Element Critical Adds Senior Leadership to Guide Next Phase of Growth as Expansion Accelerates

VIENNA, Va., Jan. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Element Critical, one of the fastest-growing data center service providers in the United States, today announced the appointment of Andrew Lake as Senior Vice President, Head of Strategy and Acquisitions. In his new role, Lake will guide the company's strategic growth initiatives as it scales its national platform to meet rising enterprise and AI-driven infrastructure demands.

This hiring is made in anticipation of a period of significant growth for Element Critical, propelled by the recently announced launch of a new U.S. data center platform and the recent expansion of high-density capacity at the company's Houston One campus.

Lake brings deep experience across digital infrastructure, investing, and platform growth. He previously worked at DigitalBridge and Ares, where he invested across a variety of infrastructure and real estate asset classes. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University.

"Andrew brings deep experience in infrastructure investing and strategy at a time when demand for enterprise, AI and high-density capacity is accelerating," said Ken Parent, Chief Executive Officer of Element Critical. "As we immediately begin to expand our product offerings and execute on a growing acquisitions and development pipeline across key U.S. markets, his leadership will help ensure we are building the right platforms for where customers need capacity next."

In his role, Lake will lead Element Critical's acquisition efforts, evaluate new market opportunities and work closely with capital partners to support disciplined growth and portfolio expansion. His work will be central to advancing the company's efforts to deliver purpose-built capacity where enterprise customers, technology firms and other mission-critical organizations need it most.

About Element Critical

Founded in 2014, Element Critical is a premier data center operator in the United States. Led by an experienced executive team and supported by long-term investment partners, the company operates hybrid-ready, carrier-neutral facilities in Chicago, Austin and Houston and is actively expanding across key Tier 1 and Tier 2 markets. Element Critical serves a diverse mix of enterprise, hyperscale, AI and neo-cloud customers that require colocation and connectivity services capable of supporting both traditional workloads and GPU-intensive AI environments. The company focuses on building reliable, well-connected data centers that meet today's performance demands while anticipating the infrastructure needs of next-generation technologies. For more information, visit www.elementcritical.com.

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SOURCE Element Critical