COREY NEEDLES , MANAGING DIRECTOR , ARDENT DATA CENTERS , WHO TELLS US ABOUT
EVERYTHING IS ABOUT THE TEAM AND OUR COLLECTIVE MISSION .
D E E P D I V E
WE ‘ DEEP DIVE ’ WITH
COREY NEEDLES , MANAGING DIRECTOR , ARDENT DATA CENTERS , WHO TELLS US ABOUT
LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE OFFICE .
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What would you describe as your most memorable achievement in the data centre industry ?
Having been a part of the data centre industry for the past 25 years , my most memorable achievement has been helping the industry to evolve as a whole , playing a role in the various transitions which it has undergone . I ’ m particularly excited about this current evolution the industry is entering , resulting from the AI boom . It will dwarf anything that the industry has seen before , and my current position as the Managing Director at Ardent Data Centers , a Northern Data Group company , will allow me to be part of a business which is helping to drive that change .
What first made you think of a career in technology / data centres ?
I personally started my career in networking systems and IT but ended up making my way into the data centre industry , in quite a natural transition . What ’ s more , the 90s were a very exciting time in terms of innovation , characterised by the internet boom . I could quickly envisage what a future career in this industry would look like , and how my skillset could align – I ’ m glad I stuck with it .
What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position ?
My ultimate goal as a leader is to empower people through coaching , guidance and team collaboration . When growing up , playing team sports was a huge part of my life and now my daughters all play college sport .
As such , our whole family dynamic is centred around competition and teamwork , which teaches the value in having a team that works seamlessly together as a unit . This is something that has stayed with me and is the approach I take to my professional life – everything is about the team and our collective mission . Especially in this industry where the stakes are high . Businesses are spending huge sums of money , and as a result I ’ m partly responsible for their company ’ s success and people ’ s livelihoods . That ’ s why it ’ s crucial that my team is really disciplined in how they operate , so that we can deliver the best service possible .
What do you think is the current hot talking point within the data centre space ?
Artificial Intelligence ( AI ) has been dominating conversations in the data centre space as well as all other sectors , and for
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EVERYTHING IS ABOUT THE TEAM AND OUR COLLECTIVE MISSION .
good reason . AI is currently the biggest driving force in the data centre industry and is directly impacting its evolution , from data centre design and site selection to the types of infrastructure and scalability plans .
Our mission to power the Generative AI revolution has begun . Already , we are supporting Taiga Cloud , Northern Data Group ’ s Cloud service provider , as it utilises Ardent ’ s purpose built , high-density , next generation data centres and cooling infrastructure to house the latest High-Performance compute chips that are needed provide the necessary compute power . I ’ m really looking forward to leading Ardent as we continue to support Taiga Cloud in its future benchmarking and development .
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