Atlas
Back to Data Centers
Peer Fund / Dealmaker·Data Centers

Ahmed Yahia Al Idrissi

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at MGX

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

AY
Why they matter

As MGX's CEO and AIP Vice Chairman, he directs tens of billions in AI/data-center capital, including the record $40B Aligned Data Centers buyout — a must-know check-writer for colocation deals.

Background

Ahmed Yahia Al Idrissi is Managing Director and CEO of MGX, the Abu Dhabi-based, Mubadala/G42-founded investment vehicle focused on AI and advanced technology, where he also chairs the Investment Committee and sits on the Board. He previously served as CEO of Direct Investments (Private Equity) at Mubadala, sitting on its Investment Committee, and before that was a Partner at McKinsey & Company, co-leading the Principal Investor practice and serving as Managing Partner of its Abu Dhabi office. He holds an MS from MIT (Mechanical Engineering/Product Strategy) and an Engineer's degree from Ecole Centrale Paris.

Notable deals

  • 2025
    Led MGX, alongside BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners and the AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), in a ~$40B acquisition of 100% equity in Aligned Data Centers from Macquarie Asset Management — one of the largest data center transactions on record; Al Idrissi (also AIP Vice Chairman) was quoted on the deal
  • 2026
    MGX co-led OpenAI's $122B funding round (OpenAI's post-money valuation reaching $852B) and its fourth follow-on employee secondary investment, with Al Idrissi quoted on the firm's continued conviction in OpenAI
  • 2026
    MGX co-led Anthropic's $30B Series G round as a follow-on investment, reviewed at MGX's board meeting alongside quotes from Al Idrissi on the firm's AI investment strategy
  • 2024
    MGX joined BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, Microsoft and (later) Nvidia and xAI in launching the AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), targeting $30B of equity capital (up to $100B with leverage) for AI data center and energy infrastructure

Call-prep brief

Background

  • CEO & Managing Director of MGX (Abu Dhabi's AI-focused sovereign-linked investment vehicle, backed by Mubadala and G42); chairs MGX's Investment Committee.
  • Former CEO of Direct Investments/Private Equity at Mubadala; earlier a McKinsey Partner and Managing Partner of its Abu Dhabi office.
  • Also chairs Moeve (formerly Cepsa) and previously chaired GlobalFoundries and NOVA Chemicals — brings an industrials/energy lens alongside AI investing.

Current focus

  • Deploying MGX's capital (fund closed near $49-50B in 2026) across the AI stack: frontier models (OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI) and the physical infrastructure to run them (AI Infrastructure Partnership, Aligned Data Centers).
  • Vice Chairman of AIP, the BlackRock/GIP/Microsoft/Nvidia/MGX vehicle targeting $30-100B for U.S. and OECD data center and power buildout.

What they care about

  • "Compute infrastructure at scale" as the bottleneck for AI adoption — repeatedly frames deals around scalable, efficient operators rather than one-off assets.
  • Speed and conviction of capital deployment; positions MGX as a fast-moving, well-capitalized partner to founders and infrastructure operators.

Recent moves

  • Closed the ~$40B Aligned Data Centers acquisition (Oct 2025 announcement, H1 2026 close target) alongside AIP and GIP.
  • Co-led OpenAI's $122B round (2026) and Anthropic's $30B Series G follow-on.

Potential sensitivities

  • MGX's structure sits close to Abu Dhabi state capital (chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed) — deal teams should be aware of geopolitical/CFIUS-type scrutiny on cross-border AI infrastructure deals.
  • Heavy overlap of board seats (Moeve, GlobalFoundries history, Mubadala) — check for conflicts before pitching adjacent sectors.

Questions to ask

  1. How is MGX underwriting colocation/data-center assets differently from traditional infrastructure funds given AI-specific demand risk?
  2. What's AIP's appetite for additional platform acquisitions beyond Aligned, and in what geographies?
  3. How does MGX coordinate diligence and governance across its AI model investments (OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI) and its infrastructure bets (AIP/Aligned) to avoid channel conflict?

Outreach draft

Subject
Data center colocation deal flow for MGX/AIP
Ahmed, Congratulations on closing the Aligned Data Centers transaction — a landmark deal for AI infrastructure. Your comments on compute infrastructure being foundational to AI-driven growth resonate with what we're seeing across the colocation and hyperscale market. We're currently evaluating a small set of data center colocation platforms with strong power access and expansion runway that could complement AIP's build-out strategy. Given MGX's pace of deployment in this space, I wanted to see if it would be useful to compare notes on where you see the best risk-adjusted opportunities right now — on- or off-market. Would you have 20 minutes in the next few weeks for a call? Best, [Placeholder Name]

Linked companies

Sources