Data Centre Veteran joins DigitalBridge to Expand Portfolio
Leading global digital infrastructure investors DigitalBridge announces that it has appointed Christian Belady to advise on the company’s data centre portfolio.
As part of his new role, Belady will provide strategic counsel to the company to support the continued development of its global data centre strategies. The portfolio itself is expecting to see an unprecedented level of demand on account of a continued rise in customer investments into disruptive technologies such as cloud and artificial intelligence (AI).
Belady brings with him a wealth of experience in data centre and infrastructure management, having worked with companies to transform them at a global scale.
Designing a new era for the data centre
Prior to this new role, Belady served as Vice President of Data Centre Research and Development for tech giant Microsoft’s Cloud Infrastructure Organisation. His responsibilities as part of this included working to develop new technologies to digitally transform the sector and address the ever-pressing challenges of scaling cloud and AI.
Belady worked at Microsoft for more than 12 years, having held a range of job roles, which included leading the organisation’s global server and data centre development, research, engineering and construction. In addition, he led operations for Microsoft’s data centre portfolio and developed its energy team.
In addition to his new Senior Advisor role, Belady also serves as a board member for leading data centre companies, Vantage Data Centers and Scala Data Centers - both in the DigitalBridge portfolio. As a result of his commitment to the industry, he has also received numerous industry awards and accolades, most recently including election to the National Academy of Engineering and the Data Center Icon Award from the North Virginia Technology Council.
He also holds more than 150 US and international data centre and server design patents.
“We are thrilled to welcome Christian to DigitalBridge and look forward to benefiting from his unparalleled expertise in data centre design, development and management,” says Jon Mauck, Senior Managing Director of DigitalBridge.
“Christian is a distinguished technologist whose innovations have changed the industry’s metrics and led to substantial energy efficiency gains globally. As part of DigitalBridge, Christian will continue to advance the sector and, specifically, drive energy efficiency and design improvements to better meet the demands for AI workloads.”
A commitment to advancing data centre efficiency
Having advanced and contributed to a number of organisations across the industry, Belady is keen to develop new industry metrics and guidelines to better foster sustainability and efficiency in data centres. He is currently a part of ASHRAE (The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers), The Green Grid, and ICA (iMasons Climate Accord).
As a whole, the data centre industry is in a state of flux, as it wrestles new energy challenges and seeks to lower its carbon footprint. Sustainability is consistently emerging as a key focus when it comes to data centre design and optimisation, as companies are innovating to increase capacity whilst maintaining a future-proof focus.
Experts like Belady are well-positioned to navigate this changing landscape, offering advice and support to DigitalBridge as it seeks to grow a clean-led portfolio.
“I am pleased to join DigitalBridge,” Belady says. “I have long been impressed by the firm’s approach to global digital infrastructure investing. I look forward to working closely with the management team and learning from our combined experience and knowledge.”
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