, Ragu, and Cool Vector. Phillip also holds executive positions at Critical Ventures and United Integrity Advisors where he leverages his deep industry knowledge to assist companies with their digital infrastructure assets. Phillip is a Top 10 Data Center Influencer on LinkedIn and the recipient of numerous awards for industry leadership including the 2023 IM100 Infrastructure Masons Award, and the 2024 Good Scout Award. Phillip has an engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

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DCD>Debate: Can New York’s network infrastructure still handle the data surge?

  • Telecoms & Connectivity
  • Open Session
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iMasons Member Summit

  • Investment & Markets
  • Hospitality & Networking
  • Open Session
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Courtney Popp

Director, Education Programs, Infrastructure Masons

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Courtney Popp

Director, Education Programs, Infrastructure Masons

Courtney joined Infrastructure Masons in 2022 as their EDU Program Manager.

As part of her role, she manages the existing iMasons scholarship program, awarding hundreds of scholarships worldwide and manage and supports iMasons existing Capstone program, supporting teams of students at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) in year-long projects to introduce them to the digital infrastructure industry in the senior year of their bachelors degree.

She is managing and supporting iMasons emerging program to work with one or more major universities to develop and implement a multi-disciplinary minor-degree program in digital infrastructure and is a visible advocate for, and expert on, the data center industry’s workforce development needs.

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iMasons Member Summit

  • Investment & Markets
  • Hospitality & Networking
  • Open Session
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Joti Balani

Founder and Managing Director, Freshriver.ai

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Joti Balani

Founder and Managing Director, Freshriver.ai

Joti Balani, Founder and Managing Director of Freshriver.ai, is a creative architect designing and delivering enterprise grade conversational artificial intelligence.

She created a multidimensional transformation framework blending AI, data sciences, engineering and social sciences. She leads transformative innovations at Fortune 100 enterprises to create emotional, economic and brand value with her team, who represent the empowered human race in all dimensions.

Joti has worked as a CAI strategy and delivery consultant at Google, Johnson & Johnson, Centene Corporation and Lowe's Companies, Inc. She is G100 US Country Chair for Robotics & Automation, the AI Impact lead at Innovation of Large Organizations (ILO), Intrapreneurship Governance Council Member/Unfold Consulting as well as AI Advisor to Web3 focused startups, Titlechain and Inpeak.xyz solving critical, global problems in business and society with courage, creativity and technology.

Joti also leads Open Voice Network’s (OVON) Industry Advisory Council to share her Conversational AI framework with the industry and is co-founder of Women in Voice/WiV, New Jersey, US chapter.

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Jean Park

Graduate, Infrastructure Masons

Jean Park

Jean Park

Graduate, Infrastructure Masons

Jean Park, an iMasons Capstone Program graduate and current NYU student. Jean is looking forward to establishing her future career plans in AI and Policy.

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2:00 - 2:10 pm | Welcome & Intro to DCD>Academy, iMasons & Nomad Futurist

Meet some of the organizations that are welcoming the next generation of data center experts.

  • Courtney Popp, Director of Education Programs, iMasons
  • Vlad-Gabriel Anghel, Director of Solutions Engineering, DCD>Academy
  • Phillip Koblence, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Nomad Futurist

2:10 - 2:30 pm | Presentation: In the age of AI, how will your future be affected?

This session is designed to demystify the data center and the current capabilities of AI and LLMs. Learn where the future of data centers may go, and how this may impact the future of employment.

  • Courtney Popp, Director of Education Programs, iMasons

2:30 - 3:00 pm | Presentation | iMasons Capstone Program experience

Jean Park, an iMasons Capstone Program graduate and current NYU student, discusses her experience with the Capstone as well as her intended career plans in AI and Policy

  • Jean Park, Graduate, iMasons Capstone Program

3:00 - 4:00pm | Panel: How is the industry building an AI talent Pipeline?

This session will discuss efforts to recruit and train a workforce equipped to weather the AI revolution.

  • Courtney Popp, Director of Education Programs, iMasons
  • Joti Balani, Founder and Managing Director, Freshriver.ai
  • Jean Park, Graduate, iMasons Capstone Program
  • Vlad-Gabriel Anghel, Director of Solutions Engineering, DCD>Academy
  • Phillip Koblence, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Nomad Futurist

4:00 - 5:00 pm | Executive roundtable | Meet the experts