Ori's CEO calls for UK-built sovereign cloud systems

Mahdi Yahya, CEO and Founder of Ori, is advocating for the United Kingdom to develop its own sovereign cloud computing infrastructure, suggesting that the lack of innovation and long-term vision among tech leaders is preventing this from happening.

Yahya's comments arrive as key industry players, including CyrusOne, CloudHQ, and CoreWeave, pledge investments of GBP £6.3 billion into the UK's data centre technology. Despite these commitments, Yahya argues that the UK possesses the necessary resources to construct an independent cloud computing system.

"The UK has all the ingredients to construct a cloud computing system that services the country's requirements for compute. It has the talent, the entrepreneurial innovation, and the thriving tech ecosystem to generate demand. But what it's lacking is some imagination and long-term thinking from its potential customers," Yahya stated.

Currently, a significant number of businesses opt for services from international providers, with Amazon Web Services (AWS) being a popular choice. AWS, recognised as the UK's third largest tech supplier, serves over 117,412 businesses as reported by Thomson Data, and has recently announced an investment of GBP £8 billion into UK data centres over the coming five years.

Yahya, who has expanded Ori's operations across more than 20 countries while also securing GBP £140 million through a recent fundraise, is calling for a shift in perspective among UK tech executives towards local cloud infrastructure solutions.

"Whether it's a startup founder or a C-suite executive in a tech corporate, all too often, they reach for the easiest solution, which is to outsource their cloud computing requirements to US big tech corporations, normally AWS," remarked Yahya.

He acknowledges the challenges in choosing emerging UK cloud services over established entities like AWS but insists on the long-term advantages of home-grown solutions.

"It's obviously a tough decision to make for tech execs — AWS are the more established player, so when you're scaling a tech company it's only natural that you'll reach for their services first. But there's long-term benefits to start building a UK sovereign cloud infrastructure now — it just needs a steady hand on the tiller from founders and tech leaders," Yahya elaborates.

Yahya also emphasises the strategic benefits of adopting local cloud solutions, suggesting that onshoring data can streamline compliance, reduce costs, and enhance geopolitical resilience, thereby strengthening long-term sustainability amidst global disruptions.

"Moving towards cloud computing where data is stored locally, rather than across borders, will streamline compliance procedures, reducing costs. It will also make corporations more geopolitically resilient, increasing their long-term sustainability in the face of increasingly international disruption. This can only be a good thing for UK tech," Yahya concluded.