Vertiv has named Frieda He as its Chief Procurement Officer, with responsibility for the global procurement organisation across the digital-infrastructure manufacturer’s portfolio of power and thermal-management systems for data centres, communications networks and commercial-industrial operations. The appointment was announced on 5 May from Johannesburg.
He joins after two decades in global procurement and supply-chain leadership across the automotive and electrification sectors. From December 2023 to March 2026 she served as Chief Procurement Officer and a member of the Group Management Team at Polestar, the Swedish electric-vehicle maker, where she oversaw more than $3 billion in annual global spend across direct and indirect materials, supplier quality, R&D industrial programmes and global real estate.
Two decades in automotive procurement
Before Polestar, He held senior leadership roles at Volvo Cars, including vice president and head of global propulsion and sustainability procurement, where she ran an organisation managing more than $9 billion in annual spend and supported the company’s electrification transition. Earlier in her career she held procurement and supply-chain roles in China and across the Asia-Pacific region.
She holds bachelor’s degrees in general studies and business and commerce from Northeast Normal University in China, and an executive MBA from the University of Oxford.
Why Vertiv is hiring procurement muscle now
“Frieda He is a proven global leader with deep experience building and scaling resilient, sustainable supply chains,” said Gio Albertazzi, Vertiv’s chief executive. “Her expertise in complex, multinational procurement environments and her track record of driving operational discipline and value creation will be critical as Vertiv continues to scale to meet accelerating demand from AI-driven and high-density digital infrastructure.”
The hire fits Vertiv’s recent direction. The company has been pushing into AI-ready data-centre infrastructure, showcasing its AI-ready portfolio at the Digital Transformation Summit in March and earlier launching an AI-powered predictive-maintenance service for data centres. On the African continent, Vertiv recently installed chilled-water cooling at Inwi’s Rabat data centre, part of a wider build-out of high-density cooling required by AI workloads.
“I’m excited to join Vertiv at such a transformative moment for the digital-infrastructure industry,” He said. “Vertiv’s role at the centre of the global data centre and critical-infrastructure ecosystem presents a unique opportunity to create value through strong partnerships, operational excellence, and responsible, resilient supply chains.”
Vertiv (NYSE: VRT) is headquartered in Westerville, Ohio and operates in more than 130 countries.
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