Blaine Daws, Co-Founder of WNTD at Data Centre LIVE

WNTD’s Co-Founder argues that the biggest constraint on AI infrastructure is not compute or chips, but talent.

That idea framed Blaine Daws' conversation with BizClik Studio at Data Centre LIVE, where he traced his journey from executive search into helping shape Europe’s early NVIDIA ecosystem and building a business designed for the neo cloud era.

Blaine discussed the early days of accelerated computing to today’s scramble for skilled data centre and AI deployment teams, where speed and specialist expertise are now critical currency.

Executive search to NVIDIA’s early days

Looking back, Blaine pointed to his earlier career in executive search as the unexpected gateway into the AI infrastructure world.

“If I go back to my background – my background was in executive search.

“In my previous business, we were one of the early partners of NVIDIA in 2016, when no one had really heard of them and they were just a gaming company, so it wasn't as big.

“And obviously where they are today is just not what it was. We were part of building out their executive function in Europe and scaling it up pretty quickly.”

That early involvement, he said, opened the door to a shift in focus that would eventually define WNTD.

Building WNTD for the neo cloud era

The shift from curiosity to conviction came to Blaine as GPU deployment inside data centres began to accelerate.

“Before that [involvement with NVIDIA] I didn't really know much about the deployments of GPUs within data centres – it was quite a niche thing.

“Recently it's become very fashionable and probably the most talked-about thing right now on social media.

“They [NVIDIA] sort of brought me there and I stayed very close with them, and that's essentially what made me create my own business completely around that.”

That business became WNTD, built to align itself tightly with emerging infrastructure demand.

“So WNTD was basically born to disrupt the market.

“I knew NVIDIA were focusing on more of the neo cloud market before it was even going to be called the neo cloud market.

“So it was always about getting ahead of the curve, because I think if you're going to create a business, you need a niche – if not, you're just going to get left behind.”

The talent bottleneck in AI infrastructure

While AI infrastructure expansion is often framed as a hardware story, Blaine argued the reality is far more human.

“I think it's about being in the right circles – right time, right place – and just focusing on that niche.

“People know us for helping the neo clouds, and before this became a big fashionable term that everyone talks about, no one really knew what they were.”

How partnerships shape the pipeline

As competition for skilled engineers intensifies, Blaine believes that credibility and partnerships have become essential to attracting talent.

“I think most of it comes down to who you work with.

“We were very lucky to partner with organisations like CoreWeave, who are technically the biggest neo cloud provider. So we've always had great names to work with, great brands.

“I think that helps for sure. And equally, because it's such a niche market, people want to join it, they want to be part of it.

“I'm a big believer in being part of the journey, and we're a small, close-knit team who work very closely together. Most of our business is referral-led.”

What comes next for WNTD

Looking ahead, Blaine's focus is firmly on sustaining the people pipeline that underpins everything else.

“Just keep building the people pipeline so we can deploy what everybody wants," he says.

“The people challenge is the one we feel most acutely, because if the customer can't find them, we need to find a solution, otherwise we don't exist, because we're a people-based business.

“Just continuing to get the brand out there, continuing to work with NVIDIA and its neo cloud partners, and being part of some really good programmes of work.”