Alok Rajput: GM, Technology & Data Centre Business Development, Vertiv India

With over 26 years of experience across critical infrastructure, precision cooling and data centre thermal management, Alok Rajput is currently general manager, technology and data centre business development, Vertiv India. He leads thermal chain architecture, early-stage customer engagement, thought leadership and solution strategy for large-scale critical infrastructure deployments, positioning Vertiv as a trusted partner for India’s next-generation data centre buildout. His mandate spans early customer engagement to architect the right thermal mix from day one, engaging the consultant ecosystem to stay aligned with evolving compute road maps, building his team’s technical depth and advancing thought leadership on cooling-first design.

Rajput points out that the rapid rise in artificial intelligence (AI) compute density is pushing conventional air-cooling architectures to their limits and shifting the design imperative from reactive thermal management to cooling-first data centre engineering, with cooling now directly determining how much compute a facility can support. He sees telecom operators transitioning from traditional connectivity providers to AI infrastructure and GPU-as-a-service platforms, a shift that would bring the rigour in cooling architecture and power infrastructure that large-scale data centres require today. At Vertiv, he notes, this convergence is seen as a natural extension of the work already being done across the data centre ecosystem.

He describes his management style as collaborative, with a strong focus on outcomes, giving his team the strategic context and ownership to make sound decisions independently while staying closely involved in setting direction, reviewing progress and course correcting against defined goals. “Having led across branch operations, technical teams and business development, I have learned that strong teams are built when people understand why a goal matters, not just what the goal is. I lead with clear intent, give my team the freedom to execute and hold everyone, including myself, accountable for results,” he says. On his tendency to hold himself and his teams to a high standard, he adds, “I am actively working on recognising that not every challenge requires an immediate response. Some require the right response at the right time.”

He holds a BTech in production engineering and management from the National Institute of Technology, Calicut, and an MBA in finance from Sikkim Manipal University. He recharges via time with his family and is an avid harmonica player and music enthusiast. He lives with his wife and son.