Datacentre Magazine online article published 7 May 2024
Who is Jörgen Larsson? atNorth’s new Hyperscale Director
Leading data centre company atNorth has appointed a new Director of Hyperscale Operations to drive data centre excellence across the Nordic region. Renowned data centre expert Jörgen Larsson joins atNorth at a pivotal time within the industry and aims to bolster the company’s substantial growth plans.
As artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing (HPC) and colocation services continue to evolve and expand, Jörgen Larsson will help scale the business to meet the continued high demand for these services.
Jörgen holds more than twenty years of experience across the data centre industry, having previously worked for Meta. He will be tasked with overseeing the startup of all new atNorth data centres as the company continues to expand.
atNorth’s continued expansion is evidenced by the acquisition of two data centres in Finland and the opening of a new site in Iceland in 2023. Additionally, the business has also announced the development of three new sites in Finland and Denmark to open late 2024 and 2025.
A trailblazing commitment to data centre operations
As one of the leading data centres worldwide, atNorth has been readily committed to expanding its global data centre portfolio, having built several new data centres across the Nordic region in recent months.
Additionally, the company has been recognised for its advances in sustainable data centre services since it was founded in 2009. It has built its service offerings on the foundation that it operates solely in locations with access to renewable energy. Likewise, all its new data centres are built to reuse heat.
“atNorth’s dynamic, growth orientated environment is reminiscent of my early years at Facebook”, Jörgen says, speaking on his appointment. “The business’ scope to innovate and scale in this fast-growing industry is exciting and their commitment to sustainability, employee culture and client relationships gives them a highly competitive edge. I’m delighted to be part of their future journey.”
Jörgen has significant industry experience, with his most recent role being Facility Operations Startup Program Manager at Meta (formerly Facebook). For more than a decade, he was responsible for the startup of all new data centres across the EMEA region for the company, including key sites in Ireland, Denmark, Sweden and Singapore.
He worked closely with design and construction teams to secure quality, in addition to preparing site operational teams.
Prior to this, he held a number of senior positions at Swedish Telecommunications business, Telia, including Head of Energy Solutions and Head of Access Networks. These roles worked to expand his knowledge in energy efficient cooling technology and digital infrastructure as a whole, which have given him the breadth of knowledge and experience to plan and deliver atNorth’s hyperscale strategy.
With this results driven strategic approach, Jörgen will be harnessing his commitment to team engagement to drive atNorth to further promote effective collaboration with its clients.
The data centre company’s expansion strategy is part of an ongoing programme of continuous innovation and improvement. Long-term, the goal is to enable the company to adapt to the future needs of hyperscalers and other data-driven global businesses.
“Jörgen Larsson has a wealth of experience in the building and management of large capacity global data centres”, says Erling Guðmundsson, Chief Operations Officer at atNorth. “His ambitious and energetic nature combined with his emphasis on supportive leadership make him an excellent addition to our team.”
Read the online article here