Can you introduce yourself and your role at FläktGroup?
I’m Marc Hayes, and I lead the US data centers business at FläktGroup. My role is focused on growing our presence in a rapidly expanding market, bringing together engineering expertise, commercial strategy and strong team leadership.
What is your educational background?
I’m a mechanical engineer by training and studied at Georgia University. Engineering has always been part of my life – I come from a family of mechanical engineers, so it was a natural path for me.
How did you first get involved in data centers?
While I was still at university, I was already getting hands-on exposure to data centers. I worked on Meta data center projects, including commissioning activities and site visits. That early experience gave me a real understanding of large-scale, mission-critical environments and sparked a long-term interest in the data center sector.
How did your career evolve after graduating?
After graduating, I undertook further professional training and fairly quickly realized that I had a real passion not just for engineering, but also for sales. I enjoyed talking to people and building relationships – and it turned out I was quite good at it.
What experience did you gain before joining FläktGroup?
I’ve spent more than 15 years working with major global organizations. One key chapter was at Boyd Corporation, one of the world’s largest component manufacturers, where I worked extensively with cooling technologies, including liquid cooling solutions. That experience has become increasingly relevant as AI continues to shape the data center industry.
Before FläktGroup, I also held a key role at Nortek Control Systems, working in data center cooling and helping scale the business.
How do you see AI impacting data centers?
AI brings a whole new dimension to the business. It fundamentally changes how we design and manufacture solutions, and it drives a significant increase in demand. Quite simply, AI means more servers – and that has major implications for cooling and infrastructure.
What leadership approach do you bring to your role?
Alongside my technical and commercial development, I’ve invested a lot of time in leadership training. That’s shaped how I manage today – with a strong focus on people, trust and teamwork.
What are your priorities for the US data center business?
The year ahead is a big one for us. We’ve got a great team in place, and I feel fortunate that some of the people I work with are also friends. There’s a lot of work ahead, but we’re well positioned to grow.
How important is team culture to you?
Culture is absolutely critical. This is a stressful job, especially during busy growth periods, so getting along well as a team really matters.
When I build teams, I prioritize personality and cultural fit. Skills are important, but culture comes first. You can train skills – you can’t train trust, teamwork and genuine support for one another.
Do you feel well placed to lead FläktGroup’s US data center ambitions?
I bring deep engineering roots, a strong commercial instinct and a clear focus on people and culture. As the US data center market continues to evolve at pace, I believe that combination of experience, energy and leadership is exactly what’s needed to drive the next phase of growth at FläktGroup.
USA market
