Micheál Hernon

Execution focused advisory for AI and cloud data center infrastructure, built on predictability, precision and delivery maturity. We advise investors, landowners, and operator leadership across the full project lifecycle, drawing on firsthand hyperscale and operator delivery experience.

Project Horizon: a 2 GW AI campus in West Texas, built from the ground up to power the next generation of frontier-scale training. The team’s mandate is simple: build faster, smarter, and at frontier scale. Contracted via Mór Advisory Services to the Poolside Infrastructure Company.

Member of the EMEA Executive Management Team, accountable for NTT GDC’s data center pre-development, construction, and fit-out teams. Accountable for the regional CapEx program across EMEA with +450MW live operational capacity and 1+GW in development or pipeline. Reporting to the EMEA CEO, I led the consolidation and restructuring of our data center delivery functions and teams from the founding DC companies (Gyron, E-Shelter, Dimension Data) to create a single, pan-EMEA Delivery Organization. This transformation enabled sustainable regional expansion and the scalable growth of NTT’s data center portfolio across EMEA. Through this restructuring, I built and led a motivated, high-performing team responsible for concurrent, multi-phase data center campus and substation developments on both greenfield and brownfield sites in key markets including Frankfurt (multi-campus), Berlin (multi-campus), Bonn, Munich, Hamburg, Madrid, Vienna, Zurich, Amsterdam (JV), London (multi-campus), Paris, and Johannesburg. My organization included the following functions: Pre-Construction, Construction, Estimating, Cost Management, Scheduling, Hyperscale & Enterprise Fit-Out, QA/QC, Commissioning, and PMO. Under my leadership, the team delivered 14 data centers, multiple substations, and end-user fit-outs across 8 countries and 12 major cities in Europe and South Africa, with a pre-construction pipeline exceeding 1GW. My remit expanded significantly during my tenure at NTT, progressing to ultimately encompassing the full project lifecycle—from inception through handover and ongoing Day 2 Client Fit-Out services.

As a member of both the Data Center Development Leadership Team in EMEA and the Global Integration Leadership Team from 2013 to 2021, I was accountable for Integration and Technical Infrastructure Project Management across Microsoft’s greenfield hyperscale (self-build) and accountable for the separate colocation lease (RFS/Fit-Out), edge, and gateway data center portfolio throughout EMEA. During this period, I contributed to the global definition and management of the ITIM organization, including lessor RFS engagement and approval process, and within the region was responsible for end-to-end delivery across CapEx, OpEx, procurement, safety, and resource management. At the time of my departure, the portfolio spanned 18 countries. I led diverse, geographically distributed teams across this regional portfolio, including project and technical teams located on Microsoft’s greenfield campuses in the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Italy, and Spain. From joining in 2013 through my departure in 2021, I progressed through five level promotions (L61-66), initially based in Dublin before relocating to the Netherlands in 2016 where i was based on Microsoft’s largest greenfield hyperscale campus in Europe.

At G&T, an international construction project and cost management consultancy, I served as a client-side Senior Project Manager, overseeing scheduling, design coordination, and cost management to successfully deliver complex projects across multiple sectors for both public and private clients. These projects were executed under a range of contracting models, including Management Contracting, Traditional, Design & Build, and Construction Management, using RIAI, AIA, FIDIC, GCCC, and bespoke contract forms. Joining as a Graduate Project Manager, I advanced through successive promotions to Assistant Project Manager, Project Manager, and ultimately Senior Project Manager over a five-year period. In addition to core project management responsibilities, I also led Project Monitoring, Due Diligence, and PPP Bid Management assignments during my tenure.