Choose your strikers

The data centre sector is entering one of the most important periods in its history.

The expectations placed on digital infrastructure have changed.

The way the sector responds has to change too.

Public scrutiny is growing.

Communities are asking more questions.

The competition for talent is increasing.

AI is bringing data centres into conversations that once took place almost entirely within the industry.

This is not a moment for everyone to chase the same ball.

It is a moment to choose the right formation.

And, when a goal is needed, to choose the right strikers.

Every Position Matters

A football team needs more than one type of player.

It needs people who can defend.

People who can create opportunities.

People who can read the game.

People who can keep the team organised.

And people who can finish.

Every position matters.

The problem begins when visibility, familiarity or ego decides who plays where.

Being well known inside an industry does not automatically make someone the right person to communicate with a community.

Being skilled in communications does not automatically make someone an educator.

Having technical expertise does not automatically mean someone can translate it for a young audience.

Enthusiasm has value.

So does experience.

But the role, the audience and the outcome have to match.

Start With the Outcome

Before deciding who should lead an initiative, the first question should be:

What are we trying to achieve?

If the goal is public understanding, who can explain the subject clearly without reducing it to a corporate message?

If the goal is recruitment, who can connect an introduction to a real pathway?

If the goal is community trust, who has the credibility and experience to enter that conversation honestly?

If the goal is education, who understands learning rather than simply presenting information?

If the goal is participation, who knows how to listen, respond and create space for people to contribute?

Once the outcome is clear, the right formation becomes easier to see.

Visibility Is Not a Credential

This moment calls for credible voices.

Not simply the loudest.

Not simply the most visible.

The people whose experience, judgement and understanding equip them for the conversation in front of them.

Credentials do not only mean qualifications.

They can come from years of technical work.

From delivering within communities.

From building programmes.

From understanding education.

From navigating planning and public engagement.

From starting as an apprentice and building a career.

From being able to explain not only what the sector does, but why it matters.

The question is not whether someone has a platform.

The question is what they bring to it.

Real Thought Leadership

The sector also needs genuine thought leadership.

Not the repetition of language that is already gaining attention.

Not familiar ideas placed into a new campaign.

Not the appearance of expertise.

Real thought leadership comes from understanding a problem deeply enough to question the current approach.

It comes from experience.

It comes from observation.

It comes from being able to think beyond the script when the audience asks a difficult question.

A genuine thought leader does not only describe what is happening.

They help others see what needs to happen next.

That is particularly important when old approaches are no longer producing the outcomes the sector needs.

You Cannot Market to Young People Like You Marketed to Their Parents

The sector is trying to reach a generation that has grown up with immediate access to information, peer-to-peer learning and the tools to build its own platforms and businesses.

Many are not impressed by scale alone.

They are not automatically loyal to institutions.

They can identify a corporate message quickly.

They want to know who is speaking, what experience that person brings and whether the organisation genuinely means what it says.

You cannot market to young people like you marketed to their parents.

A polished presentation may create awareness.

It will not automatically create relevance.

A careers event may introduce the industry.

It will not automatically lead someone towards employment.

A school visit may produce excellent photographs.

It will not automatically change how young people see their future.

That requires a different mindset.

Build the Whole Formation

Choosing the right striker does not mean dismissing everyone else.

Communications professionals still have a role.

Technical experts have a role.

Educators have a role.

Community organisations have a role.

Schools, councils, libraries and industry partners all have a role.

The point is not that one person should lead everything.

The point is that people should be placed where their strengths create the greatest value.

The communications team can document and extend the work.

The educator can shape the learning.

The technical expert can provide depth.

The community partner can bring local understanding.

The evaluator can measure what changed.

And the right person can lead the conversation.

That is what formation looks like.

Let Evidence Select the Team

The sector does not need to discard everything that came before.

The previous playbook had its place.

But the game has changed.

The people leading this next phase need to recognise that shift.

They need the confidence to ask whether an approach is still working.

They need the humility to step aside when someone else is better placed.

And they need the judgement to put evidence ahead of ego.

This is not the time to reward activity for its own sake.

It is not the time to choose the person who is simply most comfortable holding the microphone.

The stakes are higher now.

The sector needs to build understanding, strengthen relationships and create pathways into an industry that many people still do not know exists.

Every position matters.

But when the industry needs to move the conversation forward, it has to choose people who can finish.

Choose your strikers.