Latest news with #Vultr
Forbes
26-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The COO's Roadmap To Building The AI-Era Dream Team
David Gucker, COO, Vultr. The early days of GenAI were fueled by curiosity and experimentation. Now, we've entered a new phase—one where AI innovations like multimodal and agentic AI are delivering real results and reshaping how businesses operate, interact and compete. For today's COO, the question isn't if AI will transform operations—it already has. The challenge is building the kind of team that can use it to create real, lasting value, one that knows how to use AI intentionally, not just enthusiastically. That takes more than tools. It takes people who understand how to apply AI in the real world—and a structure that supports fast learning, smart risk-taking and meaningful progress. Here's a framework my company has used—and refined—to build that kind of team. Prioritize AI-maturity over résumés with buzzwords. Every wave of new tech comes with hype, but transformation doesn't come from tools alone—it comes from the people who know how to use them wisely. It's easy to chase flashy résumés or hire fresh talent from hot programs. But today's most effective teams are led by experienced AI operators who have been down in the trenches and survived. In my experience, many of the strongest leaders thrive in uncertain conditions and know how to adapt under pressure. They don't just 'get' AI—they understand how to apply it to solve business problems. They know that success isn't just about the model but about strategic applications that drive outcomes. They know how to scale what works and avoid what doesn't. They also know when to pump the brakes completely. Individual judgment matters. That said, junior talent still has a role—especially when equipped with the right tools and support. Invest in helping new hires get up to speed quickly by encouraging the use of our AI tools and systems. This helps them build confidence, contribute earlier and develop good instincts for when and how to use AI effectively. With the right foundation, fresh perspectives can thrive. Set shared values and expectations from the start. High-functioning teams thrive on shared expectations. AI changes the decision making process, how teams work together and how success is measured—so it's critical to establish a shared language and operating model from day one. Some key areas to align on include: • How Knowledge Is Shared: AI can accelerate collaboration—but only when paired with a culture that rewards it. Encourage shared responsibility and leverage internal AI tools to centralize documentation and surface insights across teams so the best answers are always accessible, no matter the role or function. • How Decisions Get Made: Define how AI insights inform real-time and strategic choices. What's the process? Who owns what? Who is questioning it and confirming it's right? • How Success Is Measured: Set KPIs that track AI's real value—things like speed, accuracy, scale or efficiency. These will evolve as your AI strategy matures. • How Models Adapt: Agree on a rhythm for reviewing AI performance and adjusting. Don't wait for something to break (or assume it never will)—prioritize iteration over perfection. • Who Owns Risk: Assign clear responsibility for validating AI outputs, managing bias, granting access, ensuring security and compliance and spotting issues early. AI governance isn't a side job—it's essential. • How To Be Accountable: Identify and attribute credit where credit is due. If AI helped out, own it and make it clear from the get-go. Build for the long game—not just the next quarter. Tech innovations are exciting, but hype fades fast. To build something lasting, you've got to ground your efforts in real business needs and build a team that can execute on that. During interviews, go deeper than the résumé and include a foundational approach that was true before the dawn of AI. Ask how they've handled failure. How they adapt. How they help others succeed. And don't underestimate the culture fit, or as I like to say, 'Egos need not apply.' AI promotes collaboration like never before—but only if people are willing to share knowledge and work together. We've seen huge gains by fostering a 'how can I help?' mindset instead of a 'that's not my job' attitude. Magic happens when everyone works toward the same goals and empowers each other to step up when needed. Finally, don't wait to address misalignment. Nearly 70% of employees know within the first month if a role is the wrong fit, and 29% after the first week. Do checks throughout the 30-60-90-day window—and don't be afraid to course-correct quickly. Tech only gets you so far. Hiring in the age of AI is a long-game strategy. With the right framework, hard work (and a little luck), you're investing in an asset that will be with your company for a long time. AI is powerful. But it alone doesn't run your business—people do. So yes, invest in great tools. But invest just as thoughtfully in the people who can make those tools sing. With experienced, low-ego leaders, COOs can build a dream team ready for today's AI moment—as well as future transformation. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
National Post
25-06-2025
- Business
- National Post
New Global Research From Vultr Shows Advanced AI Maturity Drives Significant Competitive Advantage
Article content WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Vultr, the world's largest privately-held cloud infrastructure company, today released its annual AI maturity report, Navigating the Path to AI Success. The new report examines how leading organizations are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to drive superior business outcomes. With 87–91% of enterprises already reporting that AI adoption has led to measurable improvements in customer satisfaction, revenue, and market share, the business case for accelerating AI maturity has never been stronger. Article content 'AI maturity is no longer a distant aspiration, but a present-day imperative for organizations seeking to lead in their industries,' said Kevin Cochrane, CMO of Vultr. 'Organizations at the most mature stage of AI are raising the bar for success and outpacing their less mature peers in financial performance, innovation, and operational efficiency.' Article content Commissioned by Vultr and conducted by S&P Global Market Intelligence, the study surveyed over 2,000 AI-savvy executives and decision-makers across 12 countries. Respondents represented industries such as healthcare, government, retail, manufacturing, financial services, telecom, energy, travel, hospitality, media, gaming, and entertainment. While all respondents were using AI to some extent, the study employed a three-stage model to characterize the level of AI maturity in the respondents' organizations: Operational, Accelerated, and Transformational. The report also presents a qualitative perspective on AI use by enterprises of varying sizes, based on in-depth interviews with AI decision-makers and practitioners. Article content Building on last year's inaugural report, which established the link between model diversity and AI maturity, this year's findings confirm that organizations are accelerating multi-model strategies to strengthen their competitive edge. Key findings from the report include: Article content AI maturity delivers measurable advantage: 81% of Transformational organizations report better or significantly better financial performance—25 points above Operational peers. Capital is following AI workloads: 63% of Transformational firms already put more than 41% of their IT budget in cloud, pushing the enterprise average cloud share toward 43 % in 2025. Leaders scale through diverse, open model portfolios: Transformational organizations run 29% more distinct models than Operational peers and have grown average model counts 24% YoY. Execution constraints: Hardware and data pipelines slow scale-up, with top blockers being GPU capacity/performance (55%), security & compliance (45%), and real-time inference limits such as compute (54%) and storage throughput (53%). A decisive pivot away from hyperscalers is underway: 30% of respondents plan to build new GenAI projects with neocloud providers vs. 18% with hyperscalers. Article content As AI becomes embedded across more business functions—projected to reach 80% penetration within the next two years—enterprises investing in open model portfolios are achieving higher model diversity and year-over-year growth in deployed models compared to their less mature peers. The shift toward multi-model strategies and away from reliance on a single cloud provider is empowering organizations to tailor AI deployments to their unique needs and regulatory environments, supporting greater flexibility, security, and innovation in enterprise AI deployments. Article content 'As competitive pressures mount, AI has become a clear differentiator,' Cochrane added. 'The data shows that a comprehensive, multi-model approach to AI, supported by strategic investment and open, secure ecosystems, delivers measurable business value. For enterprises, the message is clear: those who commit to advancing their AI capabilities now will unlock new levels of innovation, efficiency, and competitive advantage in the years ahead.' Article content Vultr is on a mission to make high-performance cloud infrastructure easy to use, affordable, and locally accessible for enterprises and AI innovators around the world. Vultr is trusted by hundreds of thousands of active customers across 185 countries for its flexible, scalable, global Cloud Compute, Cloud GPU, Bare Metal, and Cloud Storage solutions. Founded by David Aninowsky and self-funded for over a decade, Vultr has grown to become the world's largest privately held cloud infrastructure company. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Media Contact Article content Article content
National Post
23-06-2025
- Business
- National Post
Vultr Secures $329 Million in Credit Financing to Expand Global AI Infrastructure and Cloud Computing Platform
Article content WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Vultr, the world's largest privately-held cloud infrastructure company, today announced the closing of a $255 million syndicated credit facility including a $35 million uncommitted accordion, in addition to $74 million of recently-closed lease financing, for a total of $329 million of credit financing. The syndicated credit facility was led by J.P. Morgan, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, with additional participation from Citi, Goldman Sachs and KeyBank. Vultr plans to use the additional capital to expand its global footprint of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing infrastructure to serve its rapidly-growing customer base, further solidifying its leadership position in the independent cloud provider market. Article content 'J.P. Morgan is thrilled to support Vultr's continued growth and success,' said Lorenzo Colonna di Paliano, Innovation Economy Market Executive, J.P. Morgan Commercial Banking. 'Throughout our longstanding relationship, Vultr has shown time and again their ability to innovate and scale in a dynamic sector. We're proud to contribute to their journey and help Vultr achieve new heights in the cloud computing industry.' Article content As part of this new credit facility, Vultr also secured $74 million in capital expenditure financing led and syndicated by Bank of America. 'This financing solution will further support Vultr's growth objectives and those of their clients,' said Theresa Provencher, Managing Director, Syndications in Global Leasing, Bank of America. Article content This new credit facility follows Vultr's announcement of its first-ever equity financing led by LuminArx Capital Management and AMD Ventures in December 2024. Founded in 2014 by David Aninowsky and self-funded for over a decade, Vultr provides industry-leading scalability, global reach, compliance and price-to-performance for AI infrastructure and cloud computing. Vultr plans to leverage the facility to continue its expansion of global cloud infrastructure and enable a new era of AI-native applications. With 32 cloud data center regions across six continents, Vultr is the only globally-available, profitable, full-stack AI infrastructure and cloud computing platform. Article content 'This milestone credit facility from some of the world's most respected financial institutions is a strong validation of Vultr's financial strength, operational discipline, and long-term vision,' said J.J. Kardwell, CEO of Vultr. 'Building on our recent $3.5 billion valuation equity financing, this credit facility further accelerates our global expansion. For enterprises, AI innovators, governments, and compliance-driven organizations, Vultr provides an independent, transparent, and institutional-quality alternative to the hyperscalers.' Vultr is on a mission to make high-performance cloud infrastructure easy to use, affordable, and locally accessible for enterprises and AI innovators around the world. Vultr is trusted by hundreds of thousands of active customers across 185 countries for its flexible, scalable, global Cloud Compute, Cloud GPU, Bare Metal, and Cloud Storage solutions. Founded by David Aninowsky and self-funded for over a decade, Vultr has grown to become the world's largest privately-held cloud infrastructure company. Article content Article content Article content Article content
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Vultr Secures $329 Million in Credit Financing to Expand Global AI Infrastructure and Cloud Computing Platform
Credit financing to support acceleration of Vultr's global growth WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., June 23, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vultr, the world's largest privately-held cloud infrastructure company, today announced the closing of a $255 million syndicated credit facility including a $35 million uncommitted accordion, in addition to $74 million of recently-closed lease financing, for a total of $329 million of credit financing. The syndicated credit facility was led by J.P. Morgan, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, with additional participation from Citi, Goldman Sachs and KeyBank. Vultr plans to use the additional capital to expand its global footprint of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing infrastructure to serve its rapidly-growing customer base, further solidifying its leadership position in the independent cloud provider market. "J.P. Morgan is thrilled to support Vultr's continued growth and success," said Lorenzo Colonna di Paliano, Innovation Economy Market Executive, J.P. Morgan Commercial Banking. "Throughout our longstanding relationship, Vultr has shown time and again their ability to innovate and scale in a dynamic sector. We're proud to contribute to their journey and help Vultr achieve new heights in the cloud computing industry." As part of this new credit facility, Vultr also secured $74 million in capital expenditure financing led and syndicated by Bank of America. "This financing solution will further support Vultr's growth objectives and those of their clients," said Theresa Provencher, Managing Director, Syndications in Global Leasing, Bank of America. This new credit facility follows Vultr's announcement of its first-ever equity financing led by LuminArx Capital Management and AMD Ventures in December 2024. Founded in 2014 by David Aninowsky and self-funded for over a decade, Vultr provides industry-leading scalability, global reach, compliance and price-to-performance for AI infrastructure and cloud computing. Vultr plans to leverage the facility to continue its expansion of global cloud infrastructure and enable a new era of AI-native applications. With 32 cloud data center regions across six continents, Vultr is the only globally-available, profitable, full-stack AI infrastructure and cloud computing platform. "This milestone credit facility from some of the world's most respected financial institutions is a strong validation of Vultr's financial strength, operational discipline, and long-term vision," said J.J. Kardwell, CEO of Vultr. "Building on our recent $3.5 billion valuation equity financing, this credit facility further accelerates our global expansion. For enterprises, AI innovators, governments, and compliance-driven organizations, Vultr provides an independent, transparent, and institutional-quality alternative to the hyperscalers." About Vultr Vultr is on a mission to make high-performance cloud infrastructure easy to use, affordable, and locally accessible for enterprises and AI innovators around the world. Vultr is trusted by hundreds of thousands of active customers across 185 countries for its flexible, scalable, global Cloud Compute, Cloud GPU, Bare Metal, and Cloud Storage solutions. Founded by David Aninowsky and self-funded for over a decade, Vultr has grown to become the world's largest privately-held cloud infrastructure company. Learn more at: View source version on Contacts Media ContactVultr Media Relationsmediarelations@
CNBC
23-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Vultr raises over $300 million in debt as Wall Street goes bigger in cloud infrastructure
Vultr, a provider of cloud infrastructure, said on Monday that it has raised $329 million in new debt from some of the largest Wall Street banks as it aims to expand its ability to host and run artificial intelligence models. Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, KeyBank and Wells Fargo participated in the syndicated credit facility, according to a statement. The company didn't provide an exact rate that it's paying for the debt, but did say that it's down dramatically from prior debt raises in the industry, a sign that banks are getting more comfortable with the asset class. CoreWeave, the AI infrastructure provider that went public earlier this year, said last month that it had raised $2 billion in fresh debt at a 9.25% annual interest rate. That's down from a rate of over 14% in 2023 and 11% in 2024. Vultr CEO J.J. Kardwell told CNBC that his company's new debt is "hundreds of basis points below" what CoreWeave is paying in its latest offering. In 2021 Vultr raised $150 million in debt from Bank of America and JPMorgan. Major cloud providers such as Amazon and Microsoft are shelling out tens of billions of dollars a year to set up data centers to meet growing demand, particularly for AI. While the megacap tech companies have hefty cash balances, many of the smaller cloud players have to tap outside sources of capital. Vultr is still privately held, but the company says it's profitable. CoreWeave, for its part, reported a $314.6 million net loss in the first quarter on about $982 million in revenue. As of March, CoreWeave had $8.7 billion in debt, according to its latest financial results. Founded in 2014 and based in West Palm Beach, Florida, Vultr has built up a base of over 1.5 million customers, many of them paying a few dollars per month. The company operates 32 regions of data centers, mostly outside the U.S. Competitors include Akamai's Linode and DigitalOcean. In AI, Vultr competes more closely with companies like CoreWeave. In December Vultr said chipmaker AMD joined in a $333 million funding round, valuing the startup at $3.5 billion, while Nvidia-backed CoreWeave has a market cap of $88 billion, up more than fourfold from its IPO. Vultr rents out AI chips from AMD as well as market leader Nvidia. Kardwell said Vultr is always evaluating its options regarding a possible IPO, but hasn't made a decision on its plans.
