JLL makes high-profile KPMG hire to head up its EMEA Data Centre business

JLL has announced that Assad Noori has joined the business as Head of Data Centres, Work Dynamics EMEA, to capitalise on unprecedented market momentum as AI continues to reshape infrastructure requirements across the region.

Noori's role will focus on expanding client solutions across all JLL service lines and strengthening the firm's position in key markets across the region. In addition, he will also support Global Work Dynamics Data Centre Industry development. Reporting to Martin Jensen, Division President for EMEA, Work Dynamics, at JLL, Noori will primarily work based in London.

A proven operations and digital infrastructure leader, Noori brings more than 20 years of experience delivering large-scale customer operations and transformations across domestic and global markets. He has held senior leadership roles at NTT, Atos, and Digital Realty, where he served as UK Managing Director, and joins JLL from KPMG, one of the Big Four global professional services firms, where he served as Head of Digital Infrastructure Advisory, leading consulting for digital infrastructure, AI, and Telco practice.

"We are delighted to welcome Assad to the business at a transformational moment for the EMEA data centre market," said Jensen. "He joins at a time of great opportunity, with grid constraints in primary markets and strong rental growth driving demand into secondary locations across the Nordics and Southern Europe, while the top five hyperscalers have announced massive planned capital expenditure for 2026."

He added: "Assad's deep operator experience, combined with his strong c-suite network across UK and European data centre firms, positions him perfectly to lead our platform in this unprecedented environment, as we help clients secure capacity in an increasingly competitive landscape."

The appointment follows JLL’s EMEA​ Year End Data Centre Report 2025, which has identified that the FLAP-D markets (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin) have more than doubled capacity since 2019, growing from 1.8 GW to 3.6 GW by year-end 2025, despite significant regulatory and grid constraints. In addition, pre-leasing has overtaken immediate demand as the primary route to market, with forward commitments reaching 361 MW in 2025.

The market is being fundamentally reshaped by AI. Neocloud signings for AI capacity almost tripled across Europe in 2025, with AI forecast to represent half of all data centre workloads by 2030. Inference workloads are expected to overtake training by late 2026, driving distributed demand into new markets and accelerating development in secondary locations across the Nordics and Southern Europe.

"The EMEA data centre market is evolving faster than traditional models can keep pace, and the next phase will be defined by innovation, sophistication, and true lifecycle intelligence," said Noori. “Clients are navigating unprecedented complexity across power, sustainability, connectivity, and AI‑driven demand, and they need partners who can respond with speed, depth, and conviction.”

He added: "JLLs strength lies in the trust we’ve built – strong relationships that give us the mandate to lead across a converging digital infrastructure ecosystem. I am incredibly excited to be joining at a pivotal moment where we can elevate the standard of lifecycle solutions in EMEA, leveraging our position to shape that trajectory with clarity, capability, and long‑term partnership.”