Critical Careers steps up from campaign to industry-wide movement

Critical Careers, the industry initiative launched by Kao Data to champion women in digital infrastructure, has announced the expansion of its partner ecosystem with four new strategic partners joining the founding strategic partner, CBRE Data Center Solutions.

AVK, Eversheds Sutherland, JLL and Mace Construct will, alongside CBRE Data Center Solutions, support Critical Careers through 2026/27 as the programme moves into its second year, enabling a broader range of activity, including two new podcast seasons and live events across Europe’s major data centre hubs. Spa Communications joins the programme as media partner, supporting the initiative's external reach and industry engagement.

Originally launched to celebrate women working across the sector, Critical Careers has grown into a platform where competing operators, global hyperscalers, neoclouds and supply chain partners collaborate under a shared purpose. The initiative brings together voices from across engineering, operations, sustainability, law and finance, real estate and executive leadership, reframing representation as a collective responsibility rather than a single-company effort.

That growth is reflected in the programme's reach. The first Critical Careers book featured 30 women from 28 companies across six continents, with a supporting digital platform giving the stories a global audience and reaching over 1.5million impressions across LinkedIn. Following on from this success the first podcast season generated thousands of downloads and achieved a conversion rate four times higher than the Spotify average, reaching an audience that was 68 per cent female across the UK, US and continental Europe.

Lizzy McDowell, Director of Marketing at Kao Data and co-founder of Critical Careers, said: "Critical Careers began as a genuine celebration of women in digital infrastructure, and the response across the industry made it clear that the work had a role to play well beyond any single organisation. Having CBRE Data Centre Solutions, AVK, Eversheds Sutherland, JLL and Mace Construct as strategic partners, provides us with the necessary endorsement we required to expand the Critical Careers mission, who it reaches, how it shapes the industry's future and the lasting impact we can have."

Joyce Wady, Critical Careers Creative Director, added: “Through the conversations I’ve had with women across the Critical Careers books and podcast, one thing has become very clear. Access to this industry does not start with a job description, it starts with visibility. When you can see what careers in digital infrastructure actually look like, including the roles, journeys and people behind them, it becomes much easier to imagine yourself within it.

What we are doing with Critical Careers is turning that visibility into belief. By opening up how careers really take shape, we are challenging outdated perceptions and showing that women belong

in this industry and are already building long-term, successful careers within it. The more visible these stories become, the more realistic and achievable that future is for others coming through.”

Critical Careers has already demonstrated tangible influence on recruitment, with women entering digital infrastructure roles after engaging with its content. The expanded strategic partner group now gives the initiative the collective weight to build on that momentum, scaling its reach across the industry and beyond, throughout the year ahead.