Live from Datacloud Cannes: Bridging the Data Centre Skills Gap

Andy Davis is live in Cannes, France, recording live from Datacloud Global Congress 2025!

Bringing a co-host - Rory Flashman, Managing Director of Spa Communications - info the frame, this series of special podcasts is brought to you in collaboration with Datacloud Global Congress and Spa Communications, to talk all things data centres. 

Joined by guests, Holly Fenner, Head of Marketing and Communications at GeN+1, and Anna Rantala, Marketing Manager at BCS Consultancy, the episode discusses the skills gaps and the state of the industry from an upcoming talent perspective. The main question in the episode: how do we excite the next generation to come into the data centre industry?

“Data centres are like bees, they’re the hidden heroes who keep this world alive, we need them in our ecosystem” – Anna Rantala.  

Transcript

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SPEAKER_04 0:27

Welcome to the Data Cloud Power Hour. I'm Ruth Laster, Managing Director of Spark Communications, and this week I am your co-host of the Inside Data Centre Podcast with Andy Davis.

SPEAKER_03 0:37

And I'm Andy Davis, host of Inside Data Centre Podcast. Allegedly.

SPEAKER_04 0:41

Allegedly. Nice to be here, Andy, with you. Ollie, would you like to introduce yourself?

SPEAKER_01 0:45

So I'm Holly Fenner and I work at Gen Plus One as the head of marketing and communications.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

So my name is Anna Rantala. I'm three months into Data Centrist. I feel like I'm pretty new still, and I work as the head of marketing at VCS Consultancy.

SPEAKER_04 0:59

Awesome. Glad to be here with you.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

Let's have a bit of fun with this. First question. Who wins in a fight? One gorilla or a hundred men?

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Uh gorilla.

SPEAKER_03 1:13

Gorilla.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

You can't trust men.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

That's a good point, actually. Trust me. I'm with you on that one. Rory knows where I'm going with that question. We were talking about it in Portugal. We went on we went through every animal, I think, in the uh animal kingdom.

SPEAKER_04 1:27

We literally do.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Any win?

SPEAKER_04 1:29

Huh? Did any win? The gorilla always wins, but it it descended in chaos after a short while. We ended up with sharks, crocodiles, different types of snake. It was chaos.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

Right, let's talk talent. Gen Plus 1, you just mentioned animal as well. You're new to the industry, so I think you're two good people to talk about talent. Holly, someone was saying a minute ago there's a lot more young people here than there were last year. And they're 48, I think they said, and they feel old now. What's your honest view on the state of the industry from a let's say younger talent perspective?

SPEAKER_01 2:05

It's hard to comment being new to it myself and not seeing that change, which is a you know alleged change that you're that people are seeing, I suppose. But uh I can still surely say that I will walk in a room and gravitate towards the younger people in there, and then then not the majority. Um we're we're we're doing well, but we could be doing better.

SPEAKER_04 2:29

Do you feel like sorry, go on? I was gonna say, do you feel like there's like a notable shift though?

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Um I feel like with different conferences you you attract a different crowd. Being to a few of them myself now, I've noticed some of them I feel more comfortable at.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

Less I feel I feel less valuable at. Um but that I think that comes with what that conference is bringing to the industry and what what the messages that people are taking away. I feel like we're going in the right direction, but some of the and not necessarily the conferences, but it might be the companies attending. Why are they not bringing their younger star? Do they not trust them?

SPEAKER_04 3:08

It's something you were trying to address when you started talking about different events, right, Andy?

SPEAKER_03 3:12

Yeah, I think events is a balance, isn't it, between like what's the event's objective? Is it to bring more young people in it, or is it to bring the leaders? Like this is a leadership event, so obviously, you know, 75% I think of the attendees are C level or above, or however you want to sort of niche that demographic. Whereas if you're doing a DCMC, which you came to, you know, where you're you're a marketing event, you're obviously going to attract the demographic that's in that industry. So I think it's difficult. Different events definitely attract different sort of demographics, but I think that's because that's what they're that's the demographic of the audience they're trying to attract.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Yeah, for sure. But I also think that the company themselves are some of them are doing it really well. They are still bringing their younger staff and trying to mingle them in with those leaders because that's going to be their connection and pathway in into certain things. It's not necessarily just up to the, I don't know, the big dogs to make all the decisions and connections.

SPEAKER_03 4:08

No, I think they should bring definitely should bring young people along, 100%. I think they should. Anna, what do you think? Different industry, you've been in it three months. What is the industry? I don't know what industry you're in before, so you can share that with us. But what was it like in that industry and how have you found it entering this industry?

SPEAKER_02 4:25

Yeah, I it's been it's been so cool. I I can relate to many things that you're saying, Holly, but I I came from a B2B health tech SAS um industry. So similar things, I mean tech and quite innovative stuff, a lot of people, but nowhere near as this much of networking, like a lot of face-to-face, networking relationships, really building on that. So it's super exciting. And I feel like we're this is a very it's it's an industry that we're very human. Even though we work with big things and data and like important projects, we're still very human and it's it's super refreshing in a way. Like the whole industry is super open as well. Like, okay, we might not be the coolest industry. We we have uh talent shortage issues, but that's that's fine. We're open and we want to get better. So it's nice to be like in this industry where we're like, okay, we have some work to do, we want to do it. There's companies like 10 plus one, you know, doing amazing things, you guys doing this podcast. Like, it's I don't know, there's like this cool energy, so it's it's a really, really cool place to be in. And when you're outside of it, you you kind of people try to sell you things, and people try to tell you like it's a really cool place to be in, and like a lot of a lot is happening, and it's a booming industry, but you don't really know. But now when I'm in it, I'm like, that's spot on, and even more, it's it's super cool.

SPEAKER_03 5:41

Sat on a terrace in Cannes doing a podcast in what 25 degrees, not it's not bad, is it?

SPEAKER_04 5:46

Five years ago, you wouldn't have been doing it.

SPEAKER_03 5:48

No, well, no, like five years ago I didn't even have a podcast. Yeah, so like I think that has changed definitely. Like I remember talking to Rich years ago about your younger generation in the industry, and it takes people like Rich and yourself to get off your backside and do something about it as well, which is I guess what's happened in the industry. People have tried to create change for the good, which uh and disruption is always a good thing, I think. So anything that's disruptive is good, but yeah, in it and it is a coolest industry as well.

SPEAKER_04 6:16

Just yeah, 100%. And change takes time, doesn't it? And that's the big thing at the minute. Like, we're we're at this inflection point in terms of growth, and actually, just my own personal experience, like seeing what's happening in the industry right now and the amount of younger people here, bearing in mind I've just done 40 as well. Like, there is change afoot, there is positive sets forward, but I couldn't agree with you more. Like it's yeah, still things we can do better.

SPEAKER_02 6:39

Sorry, yeah, and it starts with the companies like actually doing the taking the action, and it's really cool to see more younger people here. I mean, this is my first time here, so I cannot really compare it to last year's events, but still it's like starts with that. And for example, what we've done at BCS this year, we had a competition that uh two a bit younger uh employees got to come in and they had to pitch why would you want to come in? And that's motivating and that's like okay, that's really cool, like I want to do it, and then people who are the best they they won, and now they're here. So it's it's really cool, and then there's a lot of cool initiatives with Chen Plus One, and we're like, I don't know, it's just um it's cool to see it, and I think we're actually doing the action and not just talking the talk.

SPEAKER_04 7:17

I like it. So, AI generated questions then. Let's have some fun.

SPEAKER_02 7:21

No, no.

SPEAKER_04 7:21

If your data center was an animal, what would it be and why? Anna, you go first.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Okay, I can go first. I don't know if this like this is an animal, but I'm gonna say where's this going? It's a that's okay, it's an insect or like an important, important part of this um this world.

SPEAKER_03 7:38

We'll take an insect.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

It will take it, okay. So it would be a bee.

SPEAKER_04 7:41

Nice.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

Because they are a little bit these like hidden um heroes who keep this world alive. We need them, we need them in our ecosystem, uh, that everything works. The same that the same thing with data centers. People don't really think about it. You don't really necessarily know, like, okay, so I can use my phone, I can send my emails and the data center. That's the same thing with bees, so that's uh that's the best thing I have.

SPEAKER_04 8:04

That's a strong answer. I think that's a very good answer. Seriously, good luck.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Oh no, because mine is just so completely opposite.

SPEAKER_03 8:12

Go for it.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Okay, do you know what a capy barra is?

SPEAKER_03 8:14

Yeah. My kids love capy bars.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Right. Okay, there we go. They don't love data centers. Love capibos. That's what we need to do. So we need to make the data centre the capybara of the animal world and make them love those as well.

SPEAKER_03 8:28

But when you talk about like when you talk about marketing though, and obviously that's you know your bag as well. It's it's things like that that will it's probably taken it to the extreme, but it's things like that that will change the perception of the industry for young people. So if you did take a bee or a capibara and you went down that route, you would attract more young people. I think I always say it, data centres are quite boring to the untrained eye. Yeah, you've got to make them a bit more exciting, and maybe an animal's taking it too far, but there's definitely something. I like the Vs, there's definitely something there of it. I don't know what I'd choose.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

I think that's why it's really important for us to realise where the audience that we're trying to attract is. Yes, we can put all these things on LinkedIn and all of our, you know, execs can share it, but really who that's only sharing it to the same people that have heard it for the last 20 years anyway. For us being Gen Plus One and trying to attract the younger audience, people that aren't sure what the career path they're doing, it's being on TikTok, being on Instagram, and being visible and showing the other side of data centers, which isn't just wiry corridors of nothing and not really sure what a cloud is.

SPEAKER_03 9:27

Yeah, and it can they can be exciting as well. Like you can make them look exciting, like you don't have to be this boring PR video that's trying to attract customers because that's again what a lot of the videos are, they're trying to attract a customer, which again is understandable, but you've got that attraction of people and attraction of customers are two separate forms of marketing, and a lot of this industry just goes down the customer route, which is your boring corporate video, and and again, like on LinkedIn. And I remember someone put a poll out ages ago saying which social media platform do you use most? Like LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram. I was like, You're asking everyone on LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:02

What do you think they're gonna say? I don't have TikTok, my kids have TikTok. There you go. So there's no point asking me. I'd say LinkedIn because that's what I use, but my children don't. So I agree.

SPEAKER_04 10:13

Being at the right place, the right time for the right audience. That's the key game. Holly, Anna, thank you very much for coming by seeing us for the power out. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

Thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_03 10:23

Go back to the bar, get a drink. Yeah, or go to the bar and get a drink.

SPEAKER_02 10:27

Yeah, perfect. Thank you so much.