Equinix is a digital infrastructure company. Digital leaders harness Equinix’s trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Bruce Owen, Managing Director, Equinix UK, was appointed to his current role in May, but has been with the company since 2010. He spoke to Intelligent CXO about the industry and his go-to productivity trick.
Describe your current job role.
As the Managing Director for Equinix in the UK, I work closely with our customers and partners to facilitate Digital Transformation and ensure the continued growth of our UK business. The UK is the largest market for Equinix in EMEA, representing more than a quarter of the region’s revenue in 2022 and comprising 14 facilities across London and Manchester. Our sites in these two cities provide connectivity to over 1,500 leading global organisations and offer access to more than 250 network service providers and over 460 cloud and IT service providers.
What would you describe as your most memorable achievement?
Professionally, last year I was part of establishing The Equinix Foundation, a US$50 million foundation aiming to help ensure a more accessible, equitable and sustainable future for communities around the world. I am President of the foundation and am committed to doing what I can to help advance digital inclusion around the world. On a more personal note, I feel I hit the spouse jackpot marrying my wife 19 years ago, with memorable achievements most certainly including the birth of our two kind and talented daughters.
What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position?
The two leadership philosophies that resonate most with me are Servant Leadership and Transformational Leadership. Through this process, transformational leaders can instigate personal and organisational change. I believe in creating a bold shared vision, aligning people and resources to that vision and making the trade-offs necessary to deliver on it.
What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in your industry?
Firstly, the rate of innovation and the need for enterprises to digitally transform continue to fuel the demand for digital infrastructure. According to Equinix’s 2023 Global Tech Trends Survey, AI adoption is increasing in various industries and a significant majority of global IT decision-makers, 85% of 2,900, are actively pursuing the benefits offered by this technology.
Cyberattacks also pose significant risks to organisations, both in terms of costly disruptions and data breaches that can harm their reputation and bottom line. The EU’s latest cybersecurity report predicts a substantial increase in these challenges. Equinix’s 2023 Global Interconnection Index (GXI Volume 6) forecasts global interconnection bandwidth to reach 10,737 terabits per second (tbps) by year-end, with a continued growth of over 35% CAGR in each region and major metro for the next five years to keep pace with evolving opportunities and challenges. IT leaders are prioritising investment in interconnection to improve cybersecurity, comply with data regulations, enhance customer experience and future-proof their businesses through Digital Transformation.
Sustainability is another critical focus for investment. The digital infrastructure driving today’s economy must be optimised for efficiency and cleanliness to enable sustainable business operations. Equinix, along with industry players and governments, is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2030 through initiatives like the Open 19 project.
Lastly, improving the digital connectivity of remote workforces is continuing to gain prominence. Hybrid working is here to stay, and digital infrastructure plays a vital role in supporting companies and their remote workforce.
If you could go back and change one career decision, what would it be?
Throughout my career, the very simple idea of leading with kindness has been a constant theme in my leadership style, and I encourage all of my teams to lead with equal elements of boldness and kindness. My experience has shown me that the greatest outcomes are achieved when acting at the intersection of those two qualities. Applying that model to my own career, at times I wish I would have been bolder earlier on in my career.
What behaviour or personality trait do you most attribute your success to and why?
I love the work of Patrick Lencioni and The Table Group, a consulting firm that helps organisations improve their overall performance. In his book, The Ideal Team Player, he emphasises the importance of building cohesive teams and creating a healthy organisational culture.
Lencioni describes the ideal team player as being humble, hungry and smart. If you picture each of these qualities as a Venn diagram, then at the centre of these three is where the ideal team player exists.
I have tried to show up each day at that intersection point, with varying degrees of success, and this is the model I use when I interview candidates.
What’s your go-to productivity trick?
My productivity trick is to ‘vote with your calendar’, being very intentional with where you spend your time. I believe in creating time blocks in your calendar for the activities that are most significant to you. This could include dedicating time for family, personal well-being, strategic thinking or any other aspects of life that are important and contribute to overall productivity and fulfilment. No one else is going to do that for you. This approach can help you maintain a healthy work/life balance, focus on long-term goals and foster personal growth and well-being.
What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the next 12 months?
I have recently stepped into my current role, and I am still learning a lot every day. More broadly, the role of a business leader is rapidly evolving, and I believe it will continue to do so. I strongly believe that leaders need to care about a far wider stakeholder group and actively participate in ensuring we leave both people and the planet better than how we found them. This requires leading with vulnerability and empathy, as well as doing the hard work of changing ourselves and being brave in our actions.
In the past year, I have witnessed an important shift in the UK Managing Director position at Equinix. I believe Equinix is at the precipice of change, and I am looking forward to actively participating in the evolution happening in the UK right now, as well as the global economy. The data centre industry, with advancements like AI and emerging technologies, is playing a crucial role in propelling Digital Transformation and facilitating the integration of these innovative technologies. The technology sector is beginning to adjust to these new technologies and the increasing demands of customers for faster connectivity. This is an area I am eager to pursue during my time in this position.