Paul Ryan's career spans more than two decades inside an organisation that has evolved, acquired, merged, and rebranded, yet he has remained a constant. Newly appointed President of Vertiv for the EMEA region, he brings deep operational knowledge and a practical leadership style shaped by early experiences in education and global exposure.
Leading with Purpose: Paul Ryan
Ryan began at the University of Limerick and completed his cooperative education in Analog Devices. "It was a fantastic schooling ground," he says. "You learn continuous improvement, structured problem solving, and the importance of processes in enabling businesses to run and deliver systemic output."
Cooperative education, as he explains it, is an immersive six-to-nine-month work placement aligned with the degree programme. It delivered clarity and confidence. He remembers finishing his finals on a Saturday and starting work on the Monday. "It was an eye-opener," he says. "Salary, responsibility, the whole world of work opening up."
Analog Devices invested in him early, sponsoring his master's degree. This shaped his thinking about talent development and is one reason he highlights Vertiv's academy in Donegal, which supports employees pursuing certificates, degrees, and master's programmes in electrical engineering.
His move into Emerson Network Power, now known as Vertiv, came through acquisition of Avocent. What appears to be a 17-year career inside one organisation is closer to 23 years when the integrated businesses of Emerson Network Power are considered. "It's a tapestry of organic and inorganic growth," he says.
Ryan has worked in many areas of the business, most recently in procurement as Chief Procurement Officer. He describes it as "the opposite side of the sales coin," combining relationships with the systems and processes that keep parts moving across 26 locations.
As President, his remit covers the full P&L: customers, sales, operations, profitability, and people. "It's end-to-end execution," he says. "Customer experience, operational delivery, technology commitments."
Reframing the Data Centre Debate
Ryan understands the scrutiny facing data centres in Ireland, where they are often portrayed as consuming too much power while offering limited local benefit. He argues that this framing is incomplete.
A data centre, he says, is infrastructure, the backbone behind society's demand for data. He compares it to a computer scaled to national level. Each shift, from 3G to 5G, from early internet services to today's AI workloads, increases demand. "Our appetite for compute keeps going up," he says. "Whether you're running complex algorithms or just using your smartphone, AI drives it even higher."
He is clear that data centres mirror this rising demand. "We can't put the genie back in the bottle," he says. "Data consumption will not go backwards."
Despite this, he emphasises that data centres are among the most efficient power-consuming structures in the world. Vertiv works with customers to improve this even further, integrating renewable sources, optimising power usage, and refining energy storage.
Heat reuse is another area of focus. It can work well in cities where excess heat can feed district systems, but is more limited in rural areas. As AI increases compute density, heat extraction and reuse will become more relevant. "It's an area of attention," he says.
Legacy Through Delivery and People
When asked about his legacy, early though it may be, Ryan keeps his answer straightforward. "I want Vertiv to be known as an organisation that delivers on what it says it will do," he says. "Consistently and repeatably."
He also talks about needing continuous challenge, something Vertiv has provided across functions and locations. "People need opportunities to develop themselves, stretch themselves," he says.
The company's global footprint plays a major role in this. Ryan's family lived in Singapore, and his children attended anAustralian school during his i...
