Google Hires Aris Karcanias for EMEA Data Centre Power Role

Google has appointed Aris Karcanias as its new Head of Data Centre Energy & Infrastructure for the EMEA region.

He will be based in Google's London office, where he will replace Maud Texier, who recently left to join Octopus Energy as Global VP of Data Centers and Industrials.

A central part of Aris' role will be securing consistent electricity for the firm's server facilities across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

"The mission: Deliver 24/7 clean, secure, and reliable power across Google's EMEA data centres, and the energy foundation the AI era is being built on," Aris said in a post shared on LinkedIn.

The digital infrastructure sector is currently procuring heavy volumes of power to run dense server environments. AI requires significant computational capacity, translating directly to higher electricity consumption.

Aris notes the scale of this issue: "AI is initiating an unprecedented amount of electricity demand. Meeting it with clean power every hour of every day is one of the most consequential challenges today, and one upon which Google has chosen to lead. Done creatively, we're not just absorbing demand. We're part of the solution."

He goes on to outline the difficulty of balancing compute requirements with sustainability targets: "It’s a genuinely hard problem, and one that has generational implications, but it’s also incredibly exciting."

Previous energy transition experience

Before moving to Google, Aris held senior positions at FTI Consulting and PA Consulting. He retains advisory roles at CelerateX, Kerogen Capital and Susi Partners.

"For twenty years, I've built and backed the companies fuelling the energy transition; working with boards, investors, and leadership teams across clean energy, transport, and infrastructure, in both public and private markets," Aris explains.

He will work alongside Google’s global data centre energy division.

"It’s a real privilege to be joining such an excellent team – thank you Amanda Peterson Corio and the team who have been doing this work long before I showed up,” Aris says.

"Now the real work begins."