Ari Kurvi, data center all-rounder: “50 years in the industry—then I’ll decide what I want to do when I grow up”

Senior Advisor Ari Kurvi, who joined Fira in January, brings broad, end-to-end expertise in data centers. His career has taken him to many sides of the table, and he always finds new angles. But why does the first slide of Ari’s presentations say: I am not a dead fish?

“When you ask who Ari is, the answer is simple: I’m extremely interested in absolutely everything,” he begins.
 
His interests range widely from society and construction to life at the summer cottage. But above all, he is passionate about data centers.
 
“In my work, I focus on data center infrastructure, design, operations, societal impact, jobs, and how we can build data centers optimally with Finnish expertise and domestic resources.”
 
Ari strengthens Fira’s competence in data center projects. He truly is a veteran. He is trained as an electronics technician and computer technician. His career began with IT-systems work, but step by step he moved into server rooms and data center ‑related tasks.
 
“System integrations, data centers, moves, design… I’ve been involved in almost everything. And eventually, one phone call took me to Google in Hamina, and later also into datacenter property development,” he says.
 
He has massive experience in data centers and their development. At Fira, he supports all teams in anything related to data center projects.
 
“From project development to sales and production development. I know what clients care about, and how we can best bring Fira’s expertise to them.”

Work that is meaningful and serves customer needs – and good colleagues – are what keep Ari motivated.
 
“So much so that at the turn of the year I officially retired. Or actually, let me correct that. I didn’t retire – I just started withdrawing my pension. There’s a big difference. The mortality rate of retirees is 100 %, but for people who work it’s much lower, and people who work have weekends off,” he laughs.
 
For Ari, joining a company where he can learn something new every day felt natural. At the same time, he can teach younger colleagues flexibility, passion for the work, and deep industry know‑how.

How does Fira look through the eyes of a veteran?

“Fira feels extremely positive and innovative, with the energy and enthusiasm of a young company, even though it has been operating for over 20 years. In that time company has developed very effective processes for construction management and hour to hour work execution.”
 
”And the way of working here is great. Communication is very open, and everyone is allowed to talk with everyone. Your position doesn’t matter – what matters is what you do and what you know.” 
 
The compliments just keep coming, and finally he gives an example:
 
“The way people work is positive, and everyone challenges themselves and each other. On my very first visit, a topic I raised sparked a lively discussion where no one thought about personal benefit – only how the organisation and the client would benefit. That tells a lot.”

During the interview, the conversation jumps between data centers, summer cottage projects and boating, but before we finish, Ari sums up his working style:

“I’m not a manager by nature – I’m a leader. I like to look at the big picture while holding a microscope in my hand. As they say, the devil is in the details. My job is to clear the sand from the railway tracks. And ‘that’s not my job’ is not part of my vocabulary.”

So why are you not a dead fish?

“Because only dead fish go with the flow,” Ari answers with a smile.

For more information, contact Ari: