Prime Data Centers Appoints New Chief Legal Officer and New SVP of Product Delivery, North America

Dallas-based Prime Data Centers has added two veteran executives to its leadership team: Donncha Ó Tuama as chief legal officer and Michael Hildebrand as SVP of product delivery, North America.

Prime, a leading international developer and operator of hyperscale and purpose-built data centers, said that together, Ó Tuama and Hildebrand will help shape the company’s next chapter, driving innovation and project delivery across its expanding data center portfolio.

Founded in California in 2017, Prime Data Centers was previously headquartered in San Francisco before establishing its new HQ in Dallas.

“Prime is scaling rapidly to meet the demands of an AI-driven world,” Founder and CEO Nicholas Laag said in a statement. “Donncha and Michael bring deep experience and proven leadership that will strengthen our ability to grow and continue building the infrastructure that enables our customers to innovate without limits. Their leadership will be instrumental as we expand our global footprint and deliver AI and HPC capacity at scale.”

Guiding legal side of data centers

Prime said that Ó Tuama comes to the company with more than 15 years of international legal experience. It said he has managed legal, commercial and risk strategy for hyperscale data center projects across the U.S., EMEA, and APAC with more than 500 MW of critical IT capacity delivered and over 1GW of development pipeline secured.

Ó Tuama’s expertise spans the entire data center lifecycle, from land acquisition and power procurement, through leasing, financing, construction, and operational facilities management.

Before joining Prime, Ó Tuama was general counsel at Yondr Group, where he led the legal aspects of hyperscale developments and strategic partnerships, and oversaw the company’s $5.8 billion sale to Digital Bridge. Before Yondr, he spent more than a decade at top-tier law firms in the United States and Europe. As chief legal officer, Ó Tuama will lead Prime’s global legal and compliance strategy, supporting the company’s continued expansion and execution of mission-critical data center projects worldwide.

“The opportunity to join a leadership team that combines entrepreneurial agility, solution-based thinking and operational rigor was what drew me to Prime,” Ó Tuama said. “My priority is to build the legal and commercial frameworks that allow Prime to move decisively, manage risk effectively, and deliver next-generation data center solutions for our customers around the world.”

Project delivery expertise

Prime said that Hildebrand brings a long record of operational excellence and large-scale project delivery to the company, backed by more than 35 years of experience in manufacturing operations and large project delivery.

Before joining Prime, he held senior roles at Tesla, where he oversaw design and construction of the company’s Nevada Semi Assembly factory, one of the most advanced manufacturing facilities in the world, and at Eli Lilly where he had oversight of global capital construction programs for highly technical drug product and white room facilities.

At Prime, Hildebrand will oversee the execution of the company’s data center projects from design through delivery, ensuring consistency, sustainability and quality across all North American deployments.

“Having led complex builds in advanced manufacturing environments, I understand what it takes to deliver mission-critical facilities on time and to exacting standards,” Hildebrand said. “I look forward to applying that discipline to Prime’s growing portfolio and ensuring every project meets the reliability and performance expectations our customers demand.”