Prior to joining EdgeCore, Heiden served as Chief Revenue Officer at QTS Data Centers and Chief Commercial Officer of EdgeConneX, both of which involved applying his dynamic sales and marketing skillset to drive extensive growth. Previously, Heiden served as President of several telecommunications companies, including Sidera Networks and PAETEC, and was Executive VP of Worldwide Sales for Cable & Wireless America. At each of these companies, he streamlined their go-to-market functions, dramatically increased revenue, and improved their reputations. In his early career, Heiden was VP of Global Markets at UUNET, where he played a pivotal role in the company’s highly successful IPO event.
Heiden graduated from James Madison University with a degree in computer information systems.
You have played a pivotal role in the trajectory of the data center industry and the way IT infrastructure has adapted to support major technological milestones like the .com boom and cloud computing. How do you compare that shift to the impact of AI / ML technology on the data center industry?
For me, it’s all about density and scale—that’s really been the difference. If we look back, even just a couple years, I’m not sure those data centers had the scale or the density capacity to keep up with what’s coming today. So, it says something that the newer data centers coming out, from EdgeCore and from others, are prepared for that level of density and scale.
EdgeCore has had notable momentum over the past year with its acquisition by Partners Group, data center builds and expansions, strategic hires, partnerships, and a rebrand. What is this momentum building toward, and what’s next for EdgeCore?
In addition to focusing on our core customers and markets—hyperscalers in the US and North America—we’re focused on single-tenant data centers. This setup supports a more efficient operation. Plus, different tenants will have different operational support and security needs, so focusing on single tenants allows us to channel all our services to their specific needs.
