Nokia Leader Profiles

As the in-house journalist for Nokia’s Cloud and Network Services, I embarked on a project to profile the business group’s various leaders so that those inside the 22,500 person organization, and outside it, could get to know them better.

October 01, 2021

Guy Shemesh: Chair of Nokia’s Inclusion and Diversity Steering Committee

It was about three years ago that Guy Shemesh gazed around his office before a hiring drive and was struck by an unsettling realization: nearly all his Nokia colleagues looked alike. As with most high-tech offices around the world, the…

July 07, 2021

Pioneering cutting edge technology: Getting to know Stephan Litjens

When Stephan Litjens joined Nokia 25 years ago, he was eager to channel his entrepreneurial spirit into the newly liberalized telecom market in which private ownership was emerging and mobile networks were in their early days. In his native Netherlands,…

June 16, 2021

Show me the money: Getting to know Neville Kotval

There’s a widespread perception that the role of finance is to run a tight ship, know when to slam the brakes and be the authority figure that is there to say “no.” But Neville Kotval, who heads finance for Cloud…

June 02, 2021

A software guy to the core: Getting to know Fran Heeran

At the core of Cloud and Network Services sits the aptly named Core Networks business unit. It is responsible for designing, developing and getting to market the key technologies that operate the heart of a modern telecommunications network. And with…

May 26, 2021

The art of the sale: Getting to know Vishal Singh

It’s a cut-throat business fixated on wins and the bottom line. But the man responsible for generating Nokia’s Cloud and Network Services revenue from service providers takes a philosophical approach to the art of sales. Vishal Singh says it’s more…

May 19, 2021

Transforming in more ways than one: Getting to know Nancy Yueh

Nancy Yueh leads the transformation drive for Cloud and Network Services and it’s an apt title for her to hold. After all, she’s transformed herself from an East Coast “Jersey Girl” to a mainstay in Silicon Valley, from a finance…

April 28, 2021

The tech guru: Getting to know Ron Haberman

At the heart of Cloud and Network Services lies the technology itself, and the man who drives it has been a technologist almost from birth. Ever since he can remember, Ron Haberman has been taking things apart and putting them…

April 21, 2021

The Nokia man and the sea: Getting to know Friedrich Trawoeger

For Friedrich Trawoeger there is no real distinction between personal and professional life. As head of the Cloud and Cognitive Services organization, he oversees a range of advanced and managed services that look to ease the earth’s environmental and sustainability…

April 14, 2021

The man in the middle: Getting to know Christian Foerster

As chief operations officer for Cloud and Network Services, Christian Foerster is responsible for leading procurement, supply chain, process simplification and digitalization – making sure products are delivered when needed at quality and cost. In other words, he’s the glue…

April 07, 2021

Delivering a human touch: Getting to know Issa Eid

While studying business administration at the University of Texas at Dallas, Issa Eid was hired as a product quality analyst at Nortel Networks in Dallas. Human resources and leaving the Lone Star state were the furthest things from his mind….

March 24, 2021

Connecting worlds in work and life: Getting to know Karl Bream

Throughout his extensive networking career, Karl Bream has frequently alternated between the carrier and enterprise worlds. Starting at AT&T and in later roles at Alcatel-Lucent and, following the 2016 merger, at Nokia as well, Bream has found himself moving back…

March 11, 2021

Sales, Tech and Rock & Roll: Getting to know Chris Johnson

Chris Johnson has two passions: sales and music. For the past 30+ years, he has pursued both with similar enthusiasm. By day, he’s at the forefront of Nokia’s push into Industry 4.0 as leader of Cloud and Network Services’ Enterprise…

March 09, 2021

From Alexandria to Ottawa: Getting to know Hamdy Farid

Hamdy Farid likens his path from a modest upbringing in Egypt to a top leadership position at Nokia to that of a typical immigrant story. After earning a computer engineering degree from Alexandria University, and briefly working in software in…

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