Future-Ready Operations!
The digital infrastructure underpins nearly every aspect of modern business and daily life, serving as the backbone for connectivity, data security, and technological innovation. As businesses expand their digital capabilities, data centers play a key role in ensuring seamless operations, efficiency, and scalability. The demand for high-performance computing, cloud solutions, and AI-driven processes continues to accelerate, prompting the need for robust, secure, and energy-efficient facilities. With increasing concerns over sustainability, industry leaders are also focusing on integrating green energy solutions into power data centers, addressing environmental and operational challenges. As digital transformation reshapes industries, the evolution of data infrastructure remains central to economic and technological progress.
As the Managing Director, Sylwia Pyśkiewicz brings a unique perspective to the digital infrastructure industry. With a background spanning multiple sectors, she has consistently applied her ability to implement large-scale changes precisely and quickly. Her approach is centered on clarity—ensuring that teams understand the objectives behind transformation and cultivating collaboration at every level. She believes that successful change is not about dictating strategies but engaging people in a way that aligns with the overall vision. Her leadership is marked by a strong focus on customer-centric strategy, adaptability, and a forward-thinking mindset that positions businesses for long-term success.
Equinix, a global leader in digital infrastructure, operates a vast network of data centers designed to support businesses with secure, high-performance connectivity solutions. With over 260 data centers worldwide, the company provides the foundation for cloud computing, AI advancements, and secure data exchanges. Equinix ensures low-latency connections, allowing businesses to integrate seamlessly with partners, customers, and service providers. The company is also deeply committed to sustainability, focusing on energy-efficient operations and innovative solutions for reducing environmental impact. As demand for digital infrastructure grows, Equinix plays a central role in shaping the future of global connectivity and technological advancement.
Let’s explore Sylwia’s innovative leadership for driving digital change:
Leading Change Across Industries
Sylwia’s first job experience was in retail, working for the largest retailers, managing the marketing team in the UK for B&Q and then international key projects across Europe. Retail is driven by speed. Data is received in real-time and analyzed, and decisions are made immediately and implemented on a large scale. At the same time, a long-term plan and its execution are crucial to maintaining success. Each decision can bring millions of dollars of revenue or a considerable loss.
So, speed, agility, and seamless implementation became part of Sylwia’s DNA, as that is how the business grew. This approach continued in other sectors which usually created issues or problems, as the companies, or rather people, could not cope with the volumes of work and speed created. However, Sylwia believes in implementing the learnings from one market segment to another, as it can bring new value and room for innovation.
She changed retail into a startup business after having a baby and being unable to travel in the retail job. Payback, the startup, was managed as if it was the largest company on the market – that was the only experience gained from working for the billion-dollar Tesco and B&Q. Thanks to this attitude, the startup made it to the top. It earned the partners’ trust, 9 million shoppers, and was acquired by one of the leading financial institutions for $650 million after a mere 3 years from its launch.
Then, she moved to the healthcare industry, where the business was rebuilt into digital health, around the customer or the patient in the heart of the logic and not the doctor. Sylwia’s brand became well-regarded as a leader in business transformation. As every business transformation nowadays is digital, a great job offer in the technological sector was received to lead and transform the business, managing Poland first and then 12 other European countries. It went so well that a similar challenge was given at Equinix.
Sylwia was always driven by curiosity, a positive attitude toward transformation, and the ability to plan and implement changes. The belief that any business or market can be managed if viewed through the lens of the customer was always upheld.
Driving Change with Clear Objectives
Sylwia believes people are not repulsed by changes but rather by poorly executed changes. This belief drives success in business transformation through clarity – explaining what drives the change and its objective, what will be gained, and what will be lost if the business is not transformed. Working together to implement changes is also crucial. The board should not simply dictate business transformation to employees. It should be an honest dialogue prompting cooperation.
Ensuring Data Security and Connectivity
Sylwia reflects that the world is more unpredictable than ever, with pandemics, wars, AI, and new leaders generating uncertainty. That is why constant adaptation and transformation at a large scale and unparalleled speed are essential for every business and organization globally. Data centers enable the digital transformation of each company and almost every project.
This is where Equinix comes into play – with over 260 data centers worldwide where, the servers are stored securely, and a fully qualified team with the support of AI ensures that data is safe. All data centers of Equinix are connected with a fiber network, allowing customers to connect to each other and to businesses in the lowest possible latency of milliseconds. Here, global xscalers put their cloud solutions, AI, and quantum computing can happen. This market is growing and will continue its growth in the long run. The only challenge is access to power, preferably green power, which is a separate, equally fascinating topic.
Integration of Core Business and Innovation
In the past, businesses were divided into core business as usual and parallel projects cultivating innovation. This division is long gone, along with famous brands that focused on their core business while neglecting innovation, resulting in their absence from the market. Nowadays, innovation is not merely a nice-to-have adjacent part of the business; it is the driving force, the enabler of growth, and the means to secure increasing revenues and margins.
Optimizing Energy and Effort
Sylwia tries not to push anymore to avoid draining energy and creating resistance. Instead, she prefers to go with the flow, optimize on the go, and find solutions effortlessly and efficiently. She believes that anything can be achieved; it’s only a matter of finding the way.
Balancing Energy and Tasks
Firstly, it is essential to understand that energy, unlike time, is not limitless. That is why Sylwia chooses tasks carefully and focuses on what she wants to achieve. She observes that most of the day could be spent on events, people, and issues that won’t bring one closer to their goals. Instead of losing energy on those, she maintains a clear agenda and focuses on the ones that will help her achieve her objectives.
Mental health and sharpness of the mind depend on the quality of sleep, so for Sylwia, 8 hours of daily sleep is the foundation of a successful day. She jogs or practices yoga every morning from 7:00-8:00 am and tries to walk and be outside to breathe fresh air at least once a day. Sylwia draws much power from nature and the great people she meets. That’s why she enjoys a week in Las Vegas as much as a yoga retreat in the wilderness. They give her energy and joy but come from people and nature.
Agile Management for Business Success
The route in intricate transformation is not straight and obvious. In the past, one could manage transformation like building a house – knowing exactly what needed to be built and the steps from 1 to 100 to complete it. The resources required and the time to deliver each step were known. Nowadays, this approach could harm business because the outcome may no longer be needed due to changes along the way.
Sylwia suggests that aspiring professionals should have an approximate outcome in mind. For example, instead of a project of a house, think about what it can do: it can be a place where 20 people can live, work, and grow vegetables. Define the milestones, and after each one, verify what to do next and whether the place for 20 people is still needed, as the circumstances may change. Both the next milestone and the outcome may need to be reassessed. This is called agile management, and it can be an optimal approach for leading a business through transformation.
When Sylwia reflects on her career, she believes everything is possible; it is only a matter of finding the way.
