The UK can build its own AWS, but its tech firms must back British cloud, says AI cloud CEO

Mahdi Yahya, CEO and Founder of Ori, the UK’s leading provider of GPUs for AI compute, argues that the UK has all the ingredients necessary to build its own sovereign cloud computing infrastructure – but it’s being held back by a lack of imagination from senior tech players.

Yahya, who operates in over 20 countries with Ori, is making this intervention in the wake of the UK’s International Investment Summit, where CyrusOne, CloudHQ and CoreWeave announced they would invest a combined £6.3bn in UK data centre technology (Reuters). Although the investment is welcome, Yahya believes that the UK can, and should, build its own sovereign cloud infrastructure.

Mahdi Yahya, CEO and Founder of Ori, said: “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.

“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.”

Yahya, who recently completed an £140mn fundraise with Ori, and is now rumoured to be eyeing up millions more in fresh capital (Business Insider), is urging his fellow tech executives to start investing in the long-term cloud sovereign future of the UK now, by choosing UK-based sovereign cloud infrastructure providers.

Mahdi Yahya, CEO and Founder of Ori, continued: “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.

“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.”