WAGO appoints Deepan Patel to boost data centre push

WAGO has appointed Deepan Patel as automation sales and data centre industry manager for the UK and Ireland, expanding its push into the data centre market.

Patel joins from Phoenix Contact, where he spent nearly eight years in infrastructure and data centre roles. His work included helping develop the company's international data centre business across the UK, Europe and the United States.

In his new role, Patel will lead WAGO's commercial and industry engagement across the data centre sector, with a focus on automation, connectivity and monitoring as operators seek closer links between information technology and operational technology systems inside facilities.

The appointment comes as data centre operators face rising technical demands from higher rack densities and changing cooling designs. In turn, owners and consultants are under growing pressure to improve monitoring and control across electrical and building systems.

Patel's background spans controls engineering, software architecture and sales strategy. Earlier in his career, he worked on OPC UA architecture for a European software company on projects including EDF and Crossrail, before spending several years as an automation specialist with a Siemens solution partner.

His immediate priorities include raising awareness of WAGO's automation offering among consultants, specifiers and operators. He will also help shape product direction and market positioning as the company seeks a larger presence in a sector it views as a key source of growth.

Market focus

WAGO's offer to the data centre sector includes low-voltage controls, monitoring and connectivity. It is targeting operators that need systems linking building infrastructure, electrical assets and IT monitoring in a unified view.

That need has grown as large facilities become more complex and operators seek better visibility of energy use, cooling performance and equipment status. The market has also drawn wider attention as artificial intelligence workloads increase demand for denser, more tightly managed infrastructure.

Family-owned and based in Germany, WAGO operates in more than 80 countries and employs about 9,000 people worldwide. Its products are used across sectors including rail, power, manufacturing, buildings and data centres.

Darren Hodson, managing director of WAGO UK and Ireland, outlined the company's view of the market and Patel's appointment.

"The data centre market is moving faster than almost any other sector we operate in, and the operators and consultants building these facilities need automation partners who understand both the electrical infrastructure and the IT systems sitting on top of it," Hodson said.

"Deepan has spent his career working across that divide and has already helped build a data centre business from a standing start once before. Bringing him into the team is a clear statement of our ambition in this market."

Patel said his focus will be on making the company better known across the sector and addressing a recurring challenge in data centre operations.

"WAGO has a portfolio the data centre sector genuinely needs, particularly around modular connectivity, monitoring and open automation protocols, and my job is to make sure the market knows it," Patel said.

"The IT and OT gap remains one of the biggest unsolved problems in this industry. As densities rise and cooling architectures change, the operators who can see and control everything in their facility through a single open system will have a real advantage. That is the conversation I want to be having with consultants, specifiers and operators over the next 12 months."