Chirag Patel – Deputy CTO, Infrastructure, team.blue

I’m Chirag Patel. I’m based in the UK, and my working life has been shaped by people, technology and the connections between them. I’ve spent more than 20 years in hosting and infrastructure, building my career from frontline technical support through engineering, operations and business leadership. Today, my focus is on helping small and medium-sized businesses connect their ambitions for AI with the infrastructure they need to support them.

I started on the phones in the dial-up days, helping customers get online and resolve problems with their connection and browser settings. I’ve since seen the industry evolve through broadband and cloud computing, and now into the age of AI. Working directly with customers taught me to listen carefully, explain things clearly and understand the problem before reaching for a solution.

My career has taken me through data centre engineering and systems administration, managing customer services, sales and support desks, and regional and international responsibilities within Register Group. As Country Manager for the UK, I brought together the commercial, operational and technical sides of the business. Those experiences still shape how I approach decisions: infrastructure has to work for the people and businesses that depend on it.

I’ve been involved in consolidating four data centres into one in Reading. My work across UK & Ireland acquisitions has included leading technical due diligence and post-merger integration, consolidating systems and platforms, and closing acquired data centres as services moved into our UK & Ireland infrastructure. I also contributed to the growth of the business to around €70 million.

Alongside that, I’ve worked on hardware RFPs, supplier selection, vendor management and contract negotiations for compute, storage, networks, software and data centre space. This has included responsibilities across the UK & Ireland and at group level. I value the combination of technical understanding and commercial judgement that these decisions require.

For four years, I was Head of Infrastructure and Operations, reporting to the Group CTO. I now work as Deputy CTO in the Infrastructure Division at team.blue. It builds on that experience with a clearer focus on what SMEs need as they explore AI adoption and develop their own workloads.

My approach to leadership is grounded in that progression. I care about clear communication, practical decisions and giving technical work a business purpose. Whether I’m discussing an integration, a supplier relationship or an AI requirement, I want to understand what success looks like for the customer and the team delivering it. The technology continues to evolve; helping people make good use of it remains the thread running through my career.