This Women in Tech Week, we sat down with AJ Clifford, Head of Design for EMEA at Salute, to talk about her path into the data centre industry, the cooling optimiser she built from the ground up, and what it really takes to lead as a woman in engineering. From the early days of ill-fitting workwear on site to navigating imposter syndrome in leadership, AJ shares an honest look at her career, and what she hopes changes for the next generation of women considering a future in tech.
What does your role at Salute involve, and what do you enjoy most about it?
I’m Head of Design for EMEA, leading a team that turns ideas into working data centres. We take projects from those first conversations and feasibility studies through the RIBA design stages, then support our projects team during construction and handover.
I genuinely love that the decisions we make have a lasting impact. Before anything is built, we have an opportunity to shape how efficiently a facility will operate, how resilient it will be and how readily it can adapt. For me, making data centres greener starts with making better engineering decisions in the early stages.
Seeing something you helped shape on a blank page become a working facility is an incredible feeling. But watching the engineers in my team develop, find their confidence and take pride in their own achievements is every bit as rewarding. I get to help build both.
How did you find your way into the data centre industry?
It started with my dad. He introduced me to building management systems and controls, took me onto sites and made me feel that I belonged there before I had the confidence to believe it myself.
Working for him gave me a practical grounding that still shapes how I approach engineering. I later Salute as a BMS engineer specialising in systems integration and cooling controls – and I fell in love with the challenge.
There’s something hugely satisfying about taking complex pieces of equipment and making them work together as one system. Much of that engineering happens behind the scenes, but it has a direct effect on whether a data centre operates reliably and efficiently.
That experience has stayed with me as I’ve moved into leadership. When I look at a design, I’m always thinking about how it will behave on site, how someone will commission it and what the person operating it will need.
What’s a project or achievement you’re particularly proud of, and why?
Developing our cooling optimiser is something I’m particularly proud of. I designed it, wrote the code and commissioned it on client sites, taking it from a problem to a concept through to something delivering practical value.
It brings equipment from different manufacturers together through one intelligent control layer, using heat and pressure mapping to help optimise cooling performance. That gives clients more freedom to select suitable equipment, with less dependence on a single supplier. For me, the exciting part is what that makes possible: reducing wasted energy, improving cooling efficiency and supporting resilience, alongside opportunities to reduce capital costs through greater choice of plant.
The idea grew out of real challenges on site, like the practical difficulties, restrictions and opportunities that were being lost because systems couldn’t communicate or work effectively together. I could see the potential, and I wanted to do something about it.
There’s a particular kind of pride in standing on site and watching something you’ve written control real equipment. Knowing that it can also help reduce the environmental impact of the facility makes it even more meaningful. Bringing it to life was a shared achievement with the managers who believed in me, gave me the opportunity and trusted me to deliver. I also had brilliant technical minds around me who challenged my thinking, helped me push beyond what we’d already achieved and validated some of my wackier ideas! I’m proud of what I contributed, and grateful to the people whose belief, expertise and encouragement helped make it possible.
What has your experience been as a woman in this industry, and what would make it easier for more women to build careers here?
When I started, I was often the only woman on site, and the industry hadn’t really considered that I might be there. Sometimes that meant no suitable changing facilities or toilets. Even getting dressed for work was a challenge, as safety boots weren’t available in my small foot size, branded polo shirts only came in a men’s fit, and the cargo trousers certainly hadn’t been designed with a woman’s bum in mind!
It sounds like a small thing until you’re the person trying to work in it every day. Before I’d even started proving what I could do as an engineer, I was trying to find kit that fitted or site boots that weren’t two sizes too big and three widths too wide. On top of that, I felt I had to go above and beyond to earn the respect others seemed to get by default.
Moving into leadership brings a different kind of visibility. You want your work, your decisions and the success of your team to speak for themselves, but you’re also conscious of standing out before you’ve said a word. At times, that can feel like pressure to represent more than just yourself – as though your mistakes might say something about women in leadership, rather than simply being part of being human.
Imposter syndrome deserves recognition in that conversation. Even with years of experience and achievements behind you, you can still find yourself questioning whether you’ve earned your place. When you look around a leadership table and see very few people like you, those doubts can become louder. You overprepare, second-guess yourself and feel you need to prove your worth again, even when you’ve already demonstrated it.
There’s also a balance to navigate in how you lead. Being decisive can be interpreted as being difficult, while showing empathy can be mistaken for a lack of strength. You spend so much energy thinking about how you’ll be received when you’d much rather put that energy into doing the job.
I’m learning to recognise that self-doubt isn’t a reliable measure of my ability. I’ve earned my place through experience, hard work and results, and I don’t need to copy someone else’s leadership style to be effective. I can be technically strong, commercially focused, supportive and approachable. I can care deeply about people and still make difficult decisions.
I’ve seen progress, and I’m proud to be part of it. But making women feel welcome needs to show up in everyday decisions: workwear that fits, suitable facilities, fair pay and real opportunities to develop and lead. It also means having people who respect your expertise, back your decisions and remind you of your contribution when you lose sight of it yourself.
That support matters through different stages of life, too. I was supported when I returned from maternity leave, and having a career to continue building meant a great deal to me. I want that to be the norm everywhere. Becoming a parent shouldn’t put a ceiling on your ambition.
I want the next generation to spend less time wondering whether they belong and more time discovering what they’re capable of. And I want them to know that they don’t have to be free of self-doubt to be a brilliant leader.
For me, inclusion means being able to turn up, be properly equipped, be respected for your expertise and see a future for yourself in the industry – regardless of your gender, race, background or personal circumstances.
What would you say to a woman considering a career in data centres who doesn’t think she has the “right” background?
You don’t have to arrive knowing everything to have something valuable to offer.
This industry needs a huge range of skills, including engineering, design, project management, commercial understanding, sustainability and leadership. There are many ways in, and your starting point doesn’t have to define where you finish.
I know how easy it is to look at an opportunity and focus on everything you haven’t done yet. But your existing experience has value, including the skills you might take for granted: solving problems, organising people, asking thoughtful questions or seeing a challenge from a different perspective.
My dad helped me believe I belonged before I could see it for myself. I’d like to offer someone else that same encouragement: your curiosity, experience and perspective deserve a hearing.
Apply for the role. Ask the question. Find people who will share their knowledge and help you grow. You don’t need complete confidence before you take the first step; sometimes confidence comes from taking it.
What does your life look like outside of work?
Outside of work it’s all horses, dogs and mum life, but also engineering, fixing, making, and programming!
I’m writing a “Clifford Command Centre” which is an app on a touchscreen panel PC in the kitchen. It gives us a diarised view of our lives, countdowns to exciting things, birthday reminders, weather updates, to-do and shopping lists.
I used to compete with my horse at a national level, but he is getting older now. We just enjoy life lolloping around the countryside, and I try to get down to the beach with him when the weather allows for a splash. I also have two rescue dogs which I’m passionate about, they are my sixth and seventh “failed fosters”. Once they are in the front door, they don’t leave!
I also love taking on DIY projects, like renovating our old house, and showing my boys the things I can conquer when I believe in myself. I think it’s important for boys to grow up seeing women accomplish whatever they put their minds to and learning early on that there are no defined ‘mum and dad’ roles based purely on gender.
And lastly, we love to travel as a family. The boys seek adventure, so we’ve taken multiple road trips. We even travelled to seven countries in seven days with our 18-month-old, it was thrilling! We try to get up the mountains at least once a year and go camping around the UK to keep us grounded.
How is the growth of the data centre industry changing the opportunities available for women wanting to move into tech?
The opportunity extends well beyond the jobs people traditionally associate with tech. As data centre development grows, it creates a need for people who can design facilities, deliver projects, manage operations, improve sustainability and lead businesses.
That opens more routes into the industry for women with different skills and experiences, including those who may never have considered a career in data centres.
What excites me is the opportunity to influence how the industry develops. We have significant engineering challenges to solve around energy, cooling, resilience and environmental impact. Women should be helping define those solutions and leading the teams delivering them.
But growth alone won’t make the industry inclusive. Employers need to turn demand into accessible entry routes, meaningful development and genuine opportunities to progress. There is an opportunity here to build a broader workforce – and we need to be deliberate about taking it.
Who or what has helped you progress in your career, and how would you like to support others following you?
My dad has been my biggest inspiration and advocate. He gave me practical skills, shared his knowledge and took me into environments where I might otherwise never have imagined myself working. Most importantly, he believed I belonged.
Throughout my career, I’ve also learnt from managers who trusted me with opportunities and peers who generously shared their experience. Being supported when I returned from maternity leave helped me continue building the career I loved.
Those experiences shape the leader I want to be. I want to give people opportunities to stretch themselves, support them while they learn and make sure their contribution is recognised. For women in particular, I want to offer both encouragement and practical advocacy: putting their names forward, recognising their expertise and backing their progression.
My dad opened a door for me. I want to keep opening doors for others because nobody should need a parent in the industry to discover that they belong here, but I am forever grateful to have had mine there championing for me!