PeopleofSuperintelligence

Builder

Josh Payne

Josh Payne is Nscale’s founder and CEO, leading an AI cloud platform that combines data centres, GPUs, software, and AI services. Before his AI infrastructure work, he worked in coal mining, construction, recruitment, and renewable-energy advisory. He started Arkon Mining with Nathan Townsend in 2020; Nscale spun out of Arkon Energy in 2024. Nscale emerged from stealth in May 2024, and in September 2025 Payne described its platform as a physical backbone of data centres, GPUs, and orchestration software. TIME included him in its TIME100 AI list in 2026; he remains Nscale’s founder and CEO as of October 2026.

Now at
Nscale

Timeline

  1. 2019

    PT Capital and early work

    By 2019, he manages PT Capital, which advises clients on renewable energy. Earlier, his work spans coal mining, construction, recruitment, capital markets, and supercomputing infrastructure.

  2. 2020–2024

    From Arkon to Nscale

    In 2020, he starts Arkon Mining with Nathan Townsend; the company becomes Arkon Energy. Nscale spins out of Arkon Energy in 2024 as an AI infrastructure company.

  3. May 2024

    Launching Nscale’s AI infrastructure

    Nscale emerges from stealth in May 2024 and faces strong demand for AI infrastructure.

  4. September 2025

    Building an AI-native platform

    As Nscale’s CEO in September 2025, he describes its AI platform as a physical backbone of data centres, GPUs, and software to orchestrate them. The platform also provides compute, networking, storage, managed software, and AI services through Nscale-owned and colocated data centres.

  5. 2026

    A TIME100 AI selection

    TIME includes him in its TIME100 AI list in 2026.

  6. As of October 2026

    Founder and CEO at Nscale

    As of October 2026, he is Nscale’s founder and CEO, leading the company’s AI cloud platform.

Sources and credits

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  1. Aussie Josh Payne files for $49bn Nscale NYSE listing stockhead.com.au. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. About | Nscale nscale.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. Nscale has raised billions to power Europe’s AI ambitions. Now the startup must prove the hype can survive reality fortune.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. Nscale $155M Series A: Words from the CEO nscale.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. Nscale Raises the Largest Series B in European History, at $1.1 billion nscale.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  6. Jensen Huang and Lisa Su snubbed by TIME’s 2026 list of top 100 AI leaders — Paris Hilton and Ben Affleck, among others, make the list as ‘Architects of AI’ inexplicably not listed tomshardware.com. Checked 14 October 2026.