SReXperts Speakers
Americas
September 16-18
SReXperts 24 Americas
US, NV, Las Vegas, Caesars Palace
Guest speakers
Daniel Schatte
Vice President of Core & Backbone Operations
Charter Communications
Daniel Schatte is the Vice President of Core & Backbone Operations at Charter Communications. With over 17 years at the company, he is responsible for overseeing the IP Routing , Optical Transport and Automation teams. His leadership has been pivotal in network planning, design, and the management of large-scale core and metro networks. Daniel has held several leadership roles, including Senior Director and Principal Network Engineer, contributing to the growth of Charter’s infrastructure.
Vice President of Core & Backbone Operations
Charter Communications
Tai Chau
Enterprise Architect
FirstEnergy
Tai Chau is an enterprise architect at FirstEnergy with a focus on routing, switching, wireless and optical networks. He has over 30 years of data network design experience on telecom networks. His roles have included initial research, identifying project requirements, design, configuration, testing and implementation of final solutions. When not working, he enjoys traveling and deep-sea fishing.
Enterprise Architect
FirstEnergy
Leandro Garcia
Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer
K2 Telecom
Leandro Garcia, is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of K2 Telecom, a company with more than 20 years of presence in the sector, specialized in carriers, Internet Service Providers and large corporations. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Leandro is responsible for leading the company's innovation and technological evolution, ensuring its prominent position in the telecommunications sector and consolidating K2 Telecom as a reference in the national market.
Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer
K2 Telecom
Julio Sirota
Infrastructure Manager
NIC.br
Infrastructure Manager IX.br, the Internet Steering Committee project in Brazil (CGI.br) implemented by NIC.br, which operates Internet Exchange Points installed in 33 locations in Brazil. Graduated in Engineering from the University of São Paulo (USP), he holds an MBA in Project Management from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV).Between 2016 and 2018 collaborated with ITU in the implementation of Internet Exchange Points in Latin America.
Infrastructure Manager
NIC.br
Fabio Pessoa Nunes
Network and Systems Supervisor
NIC.br
Fabio Pessoa Nunes is M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering at Universidade de Campinas (UNICAMP) and Bachelor of Computer Science at State University of Londrina (UEL). He has more than 16 years experience designing and deploying networks, and has been working at IX.br / NIC.br for more than 11 years, being in charge of numerous technologies evolutions in the IXPs. Currently Fabio is Network and Systems Supervisor at IX.br's Engineering team.
Network and Systems Supervisor
NIC.br
Matt Deibel
Data Engineering Advisor
Southern California Edison
I have my Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from UCSD. I have worked at SCE for 11 years in Engineering, Operations, and not the Automation and Delivery organization. I was a part of the Core Team responsible for the architecture of the MPLS network deployed at SCE. I developed automation to create our device and service configurations leveraging internal databases to streamline our deployment process.
Data Engineering Advisor
Southern California Edison
Shrihari Pandit
President and CEO
Stealth Communications
Shrihari Pandit is the President and CEO of Stealth Communications, a company he founded in 1995. Before establishing Stealth, Mr. Pandit was a network-security consultant for various software and telecom companies, including MCI, Sprint, and Sun Microsystems. He also served as an independent consultant to several U.S. agencies, including NASA and the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), now part of the Department of Homeland Security.
President and CEO
Stealth Communications
Nokia speakers
Diego Achaval
Product Line Manager
Nokia
Diego is a networking technology enthusiast with more than 12 years of experience in the realms of the network design/architecture. Currently working as an IP NPI Engineer/Network Architect, he is responsible for the introduction of new technologies and for designing/architecting solutions for our customers across the Americas. He also holds several industry certifications like Nokia SRA and CCIE
Product Line Manager
Nokia
Heidi Adams
Head of IP Networks Marketing
Nokia
As the head of IP Networks marketing at Nokia, Heidi leads a global team focused on promoting Nokia’s IP solutions. With over 20 years in the telecommunications industry in roles spanning R&D, product management, technical marketing and as an industry analyst, she enjoys casting a spotlight on technology evolution and innovation and making it more accessible and compelling to a broader audience. Heidi has a degree in Electrical Engineering from Queen’s University (Kingston) and an MBA from the University of Ottawa.
Head o IP Networks Marketing
Nokia
Alejandro Aguado Martin
NSP IP Management Product Line Manager
Nokia
Alejandro is a Global Product Manager for Nokia’s NSP, specializing in network automation and programmability. With around ten years of experience in research and engineering for IP and optical networking, Alejandro has a strong focus on management architectures, open APIs and standardization. He holds bachelor's degrees in Software Engineering and Mathematics, as well as a PhD in Computer Science, with a specialization in quantum security integration into telecommunications networks.
NSP IP Management Product Line Manager
Nokia
Mustapha Aissaoui
Product Line Manager, Service Router Product Group
Nokia
Mustapha Aissaoui is a Product Manager in the Service Router Product Group of the IP/Optical Networks at Nokia. He holds an Electrical Engineering Diploma from Polytechnic School of Algiers and a MASc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Ottawa. Mustapha Aissaoui has been in the Product Management role since 2004 and is responsible for the MPLS and Segment Routing features in the SR-OS based routers. He is also the lead PLM for the SR-OS based PCEP and other SDN features of the NSP. Mustapha Aissaoui is an active participant of the IETF MPLS, PCE, and SPRING working groups. He is a co-author and a major contributor to many drafts in these working groups.
Product Line Manager, Service Router Product Group
Nokia
Tarif Albahri
Manager Consulting Engineering Network
Nokia
Tarif Albahri leads the automation consulting engineering team in North America focused on Tier 1 CSPs and Enterprise. He has over a decade of experience designing and deploying large-scale automation solutions across networks and data centers.
Manager Consulting Engineering Network
Nokia
ilker Alici
Regional Product Line Manager
Nokia
ilker is Regional Product Line Manager focused on SROS Model-Driven Management & SR-Linux solutions and products within Nokia's Network Infrastructure Division based in Sunnyvale, CA. ilker has 15 years of experience in the networking industry within the areas of network design, pre-sales, business development and product line management. He has gained extensive international experiences with a deep understanding diverse cultural and business practices by participating projects and holding different roles within Nokia over 20 Countries, 5 Continents. Ilker has a Master of Business Administration, Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering degrees.
Regional Product Line Manager
Nokia
Steve Aubrey
Global Product Line Manager
Nokia
Stephen has worked in the telecommunications industry for over 29 years within the area of Network & Service Management and Mobile Data Analytics. Currently global Product Manager for the Network Services Platform (NSP) focused on configuration management across network and services. Stephen holds a honors bachelors degree in computer engineering from Cardiff University.
Global Product Line Manager
Nokia
Parish Autry
Senior Director, Optical Bus Dev and Engineering NAM Regional Business Center
Nokia
Parish is Sr. Director leading the Optical Consulting Engineering and Business Development for US Major Wireline and Regional accounts in North America. Parish joined Nokia in 2018 and is based in Dallas, Texas. He has 32 years of professional experience in optical networking. Previous employers include Alcatel, Cisco Systems, Fujitsu, and three start-up companies.
Senior Director, Optical Bus Dev and Engineering NAM Regional Business Center
Nokia
Carlos Barroso
LAT IP Business Center Leader
Nokia
Carlos “Cadu” Barroso leads the Nokia IP Business in LAT. He has more than 20 years of experience in telco networking in pre-sales and business development at Nokia and at various CSP’s as a network engineer and consultant expert while living in Brazil, Mexico and USA. Cadu has been part of Nokia’s IP journey in LAT from its start as a customer and later joining Nokia, and with his team is passionate to live many more new chapters in it.
LAT IP Business Center Leader
Nokia
Andres Belloni
Senior Director PLM Network Automation
Nokia
Andres Belloni leads IP Management and Platform Product Management for Nokia NSP. In this role Andres is responsible for defining and managing the lifecycle of the NSP software foundation and applications that allow service providers to automate the operation of their IP & Optical networks. Mr. Belloni has an extensive career in telecommunications specializing in network and service management for TDM, ATM, IP and Optical networks. He has been responsible for product design, product strategy and product line management of Element, Network and Service Management Systems in Newbridge Networks, Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia. Mr. Belloni holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University Of Buenos Aires, Argentina and an Executive MBA from Queens University in Canada.
Senior Director PLM Network Automation
Nokia
Marco Belotti
Optical Certification Program - Trainer
Nokia
Marco Belotti is a Training and Certification Professional and he deals with the “Optical Networks Certification” Program. Prior to joining the Learning Services, he played as Project Manager and TEC engineer, with focus on Optical products (1830 PSS, 1350 OMS, 1850 TSS, etc.). He handled introduction, management and configuration of optic/electric transmission systems in major customers’ networks, becoming a world traveler by joining more than 60 projects in about 25 countries worldwide during his 10-year experience in Nokia.
Optical Certification Program - Trainer
Nokia
Hooman Bidgoli
Senior Product Line Manager – IP Routing
Nokia
Hooman has 22 years of experience in IP/MPLS protocols and network solutions. He started with Newbridge Networks in LAN emulation solutions (VIVID products) and moved to 7670 MPLS solutions. He was one of the first software designers on 7705 SAR and was responsible for IP/MPLS and L2/L3 services on SAR. As PLM, he is responsibility ranges from Anyhaul including Fronthaul and 5G solutions to Multicast solutions and Security on SR-OS products.
Senior Product Line Manager – IP Routing
Nokia
Amir Birjandi
Principal Consulting Engineer
Nokia/strong>
With over two decades of experience in the telecommunications industry, Amir Birjandi is a seasoned expert and a distinguished leader in the field. Currently serving as a Principal Consulting Engineer, Amir has a proven track record of delivering innovative solutions and strategic insights to advance technology and service delivery. Amir’s career began with a significant tenure at Telcom, where he dedicated 18 years to advancing telecommunications infrastructure and services. His deep understanding of network architecture and service optimization was further honed during a pivotal 5-year role at Nokia, where he contributed to the development and deployment of cutting-edge technologies. In his most recent position, Amir excelled as a Principal Architect for a Tier One Service Provider, shaping high-impact projects and driving architectural excellence for five years. His expertise in designing and implementing large-scale solutions has earned him a reputation as a thought leader in the industry.
Principal Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Michael Bushong
Vice President of Data Center
Nokia
Mike Bushong is Vice President of Data Center at Nokia, where he has remit over strategy and go-to-market. Mike joined Nokia having served separately as the General Manager for Juniper Networks’ Data Center and Software businesses, during which time he led efforts in data center operations, multicloud, and automation, including leading the acquisition of Apstra. Mike has also led Brocade’s Data Center and Software businesses, having driven product and strategy for data center switching, automation, SDN, and NFV. Mike was also a pioneer in the software- defined networking space, responsible for the first carrier-grade implementation of OpenFlow, and having been a part of the executive team at high-flying SDN player Plexxi (later acquired by HPE).
Vice President of Data Center
Nokia
Ricardo Caine
Business Development Director
Nokia
I am an electrical engineer and master degree in Artificial Intelligence, a 20 year CCIE building the most complex networks in LAT, with 25 years of experience in the Telecom Industry working initially for Service Providers such as Vivo, leading new technology introduction and deployment and later as Business Consultant at Wipro. In the last 5 years, developing new business at Nokia and leading IP business unit at Brazil.
Business Development Director
Nokia
Tom Carter
IP Principal Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Tom Carter is a Consulting Engineer for Nokia’s Network Infrastructure division. In his 15 years as a network engineer, Mr. Carter has built networks from Alaska to Australia to Antarctica and has extensive experience in service provider networks, aerospace and defense, wireless networking, network security, and voice and video communications. Carter is a US Army veteran and served as an M1 Abrams tank crewmember and later as a US Army network engineer. Mr. Carter has a master’s degree in business administration and bachelor’s degree in computer networking.
IP Principal Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Keith Chow
Senior Product Manager
Nokia
Keith is an experienced professional in IP networks and video, currently serving as a Senior Product Manager at Nokia within the Network Infrastructure, IP Networks division. With over 30 years of global experience, including 20 years at Nokia, Keith has also contributed to companies such as Pace Microtechnology (now CommScope), Schneider Electric, and Olivetti. His focus areas include telecommunications, IP and digital video, IP networks, and engineering. His expertise spans IP and video technologies, as well as the development and delivery of video product solutions. Keith specializes in transforming innovative ideas into practical, sustainable technologies and business solutions.
Senior Product Manager
Nokia
Frank Cordova
Principal Consulting Systems Architect
Nokia
Frank Cordova is a Principal Consulting Systems Architect specializing in Data Center and Automation at Nokia. With over 30 years of experience in IP/MPLS, Segment Routing, and Data Center for Service Providers and Enterprise markets, Frank’s current passion lies in the automation space across various network domains. His goal is to help customers achieve efficiency and minimize errors, emphasizing the importance of reliable operations for the future. Please visit the demo booth and the Automation track; Frank is here to help!
Principal Consulting Systems Architect
Nokia
Steve Cotter
Deepfield Principal Consulting Engineer
Nokia
After 6 years in the US Air Force building deploying and maintaining tactical computer and telephony networks, Steve joined Cabletron Systems in 1995 where he worked with exciting technologies like Thick-NET vampire taps, Token Ring, FDDI, IBM hermaphroditic connectors, AppleTalk, SecureFast, Cell Matrix Backplanes and more. When Cabletron divested into four companies, Steve became part of Riverstone Networks focusing on highly scalable IP/MPLS networks for large enterprise, and service provider customers. In 2006 Lucent Technologies acquired Riverstone and later merged with Alcatel to become Alcatel-Lucent. Ten years later Alcatel-Lucent was acquired by Nokia. The primary result of all these mergers and acquisitions is an extensive business card collection spanning 27 years. Steve has an extensive background in design, deployment, and optimization of IP/MPLS networks, VoIP, SD-WAN, and Network Analytics. Steve’s likes include 3AM network redesigns, 2000 question RFP’s and long walks through airport terminals. Holding more different positions than he can count, Steve continues working with customers around the globe, from Teir-1 Telcos and MSO’s to small enterprise customers, destroying multiple laptops and cellphones along the way. Steve holds a degree in Applied Electrical Systems from the Community College of the Air Force. When not on plane to see a customer, Steve is based in the east coast of Massachusetts where he keeps busy collecting after use, every cellphone made by Nokia and Blackberry.
Deepfield Principal Consulting Engineer
Nokia
James Cumming
Senior Product Line Manager, SROS and SR Linux Platform, Programmability and Virtualization
Nokia
James Cumming is the Product Line Manager for the Nokia SR OS and SR Linux router software with a specific focus on Network Programmability (NETCONF/YANG/gRPC/MD-CLI/Python) and Virtualization within Nokia’s Network Infrastructure Division. He has an extensive background in the Internet Service Provider industry over the last 25+ years. He has worked as a lead Network Architect in several global service providers leading the efforts in network architecture, deployment, integration as well as product and service development across all technologies. He has a particular passion for the virtualization and programmability areas as his background combines networking, systems, programming and operations which all collide in this exciting period for the industry.
Senior Product Line Manager, SROS and SR Linux Platform, Programmability and Virtualization
Nokia
Alp Dibirdi
Director, Product Management – IP Routing
Nokia
Alp leads software product management on 7250 Interconnect Router and 7705 Service Aggregation Router product families. Alp has over 21 years of experience in telecom industry and joined Alcatel in 1998. His previous roles include NW Architect and Product Line Product Manager on ATM Products. In addition currently focuses on 5G transport NWs and traffic management. He is recognized as Distinguished Member of Technical Staff (DMTS) in 2010 for his sustained outstanding technical contribution to Alcatel-Lucent by Bell Labs. He is based in Boston, Massachusetts.
Director, Product Management – IP Routing
Nokia
Tim Drake
Principle Consultant
Nokia
Tim Drake is a Principle Consultant within the IP and Optical Networking division with special focus on the Partner and Alliance segments. Prior to joining Nokia he has held multiple technical and business development positions.
Principle Consultant
Nokia
Steve Dyck
Principal Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Steve Dyck is a Principal Consulting Engineer specializing in WAN and Data Center networking including IP/MPLS, WDM and automation. Steve’s focus is on providing innovative networking solutions for enterprise markets including research and education, state and local government, community broadband, health care, financial services and wireline/wireless service providers serving these market segments. Steve has over 25 years experience in telecom and IT networking with roles ranging from R&D, Systems Engineering, Product Management, Business Development, Solutions Architect and Consulting Engineer. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Computer Engineering) degree with a minor in Business Management from the University of Waterloo, Canada.
Principal Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Pierre El-Haddad
Senior Product Line Manager
Nokia
Pierre El-Haddad is a senior product line manager for IP routing hardware. He currently manages several product portfolios aimed at mobile anyhaul, datacenters, wholesale transport, TEPS, and more. Pierre has 23 years of experience in product development, network architecture and product management for IP/Ethernet and legacy technologies. He holds a bachelors degree in electrical engineering and a masters in business administration. He is based in Ottawa, Canada.
Senior Product Line Manager
Nokia
Bassam El-Zakhem
Senior Vice President, Network Infrastructure Americas
Nokia
Bassam El-Zakhem was appointed Senior Vice-President of Network Infrastructure Americas on April 1st, 2022. As such he is responsible for managing the Network Infrastructure business, operations and growth in the Americas market. Bassam has 30 years of progressive experience within the Telecommunications industry. He started his career with AT&T in the Middle East before moving with Lucent Technologies where he progressed through a series of positions in Operations, Services, Program Mangement, Sales Engineering and Business Development. Bassam holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Saint Joseph – Beirut Lebanon. Bassam is married and has 3 daughters, he enjoys traveling with family in his free time.
Senior Product Line ManagerSenior Vice President, Network Infrastructure Americas
Nokia
Drew Elliot
IP DevOps Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Drew Elliott is a Consulting Engineer focusing on Network Programmability and Automation for Nokia’s major accounts in the North American market. He has been automating network tasks since the late 1990’s, using languages such as Perl, Expect and Python and technologies including (but not limited to) screen scraping, SNMP, Netconf, REST/RESTconf and gNMI/gRPC. He has worked for both vendors and service providers including Concentric Network/XO Communications, Yahoo!, Cisco, Juniper, DriveNets and now his current role with Nokia. Drew lives in Michigan and enjoys all things outdoors – especially camping, kayaking and fly fishing with his wife at the many beautiful state parks in Michigan.
IP DevOps Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Footer
Product Line Manager/Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Footer has many more years experience in networking than he cares to divulge. To provide some context, he considered 4Mbps Token Ring connected SNA controller to Front End Processors some darn impressive technology. That was of course until he discovered the dipswitch that allowed for 16Mbps Token Ring, on the same card. What speed! What a technology! Everyone could move on, networking was now complete. What else was left. As time progressed and networking evolved, ventures into Ethernet switching, IP Routing protocols, and MPLS and the consumption of large steaks became the focus. The years flew by and about TEN years ago, yes TEN, IP & Ethernet OAM fault and performance management became the cool kid on the block. Footer lept at the opportunity to get involved in something so cool. Looking back to the Token Ring days, it was apparent he had always had an attraction to OAM. It was always fun to see how fast one could find a beaconing Token Ring NIC connected to a non-intelligent MAU using a stethoscope. OAM certainly has progress beyond the stethoscope days. It remains the wickedly cool, complicated and multifaceted technology that everyone wants to be involved with. Footer is currently a Senior PING Product Manager with responsibility for IP & Ethernet OAM strategy and architecture. He regularly attends the IETF quarterly meetings and participates in the IPPM working group, where excitement shines through on so many faces. His efforts in the working group include, “Why you need PING and why PING doesn’t need you.” As well as the most recent consideration, “PING PING PING PING, for the love of PING.” He joined Riverstone Networks in 1999, and through acquisition, merger, and acquisition, has 19 years as part of Nokia. Footer is based in Toronto, Canada and we believe he still has a Token Ring network in his house.
Product Line Manager/Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Jose Gallardo
IP MPLS SME, NI Learning Services
Nokia
Jose Gallardo is a courseware developer with the Network Infrastructure Learning Services team. He has been with Nokia since 2010 and works in the Service Routing Certification (SRC) program. He holds a Ph.D. degree from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C
IP MPLS SME, NI Learning Services
Nokia
Giancarlo Garcia
Principal Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Giancarlo is a Principal Consulting Engineer specialized in IP routing technologies supporting the US market within Nokia’s Network Infrastructure business group. He is a technology enthusiast working at Nokia since 2009 holding different positions in areas like Network Integration, Technical Support, Business Development and Consulting Engineering. Originally from Peru and now based in Florida, he helps Service Providers build their IP/MPLS networks in Access, Aggregation and Core domains. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Telecom Engineering and a Nokia Service Routing Architect certification and is passionate about building end to end solutions with state-of-the-art technology designed for business growth.
Principal Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Trini Grinspan
IP Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Trini Grinspan is a Consulting Engineer for the NAM IP division, specializing in higher education and research and education networks. Trini joined Nokia's Network Infrastructure Future Technology Innovators (NIFTI) program as a college graduate, completing extensive training on Nokia’s solutions and professional skills. With an interest in networking and AI, Trini aspires to not only share her knowledge but also to engage in insightful discussions surrounding the Age of Artificial Intelligence, welcoming diverse perspectives and thoughts on the subject. Trini Grinspan has a degree in Electrical Engineering and a minor in Sales Engineering from the University of Florida.
IP Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Thomas Henderiks
IP Consulting System Engineer
Nokia
SThomas is one of the consulting engineers for Nokia's IP portfolio covering EMEA, specializing in network automation. He interacts with customers and colleagues alike to come up with solutions to streamline processes. Thomas has an overall fondness for automating tasks backed up by a master's degree in Computer Science specialized in computer networking.
IP Consulting System Engineer
Nokia
Wim Henderickx
Head of Technology & Architecture
Stealth Communications
Wim Henderickx is Head of Technology & Architecture in the Network Infrastructure Group, based in Belgium. Wim provides senior level consulting on advanced IP solutions such as Cloud Networking (SDN/NFV), Triple Play, network routing, mobile and the enterprise to service providers throughout EMEA. He is also actively engaged in assessing and defining future technologies that will help shape communications networks and services of tomorrow. He has over 20 years’ experience in the communications and networking industry, and is a regular speaker at technical conferences all over the world. He is active in IETF, BBF and Openstack. Wim holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Data Communications and a Masters degree in Economy and is a Bellabs Fellow.
Head of Technology & Architecture
Nokia
Andrew Henkart
Senior Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Andrew Henkart is a Senior Consulting Engineer with the Deepfield business unit which he joined in 2013. Andrew has more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. His wealth of experience includes Big Data analytics, network engineering and design, network security, DDoS analysis, network operations, wireless and business consulting. In his current role, Andrew is responsible for the end to end design and implementation of the Deepfield software platform for numerous MSOs, Telcos, CDNs and other Nokia customers. Andrew has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Structural Engineering from the University of Colorado in Boulder.
Senior Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Rudy Hoebeke
Vice President of Product Management, IP Networks
Nokia
Rudy Hoebeke is Vice President of Product Management for Nokia’s IP Networks. He has over 15 years of experience in the communications and networking industry, in the areas of engineering, network design, technology & product strategy and product management. Formerly, Rudy was Vice President of Product Management for IP Service Routing and Mobile Packet Core in Alcatel-Lucent’s IP Division. He holds a MSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Brussels (VUB) and a Masters in Business Administration from the Vlerick Leuven-Gent Business School.
Vice President of Product Management, IP Networks
Nokia
Andrew Ileleji
Senior IP Routing Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Andrew Ileleji is a Senior IP Routing Consulting Engineer at Nokia, covering various Tier 2/3 CSP networks in the US market. He has over 24 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, with 22+ years spent with Alcatel/Alcatel-Lucent/Nokia. He is certified as a Nokia Service Routing Architect. He holds a bachelors degree in computer science from the University of Ottawa. He is based in Ottawa, Canada.
Senior IP Routing Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Jeff Jakab
Vice President, Hardware Product Management – Service Routers
Nokia
A 25 year employee of Nokia, Jeff is the Vice President of Hardware Product Management in the IP business unit. Jeff has extensive experience across a number of roles within Nokia ranging from engineering, support, marketing and PLM. Jeff has a focus on strategic responsibilities in the product portfolio as well as ownership of hardware technical marketing. He holds a B.Sc in electrical engineering from the University of Calgary, Canada and an MBA from the University of Ottawa, Canada. He presently works in the heart of Silicon Valley out of the Nokia office in Sunnyvale, California.
Vice President, Hardware Product Management – Service Routers
Nokia
Alastair Johnson
Deepfield Pre-sales Technical Lead
Nokia
Alastair Johnson (AJ) is the North American lead for Nokia Deepfield pre-sales, based in Sunnyvale, California. AJ’s focus is working directly with customers to introduce, explain, and expand technology based on Deepfield – solving customer problems through new, innovative technologies. AJ has been with Nokia for 15+ years in a variety of roles.
Deepfield Pre-sales Technical Lead
Nokia
Vach Kompella
Senior Vice President and General Manager, IP Networks Division
Nokia
Vach is SVP and GM of the IP Networks Division (IPN) in the Network Infrastructure Business Group at Nokia. IPN consists of 6 business units: Service Router, Network Automation, Data Center, Nuage Networks, Packet Core and Deepfield. He started with Timetra Networks in 2001, leading the development of MPLS and related technologies, and arrived at Nokia through a series of M&A activity. In 2008, he started the Mobile Gateways program in the IP Division, and was Vice President of Engineering for the Mobile Packet Core. Vach has been a speaker at many conferences, and a regular contributor to standards in the IETF. He was co-chair of the l2vpn Working Group at the IETF for five years. Vach was awarded a Bell Labs Fellowship in 2009 for his contributions to MPLS and VPLS. Prior to Nokia, Vach held positions at IBM, working in network security and IP protocols. Vach holds a PhD in CS from the University of California, San Diego, and obtained his BTech in CS from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
Senior Vice President and General Manager, IP Networks Division
Nokia
Amit Kumar
Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Amit Kumar is a Datacenter network Solution Specialist and Consulting Engineer in NAM RBC team. He consults on network infra solutions for big and small Data Center in enterprises across different market segments. He is actively working on creating solutions for the fast-evolving world of HPC/AI infrastructure. Amit has about 20 years of experience in the networking domain in various roles. Prior to Consulting, he worked as a development engineer in various L2 and L3 technologies in different companies, including SR Linux Network OS in Nokia. He holds Bachelor of Technology degree in Electronics and Communications from the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, India.
Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Craig Labovitz
Deepfield CTO
Nokia
Craig Labovitz is Nokia CTO for the Deepfield business line. Previously, Labovitz was Co-Founder and CEO of Deepfield. Labovitz has developed the core technology, key patents, architecture and commercial strategy behind more than $1 billion in sales of large enterprise and telecom security products. His technology is deployed in more than 700 Internet Service Providers, cable operators, content providers, and mission-critical networks around the globe. Dr. Labovitz is an expert on Internet infrastructure and cloud evolution. In the 1990s, his seminal Internet research developed the foundation for Arbor Networks technology and served as a catalyst for significant changes in commercial Internet routing software implementations throughout the world. His work was recently recognized with the prestigious ACM SIGCOMM Test of Time Award in 2008. In addition to his extensive commercial product and research background, Dr. Labovitz has over a decade of operational network engineering experience, including NSFNet backbone engineering, Sprint's first Internet email infrastructure, design of the Department of Defense research network, and the first commercial aviation Internet service. Dr. Labovitz is an active participant in the global network engineering community, including service on the program committee and as the Chair of North American Network Operators Group (NANOG). Labovitz is the author of more than a dozen peer-reviewed networking research papers, journal articles and patents. His is a frequent guest on national television and radio news programs and his research is widely cited in national media articles and academic publications. Dr. Labovitz received his PhD and MSE from the University of Michigan.
Deepfield CTO
Nokia
Reda Laichi
Consulting Engineer and Regional Product Manager
Nokia
Reda Laichi is a principal consulting engineer on the Nokia IP Consulting Engineering team. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Reda has contributed to the design and development of SDN and Network Management products and numerous IP network & DC implementations and integrations for service providers and large enterprise customers worldwide.
Consulting Engineer and Regional Product Manager
Nokia
Peter Landon
Director Product Line Management
Nokia
Peter Landon is a Director of Product Line Management for the Nokia Network Services Platform, with a focus on Enterprise and multi-layer SDN solutions. Peter has over 25 years of experience in Product Management and system design including senior roles at Juniper Networks, Lucent Technologies/Bell Labs, and while at BTI Systems, leading the architecture and design of the BTI/Juniper 7800 Series Intelligent Cloud Connect platform. Peter earned his BSc in Engineering from Queen’s University with post graduate work at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario.
Director Product Line Management
Nokia
Karyn Lennon
NI Learning Services Leader
Nokia
Karyn Lennon leads the Learning Services function for Nokia’s IP/Optical Networks Business Group. In her role, Karyn is responsible for setting the strategic direction and development of Nokia’s Optical educational services which includes the Nokia Optical Networks Certification Program. In addition to the Optical program, Karyn directs both Nokia’s flagship IP/MPLS certification program, the Service Routing Certification (SRC) Program which has over 14,000 individuals participating globally and the Nuage Networks Virtuoso Certification Program (NN-VCP). Prior to her role in Learning Services, Karyn held various PLM and Marketing positions at Newbridge Networks and Alcatel-Lucent. Karyn received her Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Ottawa.
NI Learning Services Leader
Nokia
Dmitri Litvine
Principal Consultant
Nokia
Dmitri Litvine is a Principal Consultant for the IPRT, providing consulting support for solutions and architectures based on classic 7750/7705/7210 products as well as SDN solutions such as Nuage VSP and VNS. Dmitri has almost 18 years of experience in various facets of data networking including network design engineering, network transformations, solutions and architecture consulting in different technology areas such as IP/MPLS, Carrier Ethernet, Carrier Broadband, EPC/MPC, SP WiFi, SDN/NFV etc. The last 5 years Dmitri is focusing on architecture consulting helping customers to leverage and benefit innovative solutions. Dmitri holds active CCIE, NRS-I and VCP5-DCV certifications, he is based in Calgary, Canada.
Principal Consultant
Nokia
Victor Lopez
Product Line Manager
Nokia
Victor is a telecommunications industry professional with a profound passion for transforming ideas into tangible products. With a Ph.D. background and over 20 years of experience, I currently hold the role of central Product Manager in the Network Services Platform (NSP).
Product Line Manager
Nokia
Mike Mangino
Sales Enablement NAM RBC Leader
Nokia
Mike Mangino is the Sales Enablement Leader for the NAM RBC. Mike has over 25 years of experience in networking. He started at Nokia as a consulting engineer with Alcatel-Lucent in 2008 supporting a wide range of customers in adopting technology to solve their business problems. Today his focus is on technology education for both our customers and Nokia internal towards the goal of enabling sales.
Sales Enablement NAM RBC Leader
Nokia
Sasa Nijemcevic
Vice President and General Manager, Network Automation
Nokia
Sasa Nijemcevic is Vice President and General Manager of the Network Automation Business Unit at Nokia. He leads the company’s Carrier SDN portfolio and Network and Service Automation efforts for the ION BG. Sasa’s passion is building great software products. He started early writing computer games as a kid and continued into adulthood building network management and control applications. Whether it’s AI/ML or network automation, Sasa cares about the application of new technologies in solving real problems in the industry.
Vice President and General Manager, Network Automation
Nokia
David Novosel
Product Line Manager
Nokia
David Novosel is a Product Line Manager focused on the SR Linux platform. Based out of Ottawa, Canada, he has spent over a decade working at Nokia across a range of Network Infrastructure products and solutions including Service Router, Nuage Networks, and SR Linux. Previous roles in support, technical sales, and solution architecture have enabled David to build a strong skillset across the networking and virtualization fields with experience in Data Center, SD-WAN, and IP/MPLS routing deployments.
Product Line Manager
Nokia
Dennis Porteous
Product Line Manager
Nokia
Dennis is a Senior Hardware Product Line Manager for the 7750 SR & Packet Core platforms, with over 24 years of experience in networking and data communications. Dennis has been involved with the 7x50 product lines since 2003, joined the hardware PLM team in 2008. Based in Ottawa Canada.
Product Line Manager
Nokia
Craig Patten
Deepfield Principal Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Craig Patten, holds a Masters in Data Sciences and is a Principal Consulting Engineer for Nokia. Prior to joining Nokia in 2020, Craig has worked for Internet Service Providers in Network Engineering and Architecture roles, as well as network equipment vendors ViaSat and Terayon. Throughout his 25+ years in Telecommunications he has shown a passion for Data analytics and turning data into information.
Deepfield Principal Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Chip Pratt
Principal Consulting Engineer
Nokia
A 35 year veteran of the telecommunications industry having spent time at Alcatel, Fujitsu, Xtera and now Nokia. For the last decade Chip has focused on IP, Ethernet and optical networking solutions, most recently with a focus on solutions for Utilities.
Principal Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Denis Proulx
IP/Optical Professional Services Product Manager
Nokia
Denis Proulx is a Senior Product Manager for professional services with more than 32 years in the telecommunication industry. He has been providing Product Research and Development in the areas of Network Management System for our Global customers. With over 17 Patents filed, now his focus is on simplifying network operations through automation, reducing cost and time to market for the deployments of new greenfield or on existing networks. He is now involved in helping customers transform legacy networks to new technologies (SDN) using Nokia IP/Optical products.
IP/Optical Professional Services Product Manager
Nokia
Jorege Rabadan
Senior Product Line Manager
Nokia
Jorge Rabadan is a product line manager responsible for the development of EVPN and Data Center Gateway technologies in Nokia’s SROS. Jorge has more than 20 years in the telecom industry (working for different networking vendors), being part of Nokia’s IP Division for more than 12 years and is an active member in the IETF community, contributing and authoring more than 30 drafts and RFCs. When he is not working he enjoys traveling, reading a good book or working out.
Senior Product Line Manager
Nokia
Juan Rodriguez
Senior Director
Nokia
JJuan is Sr. Director leading the IP Network Consulting Engineering supporting Multi-System Operators (MSOs) and US Major Service Providers accounts in Nokia’s IP & Optics Networks (ION). Juan has been with Nokia since 2008 in various technical positions throughout Latin America and North America and is currently based in Orlando, Florida. Juan holds a degree in Telecommunications and Telematics Engineering from PUCMM in the Dominican Republic.
Senior Director
Nokia
Mau Rojas
Principal Consulting Engineer for Network Automation
Nokia
Mau is being working in the IT Industry for more than two decades, most of this time, leading the introduction of new technologies for Data Centers and Cloud in new markets. Originally from Santiago of Chile, he's currently working as Principal Consulting Engineer for Network Automation and rPLM in Nokia, supporting US and Canada. He's continuously testing the limits of use cases for Kubernetes and network automation tools in the Data Center and the Edge. Mau's also passionate with art (Instagram: p1nrojas), using what is left of his creativity at work into the canvas or digital illustrations. Fluent in Portuguese and native in Spanish.
Principal Consulting Engineer for Network Automation
Nokia
Saju Salahudeen
Principal Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Saju is a Principal Consulting Engineer for Webscale solutions within the North American Regional Business Center. In this role, he works on 7750 SR, 7250 IXR, 7220 IXR, NSP with SROS and SR Linux Operating systems. He has 12 years of experience in IP routing and Multi-vendor Network Automation across a diverse range of roles including Deployment, Tech Support, Technical PM, Solution Architect and Systems/Sales Engineer. Saju is based in Toronto, Canada.
Principal Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Leonardo Serodio
Principal Consulting Engineer - Deepfield
Nokia
Leonardo Serodio is a Consulting Engineer in the Deepfield division of Nokia, where he is responsible for designing and testing traffic analytics and DDoS security solutions for Service Providers and large Enterprises using the Deepfield product line. Leonardo has extensive experience in the ISP and Carrier space, having worked for over 20 years with large Operators in the Americas and Europe. Prior to Deepfield, he worked in Nokia/ALU as a Consulting Engineer for the SR router product line. Prior to joining Nokia/ALU, Leonardo worked at Arbor Networks as a Corporate Systems Engineer for the Peakflow product line.
Principal Consulting Engineer - Deepfield
Nokia
Leslie Shannon
Head of Trend and Innovation Scouting
Nokia
Leslie Shannon is the Head of Trend and Innovation Scouting for Nokia. A Silicon Valley-based futurist, she focuses on identifying connectivity-related tech disruptions and opportunities, including developments in robotics, drones, visual analytics, cloud gaming, generative AI, and especially augmented and virtual reality. Leslie is the author of the book Interconnected Realities, a look at the current and future development of XR and spatial computing, and, with Catherine D. Henry, Virtual Natives, an examination of how Gen Z and Gen Alpha’s use of digital technologies is revolutionizing how humans relate to both computers and each other.
Head of Trend and Innovation Scouting
Nokia
Najeeb Siddique
Senior Product Manager, Network Services Director
Nokia
Najeeb is Senior Product Manager of Network Service Director (NSD), a template-driven multivendor service provisioning platform in NSP. NSD offers programmable service templating, service automation and assurance with real-time network resource awareness. Najeeb is also Product Manager for NSP Control Plane Assurance Manager (CPAM) which delivers real-time visualization, surveillance and troubleshooting for IP/MPLS networks and L2/L3 services. Najeeb has over 10 years of experience in network management and assurance with Nokia's 5620 SAM, CPAM, and Network Services Platform.
Senior Product Manager, Network Services Director
Nokia
Adam Simpson
Senior Product Line Manager
Nokia
Adam is a senior product line manager with Nokia. He is responsible for the IP routing & service features in the SR OS operating system software. He is the lead PLM for BGP routing and the route policy infrastructure. He owns the strategy for these areas and works closely with software and test engineers on architecture and design. He has been in this PLM role since 2009. Before that he held PLM and network engineering roles at Nortel. Adam is based in Ottawa, Canada but the scope of his work with engineering teams and customers is global. He has been a routine speaker at SReXperts events since 2010.
Senior Product Line Manager
Nokia
Moataz Soliman
Product Line Manager
Nokia
Product Line Manager on the Network Service Platform (NSP) at Nokia in Ottawa. In my current role, I’m responsible for NSP APIs and integration interfaces. I’m also managing NSP Connected Partner Program for certification and interoperability between NSP and the various partner OSS applications. Before joining the PLM team, I led product development of NSP Analytics, which is a big data and reporting solution, from initial concept to release. I hold a Bachelor degree in Software Engineering from Carleton University and a Masters of Engineering Management degree from University of Ottawa.
Product Line Manager
Nokia
Piotr Stpiczynski
Senior Product Line Manager, Professional Services
Nokia
Piotr Stpiczynski is a Senior Product Line Manager with almost 20 years of expertise in network transformation and software development. Throughout his career, he has played a pivotal role in assisting numerous companies in successfully executing large-scale transformation programs to meet their strategic objectives. Piotr possesses extensive experience in managing product portfolios, overseeing complex programs, and leading high-performing delivery teams. Furthermore, his skill set extends to business development and consulting, making him a well-rounded professional capable of driving innovation and growth in the enterprise market.
Senior Product Line Manager, Professional Services
Nokia
Yves Thibeault
Senior Product Line Manager
Nokia
Yves Thibeault is a Senior Product Line Manager on the Network Services Platform (NSP) of Nokia in Ottawa and is specifically responsible for Network and Service Assurance applications. Before joining Nokia & Alcatel-Lucent, Yves was a senior R&D manager at Nakina Systems for 8 years responsible for a multi-vendor network management system and various OSS applications. Yves has over 28 years of multi-disciplinary telecommunication experience in Software Research and Development and Product Management in various network domains including voice switching, ATM, Frame Relay, Optical/SONET/SDH transport and carrier Ethernet at Nortel Networks, AcceLight Networks, JDS Uniphase, Nakina Systems and now Alcatel-Lucent.
Senior Product Line Manager
Nokia
Hans Thienpondt
Technology and Architecture Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Hans is a Technology and Architecture Consulting Engineer at Nokia based in Antwerp, Belgium. He is focusing on the automation aspects of networking and assessing future technologies. Hans has close to 20 years of experience in the industry and prior to Nokia, worked in several network or systems engineering positions at companies operating at Web- or Service Provider scale.
Technology and Architecture Consulting Engineer
Nokia
Mike Thompson
Global Network Automation Practice Leader
Nokia
Mike Thompson leads Nokia’s global network automation practice focusing on Nokia’s Network Services Platform (NSP) and SDN to help service providers and large enterprise customers improve operational efficiency, productivity, lower MTTR, reduce churn, and accelerate revenue streams. Prior to Nokia, Mike was a leader at Charter Communications in Operations and Engineering. He has held leadership positions at Nokia, Charter, Cisco, BearingPoint, and Verizon. Mike has extensive experience in large scale software, network automation, routing, and optical. Mike has held leadership roles in Engineering, Software Development, Operations, Architecture, Sales, Consulting, and Product Management teams and as a Business Unit General Manager. He has a Master of Science in Information Management and a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Stevens Institute of Technology.
Global Network Automation Practice Leader
Nokia
Kevin Todts
NPI & Network Design Engineer
Nokia
Kevin Todts has been a dedicated member of the Nokia team for five years, working as part of the cNPI team based in Antwerp. Specializing in data center networking, Kevin is heavily involved in engaging with customers, conducting demos, and managing Proofs of Concept (PoCs).
NPI & Network Design Engineer
Nokia
Rohit Tumkur Pranesha
Product Manager, NSP Platform
Nokia
Rohit Tumkur Pranesha is a technology enthusiast with 10 years+ of experience working on Network Assurance, IP/MPLS/EPC & Cloud Technologies in various capacities. Rohit is currently exploring the possibility of applying machine learning to Network Assurance & Management. He holds a MS in Software Systems.
Product Manager, NSP Platform
Nokia
Bharath Udayshankar
Hardware Product Line Manager
Nokia
Bharath Udayshankar is a hardware product line manager for Nokia’s IXR 7220 portfolio. Bharath has 14+ years of experience in network automation and design, solutions engineering and product development for IP/Ethernet and wireless technologies. He has previously held engineering and management roles in several companies focusing on product and service offerings for the enterprise, hospitality and education verticals. He holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University at Buffalo, NY and Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Anna University, India. He is based in Sunnyvale, CA.
Hardware Product Line Manager
Nokia
Sanjay Wadhwa
Senior Director, Product Management
Nokia
Sanjay has over 20 years of experience in data communications and IP networking industry. He currently heads product management for Broadband Edge in Nokia’s IP division, driving products and roadmap for fixed and fixed-wireless (4G/5G) broadband gateway, network functions and fixed-mobile convergence. Sanjay came to Nokia via Alcatel-Lucent acquisition. Prior to Nokia, Sanjay held executive roles in Engineering and Product Management at Fore Systems, Unisphere Networks, Juniper Networks and Alcatel-Lucent. Sanjay holds several patents in IP networking and is an active contributor in IETF and BBF. He has a Masters in Computer Science & Electrical Engineering from University of Kentucky, and has completed an executive program in management from MIT, Sloan school of management. He is based in Sunnyvale, California.
Senior Director, Product Management
Nokia
Bruce Wallis
Senior Director Product Line Manager
Nokia
Bruce Wallis leads SR Linux and Fabric Services System product management within Network Infrastructure division. Originally from New Zealand, now based in the San Francisco Bay Area, he cut his networking teeth on supporting Internet Service Providers in New Zealand and in the wider APAC region. Before taking the leap into product management, his role within the NI Consulting and Solutions Engineering team supporting PoC and demos on yet-unreleased NI products allowed him to build an extensive skill set in virtualization, all things Linux, and general system and solution design. Starting in the industry in 2008 at the age of 17, he now has 14 years’ experience across a wide array of roles.
Senior Director Product Line Manager
Nokia
Sven Wisotzky
Senior Network Management and Automation Consultant
Nokia
Sven Wisotzky is a senior network management and automation consultant working for more than 20 years in the communications and networking industry. He joined Alcatel’s IP Division in 2004, working in the areas of product support, training, integration, technical sales, network and solution design and consultancy. Since 2017 he is part of the NSP platform product management team, driving model-driven, multi-vendor nodal mediation using NETCONF/YANG and gRPC, automation frameworks and telemetry. He is based in the metropolitan area of Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
Senior Network Management and Automation Consultant
Nokia
Rob Wright
Senior Consultant
Nokia
Rob Wright is a Senior Consultant within the IP Routing division at Nokia with a special focus on providing innovative networking solutions for vertical and enterprise markets including utilities, oil &gas, state and local governments, public safety, and transportation. He has over 25 years of data network design experience on telecom networks. His roles have included initial design consulting, identifying feature requirements, configuration development, and implementation of final solutions. When not working, he enjoys kayaking and biking.
Senior Consultant
Nokia
Mohammad Zaman
SDN & Automation NPI Engineer
Nokia
Mohammad Zaman has been a member of Nokia's Network Infrastructure RBC Team for over a decade, bringing experience in various networking technologies, including IP, Telco Cloud, SDN, and Data Center Solutions. His expertise centers on Network Programmability, with a focus on integrating Nokia SROS and SRLinux with both customer-specific and open-source tools to enhance network operations. In addition to his professional work, Mohammad is also an AI enthusiast, continually exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and networking technologies. He holds a graduate degree (M.Eng) in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Ottawa and is currently based in Dallas, USA.
SDN & Automation NPI Engineer
Nokia
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E: karen.whitaker@nokia.com
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