Dallas-based CyrusOne, a global data center owner, developer and operator, named John Hatem CEO and a member of the company’s board of directors, effective immediately. Eric Schwartz, who led CyrusOne during significant expansion, is stepping down as CEO and will work with Hatem as part of the company’s succession plan.

Hatem joined CyrusOne in 2011 and has held a series of increasingly senior roles across the business. Last September, he was named president, overseeing global sales and procurement along with U.S. design, engineering and construction. The company said that his extensive experience has helped establish CyrusOne as one of the world’s leading digital infrastructure providers for hyperscale and enterprise customers.

Hatem has built a reputation for leadership, strategic vision, operational expertise and a deep understanding of the market dynamics impacting the future of digital infrastructure.

“In his nearly 15 years with CyrusOne, John has become the heart and soul of the company, having established a strong track record of building outstanding teams, carrying out winning strategies and leading operations that must continue to move at the speed of technological innovation,” board members Waldemar Szlezak, partner at KKR, and Will Brilliant, partner at Global Infrastructure Partners, said in a joint statement.

KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners took CyrusOne private in a roughly $15 billion deal that closed in 2022. The company now operates more than 60 data centers in the United States, Europe and Japan.

Leading through growth

Szlezak and Brilliant said that Hatem has earned the trust of leading enterprises, of the communities where CyrusOne operates and of his teammates.

“The opportunity for CyrusOne has never been greater,” they said. “And we are confident that John is the right person to guide the company forward. No one understands the company’s customers, capabilities and potential more deeply than he does.”

Szlezak and Brilliant also praised the contributions of outgoing CEO Schwartz, who came to CyrusOne in 2022. When he arrived, he was the fifth CyrusOne CEO in three years, bringing stability to the role.

“He and the team have delivered a period of record revenue growth and profitability marked by the largest customer expansion in our history, and we are grateful for his leadership,” Szlezak and Brilliant said. “Today, CyrusOne is a stronger, larger and better company that is poised to capitalize on the extraordinary demand for AI infrastructure.”

Schwartz expressed optimism about the company’s future.

“It has been a privilege to lead CyrusOne, and I could not be more confident in John’s leadership to take the company into its next phase of growth,” he said.

Extensive data center experience

Hatem has led nearly every operating function of the business, including land and power, procurement, IT and sales. He left CyrusOne in 2019, then returned in October 2020 as chief operating officer.

“The team at CyrusOne has built something special: a company with the engineering discipline, operational expertise, and talented personnel to deliver world-class data center capacity at the speed and scale that our customers expect,” Hatem said. “I have never been more excited about what lies ahead. As workloads become more power-intensive and demand for faster delivery grows, our structural advantages have never mattered more.”

Before joining CyrusOne, Hatem served as the director of design and construction for ConceptCSI Global Data Center Solutions.

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