Verigent will be represented at DCAC USA 2026, August 24-26 at ACL Live in Austin, Texas, as Kirk Johnson, Vice President, Growth & Partnerships, joins Ben Steele, Director, Business Development at Allied Resources Group (ARG), for one of the data center industry’s most distinctive annual gatherings.
DCAC calls itself the Data Center Anti-Conference, with an emphasis on meaningful industry conversations, relationships and perspectives from the people directly involved in building digital infrastructure. For 2026, the conference is operating under the theme “Operation: Full Throttle,” reflecting the rapidly increasing pace of data center development as AI and compute demand continue to reshape the industry. (DCAC Live)
At the center of this year’s conversation is DCAC’s idea of “forging the 5th Utility” and treating data infrastructure as an increasingly essential part of modern society. (DCAC Live)
The Workforce Behind the 5th Utility
For Verigent, that conversation has an important human component.
Data center growth is often measured in capacity, power and square footage, but none of that infrastructure becomes operational without the skilled professionals who install, connect, test, document, troubleshoot and support it.
Modern data center environments require expertise across structured cabling, fiber, low voltage, DC power, networking, wireless systems, security, project coordination and IT infrastructure. Verigent specializes in Telecom and IT staffing and supports clients nationwide with contract, contract-to-permanent and permanent talent for these types of technical environments. (Verigent)
The workforce challenge is also rarely static. A project may require a large field team during one phase, specialized technicians across several locations during another, and experienced project or technical leadership as deployment moves toward completion. Verigent’s focus is not simply finding available candidates, but understanding the skills, location, schedule and project environment required to put the right people in the right place at the right time. (Verigent)
That makes DCAC an important opportunity to hear directly from data center operators, developers, builders and infrastructure partners about where workforce needs are changing.
Kirk and Ben will be in Austin to learn from those conversations, strengthen relationships across the industry and better understand the challenges companies are encountering as data center development continues to accelerate. Those insights can help shape how Verigent supports future projects, from individual technical placements to large-scale workforce deployments.
Verigent’s position within ARG also brings a broader infrastructure perspective to those conversations. ARG’s capabilities extend beyond the data center itself into the energy and physical infrastructure required to support it, including power generation, transmission and substations, construction management, engineering, inspection and other technical services. Verigent adds the specialized telecom, low-voltage and IT workforce component that helps connect that infrastructure to an operational facility. (AR Group)
Verigent will not have a booth at DCAC USA 2026, so the focus will be where it belongs: meeting people, exchanging ideas and learning more about what the industry’s next phase will require.
If you’re attending DCAC USA 2026, connect with Kirk Johnson or Ben Steele before the conference to schedule time to meet in Austin.
