Accelerating AI Infrastructure: Andy Hayes, CEO of Polar

Can you summarise your background and explain your key passion and motivations to lead Polar?

I come from an Engineering background and have worked in the data centre sector for just over 20 years. I have held a number of leadership roles in new and progressive companies. I love to learn and every day I'm discovering something new whether that's from the Polar team, our customers or partners. 

What inspired the founding of Polar - what are you looking to solve in the crowded data centre operator market?

Polar was founded to develop and operate data centres tailored specifically to support High Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Large scale deployment of GPU and HPC IT systems require data centres to accommodate ultra-high power densities, which can be 10 to 20 times greater than traditional IT and often come with complex network requirements. 

The vast majority of existing and recent data centres were not designed to accommodate this type of IT infrastructure. At Polar we ensure that our data centres meet the latest technology requirements for large-scale AI deployments and offer customers solutions for advanced network installations and smart hands. 

Could you explain your vision statement, "accelerating infrastructure"?

The growth and proliferation of AI applications is staggering and has been compared to a modern-day equivalent of the industrial revolution. We are witnessing a corresponding unprecedented speed and scale of infrastructure change in data centres. 

Accelerating Infrastructure is the ability to provide this new capacity at scale, with the speed and flexibility to accommodate the latest technology developments.

What is the current status of the business, what sites do you have? And what are you planning to develop over the next 12-24 months?

We have recently secured investment funding from H.I.G Capital, which enables us to fully launch the business, with initial developments already underway in Norway. Demand is high and we already have significant capacity committed to our customers.

Additionally, our site acquisitions team is actively securing further locations in Norway and other European countries.  

What are your core product and service offerings?

Our mission is to create the leading infrastructure platform for our customers to develop the future of AI. We are focused on developing AI ready data centres. Managing GPU deployments at scale is complex and we are responding by developing critical infrastructure to support this technology. 

But it doesn’t stop there, we are also putting in place key support services such as white space solution design, network architecture, physical IT implementation and 24/7 support. 

What are some specific technological innovations that Polar is implementing to support its vision of accelerating infrastructure?

We are developing our designs and infrastructure to meet the growing demands of HPC and AI infrastructure. Key to managing these advancements is density and we’re able to pivot quickly to adapt to new technology architectures and OEM announcements. 

In addition, our new facilities are being designed and built in a modular, prefabricated method, which allows us to better control quality and accelerates the overall construction timeline. We believe that speed of deployment and flexibility are crucial for our customers. 

What steps are being taken to ensure sustainability and energy efficiency?

Our facilities in development in Norway are powered entirely from hydroelectric energy to ensure a constant supply of clean and renewable electricity. 

We understand and measure the carbon footprint and environmental impact of our developments. This enables us to learn from one project to the next and make continual improvements to make our projects more sustainable.    

PUE remains an important metric to showcase the efficiency of our facilities, we carefully measure our performance and can prove our industry leading credentials. 

We will continue to drive sustainable practices through all areas of the business and are proud to demonstrate this commitment locally, regionally and throughout the data centre industry. 

Can you tell us about the team? Who is supporting you to develop the business?

We deliberately began our leadership resourcing with operational capability first. Tom Chubb as COO and Simon Wilkins as VP Engineering, join the company with a combined 50+ years of DC operational experience. They are both supporting our development and construction programs, setting up our strategy, approach and delivery plans with an operational mindset. In the near term, we will add other key capabilities to the team, to help grow the business and support our customers.

We are also supported by a Tier 1 network of professional SMEs and partners who are proud and excited to be working with Polar to drive new technology innovation. 

Operational excellence and reliability are cornerstones of the Polar business – can you summarise your vision and plans for the operations set up?

I’ve mentioned our investment in operational expertise, within this team we have built four key operational pillars and capabilities that will underpin our business and support our company vision:

Can you share Polar's expansion plans within and beyond Europe?

Our primary focus is Europe and we are assessing new sites across various countries. We continue to work with our customers to find the right locations to meet their future requirements.  

What trends do you foresee in the data centre industry, and how is Polar preparing?

Clearly, the hot topic is AI and being able to support ultra-high-density infrastructure. We are already building for 130kW per rack and have had requests for even higher loads. The challenge for all data centre operators right now is; are our facilitates AI ready?

Through careful planning and design, our facilities will be able to support high performance compute technologies. We’re building our business on these principles.   

We are fortunate to work in an industry sector that is flourishing, especially now with AI and we get to engage with some of the brightest minds at the forefront of new and exciting technologies. 

What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs in the AI and data centre industry?

The AI sector is incredibly fast moving and dynamic. Companies like NVIDIA are developing new technologies at an incredible rate. The market opportunities are significant with a lot of investment being made. This pace of change can feel daunting as it brings lots of new companies and competing ideas. 

My advice is to interact with as many knowledgeable people as you can on a regular basis and try to keep up with the change, it’s the best way to stay current and relevant.

Polar, under Andy Hayes' leadership, is setting a new standard for AI infrastructure, making it possible for the technology revolution to grow and thrive with world-class data centres designed for the demands of tomorrow.

This interview was written in partnership with Polar DC.

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