This was my first time attending CloudFest, and it exceeded expectations. More than 10,000 people came together at EuropaPark, and while the sessions were strong, a lot of the real signal came from the hallway conversations, especially on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The opening keynote from Hewlett Packard Enterprise set the tone early. Peter Groth, VP & GM, SP & OEM at HPE, focused on two forces that are shaping nearly every infrastructure decision right now. Hardware costs are rising, and at the same time, organizations are moving workloads toward infrastructure they control. That shift is being driven by digital sovereignty requirements and increasing costs from vendors like Broadcom and VMware, along with pressure from hyperscalers.

The direction is clear. Even with higher hardware costs, organizations are investing in on-prem and hosted private clouds because control over data, jurisdiction, and operations has become a priority.

That trend was visible everywhere. Digital sovereignty was not just a talking point, it was embedded in how people are thinking about architecture. Decisions about where workloads run, who operates them, and how systems are built are getting a lot more attention, particularly across Europe where regulatory and market forces are accelerating change.

Another noticeable shift is how infrastructure is showing up in developer conversations. AI workloads, GPU orchestration, and data locality requirements are making it harder to treat infrastructure as something abstracted away behind a platform. Teams are paying closer attention to what is actually running underneath their applications and how those environments are designed.

You can also see the broader market adjusting in real time. The impact of the Broadcom acquisition of VMware continues to push organizations to evaluate alternatives, and digital sovereignty is accelerating those decisions. This is translating into active migration projects, new deployments, and a renewed focus on infrastructure strategy.

That interest was visible in sessions as well. Daniel Menzel of Menzel IT also gave an OpenStack-based talk, “Private Cloud Infrastructure – Bringing Hyperscaler Tech into Your Own Basement”, which drew a packed room, with well over 80 attendees and strong engagement throughout. There is growing attention on platforms like OpenStack that offer flexibility and control, especially for organizations looking to balance cost, performance, and sovereignty requirements.

Across the event, there was also a steady stream of conversations with companies building or operating cloud infrastructure in Europe. Many are already using open source technologies or exploring how to incorporate them more deeply into their stack. There is clear interest in collaboration and a recognition that building in the open can accelerate both innovation and market alignment.

My biggest takeaway was the overall energy. There is a lot of momentum in the European market right now. Sovereignty initiatives are moving quickly, AI infrastructure demand is increasing, and companies are actively positioning themselves to meet those needs. You could see it in the volume of meetings, the depth of conversations, and the amount of deal making happening throughout the event.

CloudFest delivered a clear signal. Infrastructure is a central part of how organizations are thinking about the future, shaped by sovereignty, cost, and the operational demands of AI. This was my first time attending, and it is definitely one I will be back for next year.