Leadership

Serving as president and chief executive officer of Vantage Data Centers since 2013, Sureel Choksi is responsible for the company’s vision, strategy and overall leadership in addition to sitting on the board of directors. With more than 22 years of experience as an executive in the internet infrastructure industry, Choksi is an accomplished leader who has transformed Vantage from a regional data center owner and operator to one of the fastest growing global providers.

Choksi’s background is diverse with proven accomplishments across a breadth of disciplines. Prior to joining Vantage, Choksi was an operating executive at Silver Lake Partners and the chief executive officer of Elevation Data Centers. He also previously held several executive roles with Level 3 Communications, including chief marketing officer, chief financial officer, president of wholesale markets, executive vice president of services, group vice president of corporate development and treasurer.

He sits on the board of directors of Zayo, a global, fiber-based communications provider, and also serves on the board of trustees at the Strada Education Network, an education focused, non-profit organization.

Choksi attended the University of Pennsylvania where he received a Bachelor of Science in economics from the Wharton School with concentrations in finance, accounting and entrepreneurial management, and a Bachelor of Applied Science from the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

As president of Vantage Data Centers in North America, Jeff Tench oversees the company’s business in the U.S. and Canada and is responsible for accelerating Vantage’s growth with overall P&L responsibility. With more than 25 years of experience in the technology, telecommunications and IT services industries, Tench is a dynamic leader with a track record of growing global companies both organically and via acquisitions.

Prior to joining Vantage, Tench was the global head of the Microsoft Business Group at Cognizant. Before Cognizant, he founded and served as CEO of New Signature, a company acquired by Cognizant, where he raised private equity funding to create the world’s largest independent pure-play Microsoft cloud partner. Under his leadership, the company acquired eight companies over five years, expanding the company’s footprint from a regional presence in Washington, D.C. to five countries operating across four continents, all while driving 30% topline growth. Tench also served as CEO at Teliris after an 11-year career at Level 3 Communications where he held multiple leadership roles, including president of the Business Markets Group.

Tench received a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University.

As president of Vantage Data Centers in Europe, Antoine Boniface is responsible for executing the expansion strategy of Vantage across the continent, as well as overseeing all European operations. With more than 12 years of experience, Boniface is an accomplished entrepreneur and leader.

Prior to joining Vantage, Boniface served as the CEO, co-founder and board director of Etix Everywhere, a company acquired by Vantage, where he raised more than €100 million of equity from five investors, developed 12 data centers across Europe, Africa, and Latin America, and led the company’s operations. Prior to Etix Everywhere, Boniface served as a data center project manager for Bouygues Construction where he led the development for some of the largest data centers in France.

Early in his career, Boniface co-founded and successfully exited two additional technology companies.

Boniface received a master’s degree in industrial and entrepreneurial engineering with a concentration in civil engineering at Ecole Centrale de Lille. He also earned a Master of Science degree in project management and business development at SKEMA Business School.

Boniface was recognized in 2017 with a Datacloud Global Award for data center leadership. He also won three entrepreneurship contests in France for the first company he co-founded.

Serving as chief financial officer at Vantage Data Centers, Sharif Metwalli is responsible for driving Vantage’s strategic financing solutions for organic growth and market expansion globally. He oversees finance, accounting, financial planning and analysis, investor relations, capital markets planning, and corporate administration. With more than 20 years of experience, Metwalli is essential to accelerating Vantage’s growth, profitability and shareholder value.

With expertise in navigating strong capital markets and complex M&A transactions, Metwalli has been instrumental in the execution of Vantage’s growth and was the architect of the successful 10-figure debt and equity financing needed to fund the development of multiple hyperscale data center campuses in different markets simultaneously.

Prior to joining Vantage, Metwalli served as managing director at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey with clients in the data center and communications sectors. He focused on executing debt and equity financings as well as M&A transactions totaling over $37.5 billion in value between 2015 and 2017. Before SunTrust, Metwalli served as a director at Wells Fargo Securities.

Metwalli received his MBA from Duke University and his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan.

As chief operating officer at Vantage Data Centers, Chris Yetman leads operations, security, construction, design, engineering and IT. Yetman is dedicated to building a culture of operational excellence and constant improvement by focusing on transparency and performance measurements, and applying lessons learned to Vantage’s next generation of data centers.

With more than 30 years of experience, Yetman approaches strategy and decision-making from the customers’ viewpoint. In partnership with Vantage’s leadership team, he develops the company’s strategy and evangelizes it throughout the organization. Yetman has been instrumental in accelerating Vantage’s growth from a regional data center provider in the United States to a fast-growing global operator.

Prior to joining Vantage, Yetman served as vice president of infrastructure operations for Amazon Web Services (AWS) where he was responsible for managing the operations of the company’s data centers worldwide. At AWS, he achieved 99.9% availability of servers, reduced the data center operations ticket backlog by 76%, decreased the mean time-to-repair by 56%, and enhanced provisioning performance by 50% for 95% of all servers. Before this, Yetman managed the daily operations of one of the largest fiber and TCP/IP networks in the world at Level 3 Communications.

Yetman received his Bachelor of Science in computer engineering from Northeastern University.

As chief of staff and vice president of investor relations at Vantage Data Centers, Valerie Finberg serves as a strategic advisor to the CEO and the senior management team and is responsible for leading communications between the CEO and key stakeholders. She also oversees the company’s investor relations program. With nearly 30 years of experience, Finberg is an accomplished communications and investor relations professional with an extensive background spanning corporate governance, M&A, capital markets transactions, executive communications, public relations and business strategy.

Prior to joining Vantage, Finberg served as vice president of investor relations at Lumen Technologies where she reframed investor messaging during two transformational periods, including the company’s rebranding from CenturyLink to Lumen Technologies and CenturyLink’s acquisition of Level 3 Communications. During her time at Lumen, she also developed a corporate governance engagement program and formulated the company’s comprehensive environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) investor communications strategy.

Following the acquisition of Level 3 Communications by CenturyLink, Finberg became the chief of staff supporting various strategic initiatives after serving as a vice president of corporate communications and investor relations at Level 3 Communications. In this role she led communications for numerous large-scale acquisitions, including Global Crossing, tw telecom, Broadwing Communications and CenturyLink.

Finberg received her Bachelor of Science in economics from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.

Serving as senior vice president of corporate development and strategy for Vantage Data Centers, Cecil Lepard leads the company’s global strategy and M&A initiatives to drive growth through organic and inorganic means. Lepard brings to Vantage more than 20 years of experience creating shareholder value across internet infrastructure and technology sectors.

Prior to joining Vantage, Lepard served as senior vice president of corporate development for Optiv Security, a KKR portfolio company, where he was responsible for the organization’s overall value creation strategy, including leading global M&A. Before Optiv Security, Lepard was vice president of corporate development at Level 3 Communications where he executed the company’s global M&A activities. During his time at the company, he closed more than 20 successful transactions leading up to the merger of Level 3 Communications and CenturyLink. Preceding his move to Level 3 Communications, Lepard worked in investment banking at Thomas Weisel Partners and started his career at KPMG.

Lepard received his MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and his Bachelor of Business Administration with concentrations in finance and accounting from Southern Methodist University.

As chief commercial officer, Lee Kestler leads the sales, marketing and sales engineering teams at Vantage Data Centers. He is responsible for the company’s commercial business and P&L across North America while supporting key hyperscale accounts worldwide.

With more than 30 years of experience in wireless communications and internet technology, Kestler is an early pioneer and veteran within the data center industry and has extensive experience working with large cloud providers, enterprise customers and national utility providers in North America.

Prior to joining Vantage, Kestler was the founding principal of Kopend Ventures, LLC where he focused on management consulting for several firms. In particular, he managed a large data center campus development in Palm Beach County, Florida, where he led the successful effort to obtain a data center sales and use tax exemption from the Florida Legislature. Previously, he served as the senior vice president of sales and leasing at DuPont Fabros Technology (DFT Data Centers) where he was responsible for sales and marketing. Under his leadership, Kestler drove sales from 46 megawatts to more than 224 megawatts, ultimately leasing 95 percent of the company’s portfolio and generating several billion dollars in gross sales.

Kestler is an advocate of low carbon and renewable energy solutions. He has been an advisor to several companies, including the incubator program at Oak Ridge National Labs. He currently serves as an advisory member for SafeLogic, a company which focuses on security products for applications in mobile and server environments. In 2020, he received the Data Center Industry Icon award from the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC).

Kestler attended the University of Maryland, Baltimore County where he studied computer science.

Serving as chief technology officer, Justin Thomas is responsible for Vantage Data Centers’ global product vision and road map, including design, development, engineering and preconstruction. Thomas is focused on setting international standards, accelerating time to market and driving industry-leading build costs while delivering a differentiated customer experience. He also has a key role in evaluating new markets and build-to-suit opportunities.

At Vantage for nearly a decade, Thomas has held many positions. Prior to his current role, he served as senior vice president of engineering and construction where he led the team to deliver new builds and expansions at scale across the company’s markets in North America. Under his leadership, Vantage installed more than 100MW of capacity and secured more than 500MW of capacity expansion. Early in his career, Thomas was an electrical engineer at Rosendin Electric and an electrical engineering analyst at Kimley-Horn and Associates.

Thomas has helped build enterprise facilities that achieved PUEs as low as 1.15. He has also participated in the certification of four Vantage LEED Platinum facilities, as well as Vantage’s Uptime Institute Tier III-certified facility in Quincy, Washington.

Thomas received his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from California Polytechnic State University. He is a licensed electrical engineer in California and Washington and is LEED AP BD+C certified.

As chief administrative officer for Vantage Data Centers, Dave Renner is responsible for leasing and contract opportunities, legal and compliance oversight, risk management, accounting, and human resources. With more than 25 years of experience, Renner is a corporate and finance-oriented executive who combines strategic business vision with financial management expertise to maximize profitability and shareholder value.

Renner has a solid track record of success with high technology, fast paced and rapidly growing companies. His contributions to Vantage helped increase invested capital by more than 3.5 times over the last five years, laying the foundation for Vantage to transition from a two-market data center company to one of today’s fastest growing global providers.

Prior to joining Vantage, Renner was CFO of Elo Touch Solutions where he managed the sale of the business unit, as part of TE Connectivity, to a stand-alone private equity-backed business. In addition, Renner, while under the age of 40, was one of the founders and CFO of Optium Corporation where he took the business from a venture-backed startup to a profitable public company worth more than $500 million. Under his leadership, the company raised four rounds of funding, acquired two international businesses, debuted on Nasdaq and ultimately sold the business. Earlier in his career, Renner held senior finance positions at JDS Uniphase and was instrumental in Uniphase’s IPO and follow-on offerings, as well as leading due diligence efforts for multiple acquisitions.

Renner received a Bachelor of Arts in business finance from the University of San Diego and is a member of Financial Executives International.

As senior vice president, general counsel at Vantage Data Centers, Shalini Sharma is responsible for overseeing legal and corporate governance in support of the company’s strategic opportunities and business objectives. Sharma is an accomplished leader with more than 20 years of international corporate legal experience and 15 years of global financial technology expertise.

Prior to joining Vantage, Sharma was the assistant general counsel and chief privacy officer at Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc., where she was responsible for legal activities and information privacy across the global organization and served as the focal point for data privacy compliance-related activities. During her time at Broadridge, Sharma played a key role in establishing the legal department for Broadridge as a stand-alone public company and often acted as lead M&A counsel in Broadridge’s strategic acquisitions. Sharma was previously in private practice as a corporate transactional attorney in the New York office of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP where she was involved in cross-border and domestic M&A, financings and securities transactions.

Sharma is a founding member of the General Counsel Mentorship Program in Colorado, a member and former board member of the Association of Corporate Counsel Colorado, a committee member of the University of Colorado – Boulder Corporate Counsel Intensive Institute, a member of the Senior Women Corporate Counsel, and a volunteer mentor for the Center for Legal Inclusiveness.

Sharma received a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law. She earned a Master of Arts in social sciences and a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American studies, both from the University of Chicago. She is also the recipient of a Fulbright award.

Serving as senior vice president of global human resources at Vantage Data Centers, Kate Hyatt is responsible for overseeing all human capital processes and initiatives in North America, Europe and the U.K, including talent acquisition, employee relations, benefits, payroll, compensation, training, succession planning and employee engagement. With more than 20 years of experience in leading business transformations using innovative people strategies, Hyatt is a global human capital executive working in both private equity-backed and public companies with an extensive background in M&A and accelerating business results.

Prior to joining Vantage, Hyatt served as the chief people officer and executive vice president of human resources at Healthgrades where she led all aspects of human resources, including talent acquisition and management, succession planning, employee relations, compensation and benefits, payroll, performance management, diversity and inclusion, facilities and leadership development. Hyatt revamped the company’s health insurance offerings resulting in a $2M reduction in annual spend. She also implemented artificial intelligence (AI) into the talent acquisition process which resulted in a 25% increase in employee referral hires and a 68% reduction in external search firm costs.

Before Healthgrades, Hyatt served as the vice president of talent management and communication at ProBuild where she was responsible for talent strategy as well as internal and external communications. She also spent five years at Staples with talent management responsibilities for more than 90,000 employees globally.

In addition to her position at Vantage, Hyatt actively participates as a board member for Bonus.ly, Global MindED and Pinsight. She is also a member of the Rocky Mountain HR, People & Strategy association and a volunteer leader of the woman-owned business segment for Energize Colorado.

Hyatt graduated from Indiana University with a master’s degree in public administration. She also earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Cornell University. Hyatt holds various HR-related certifications including the Hogan Assessment, PDI PROFILOR 360 Feedback Tool and Coaching, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and DiSC Profile.

As vice president and general manager of Vantage’s Canadian business, Maxime Guévin is responsible for P&L, customer acquisition and retention, site selection, construction, operations, and government relations. With more than 23 years of experience, Guévin is a seasoned leader who has managed numerous strategic projects, including the acquisition of assets, expansion of current data center facilities and construction of new developments.

Prior to joining Vantage, Guévin served in dual roles as general manager of 4Degrees Colocation, Videotron’s data center division, which was later acquired by Vantage, and general manager of wholesale carrier services for Videotron.

At 4Degrees Colocation, Guévin spearheaded the company’s growth, taking the business from startup to $20 million in annual revenue within four years. Under his leadership, Guévin found $16 million in savings over a five-year period for Videotron’s wholesale carrier services business and led the acquisition of multiple telecommunication services companies.

A consistent top-performer, Guévin earned numerous awards during his 19-year career at Videotron. He received the President’s Club award and was recognized on three different occasions for being the leader with the most engaged team, which included more than 7,000 employees.

Guévin has also served as an advisor to various startups in the smart building industry.

Guévin graduated from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières with a Bachelor of Engineering degree specializing in telecommunications. He also holds an MBA from Université de Montréal – HEC Montréal with a focus on entrepreneurship and finance.

As vice president of construction at Vantage Data Centers, Samuel Huckaby is responsible for leading the North American execution of development projects from planning to procurement, commissioning and close out of operations. Huckaby brings to Vantage more than 16 years of experience delivering multimillion-dollar projects on time and within budget.

Prior to joining Vantage, Huckaby was a project and scheduling manager at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he delivered multiple new, high tech facilities. Huckaby’s career achievements include delivering $280 million in major capital projects at San Jose State University and numerous commercial projects while at Turner Construction and O’Conner Construction Management. He has also served as a lecturer at California State University, East Bay, where he instructed classes in the undergraduate and graduate construction management programs.

Huckaby is an active board member with TGG Solutions and volunteers as a coach for the graduate team at California State University for the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) student competition.

Huckaby has earned various certifications within his expertise, including the Design-Build Institute of America Professional and the Project Leadership Institute from the Stanford Center for Professional Development.

A graduate from California State University, East Bay with a Master of Science in construction management, Huckaby also holds a Bachelor of Science in concrete industry management with a minor in business from Middle Tennessee State University.

As chief operating officer of Vantage Europe and president of Vantage U.K., Justin Jenkins is responsible for overseeing operations, security, construction, IT and customer care across Vantage’s new and existing European campuses, as well as leading Vantage’s business in the U.K. Jenkins is an accomplished technology and operations leader with a wealth of experience in the IT and data center industries.

Prior to joining Vantage, Jenkins served as CEO of Next Generation Data (NGD), a company acquired by Vantage, where he played a key role in developing and operating the company’s largest data center campus in Europe. Before becoming CEO at NGD, Jenkins held several other senior roles at the company throughout the last decade, including COO, CTO and data center director.

Jenkins has also been part of several entrepreneurial technology businesses, including Sony Computer Entertainment, where he served in a variety of IT and infrastructure roles.

Serving as senior vice president of sales and business development, Josh Buis is responsible for overall P&L and business development across Europe, as well as developing and executing the strategic direction for geographic expansion and evaluating growth opportunities in new, emerging and international markets. With more than 18 years of experience in sales, business development, site selection and acquisition within the data center industry, Buis is an experienced leader and paramount to Vantage’s global growth.

Previously, he served as partner and founder at Data Center Advisory Group where he counseled capital sources and data center operators on the placement of funding into projects, M&A and new markets across the globe. Prior to that while at a hyperscale cloud operator, Buis was responsible for the due diligence, acquisition and delivery of low cost and highly scalable data center infrastructure in 10 countries representing over $1 billion in transactions and 1 million square feet. Later, he led the global team performing those functions. Earlier in his career, Buis was part of organizations including IBM, Yahoo!, CBRE and AT&T.

Buis attended Texas A&M University where he earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing.